Sydney Technical College.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 14003, 11 September 1909, Page 4 (Supplement)

Sydney Technical College.

SHEEP -VXD WOOL. •CLASSES. 1 The session of t-hii slicep and wool classes at the "Sydney Technical College opens on February Ist and doses on July-3lstl Probably lroin January Ist to June 30th would cover the period when'less" Work is done on stations" in this State ,in connection with the clip than the period covered by the classes, ilowever, 'this is the "eighteenth year of the usefulness of the technical education '.branch of the of Education, to the _.wool-growi)ig industry ofNevtSouth "Wales, and, judging ;; v by the enquiry recently made by tlie Yictorian Jlinistcr for Agriculture, it would seem that.the example set in the . parent State in this .matter is likely to - ,be tolldwed in Victoria. . It is quite erroneorts'to suppose that '• tho u'hole end .and .aim'/of the classes - 'are the turning out of professional wool classers-- If that >vere -the case it would be creditable; enough, but the '• scope- is mnch ; wider. • For example there are 70 students at the college at •-thepresent time, 80 per cent,, of whom are from the country, who seek - knowledge .in connection with what is desF ; tined to -be their ''occupation, namely, ■ sheep raising and wool growing, Of the remaining 20" per cent - .. 10 or 12 per ' cent, attendv the classes with a view: to proper equipment when taking uj> land, which they contemplate doing—leaving 8 per cent, that, from. present :< -prospects, may be professional wool -» classers.- Hie education imparted, moreover* deals , not only with wool, classing, but the science of wool growing jn its most technical sense. The • verv structure o£*the fibre, as revealed . by the ■microscope,'is dealt'with. . " It is .realised byl the technical education branch of the college that country .stud«mts~«bme for practical as well .-is regard to ■ sheop as- well as wool.- This, .conse- " cjnently,-is;provided for ttpon an extensive scale, and in' a sound, practical way that is to say; the studeiits are made acquainted -in the classes With all. the English breeds of sheep by the help of lantern lectures. Exeelhyit examples of 15 different breeds.are thrown ou the

screen,'and their best points are shown and commented upon. Fine, medium, and strong' wool merinos, with crosses, are also shown. Theselecttires are followed" up- by visits to the Home-bosh fat stock market/when* buyers permit the students to handle and examine ttie sheep. In this way they s«m? the different types from the various districts, and' arfe made acnairitcd with the most statable types, ior brp«Ls, for their own local conditions. . Tliey are thus able, when considering' then—own land, its surroundings, and their own resources, to determine what sheep are most suitable. Besides attending the .Home--busli market',, the students visit shows, and!"learn how to handle and show sheep. - In. the class-room stnder.ts arc familiarised with diagrams showing the faulty points of sheep- They see fleeces ,ofall the English -breeds, even unto Scotch, mountain sheep. The college, also purchases each season wool to handle, and it is with this wool that the classing is done. ■ A distinction is naturally made between the classing as it would.be done with the clip of a flock of 5000 head and under, aud the work as carried out on the big stations. The method of teaching is to get wool with all the work in it. ' Thus the studeuts start by opening the fleece, picking up, throwing out, skirting, rolling, piece sorting, handling,' anil are judged by the time' taken and general smartness. _ When they pass these elementary stages ' or* if they, get through • with 50 per cent, in, the examination, they proceed to classing, sorting, and the estimating of elean yields.- , In short, they proceed from the simple to the "special with both sheep and wool. They see a section of the skin of a wild sheep and the section of the skin of a modern, dense-woolled merino; how a single fibre is grown T and practically , how so many fibres are. packed on to the skin of a fine-woolled sheep. The hours spent in the classes are from 0.30 a.m to 4.30 p.m. for the six months " that the session lasts. -At the end of the session the stu- , • dents jire really ■ apprentices, ready to go on stations to-work under practical instruction. Pastoralists and station managers who have had students speak highly of the work performed by them. • Some stations have the whole clip classed by qualified ex-students, under whom a few present-day students work. At the next exhibition of plieep, under the auspices of the New South Wales Sheepbreeders' Association, upwards of 60 students will he • told off to .insist the judges: and stewards. This is followed up by exhibition, or test, by the students, or rather, is awarded in prizes for. judging by students, from the Technical College and Government Experiment Farms. The cheep are judged on points, and in this competition alone it can be seen that there is no narrowing down of the instruction to wool-classing only. The contest at the sheep show is under the supervision of Sir Alfred Hawkesworth. director of the sheen and wool classes tit the Technical College.

Since the opening of the slinpp and wool classes at the college an average of 50 students |W-r annum have receiver! instruction, some naturally beooininn more proficient than others. All, however, have left with sufficient wool education to materially aid in spreading knowledge as to the proper way to preparo wool for market.—(Dalgety's Review.>