FARM NOTES.

Thames Star, Volume LIX, Issue 16644, 14 November 1925, Page 10

FARM NOTES.

FARMERS OF TO-MORROW. EDUCATION AND AC IUCULTUR- - AL TRAINING IN DENMARK. MENTAL AND SPIRITAUL DE V EDO PM ENT. In Denmark youngsteis leave the primary .school at 14. They work on the farm for four years, and then, at 18 years of ago they go back to school. The Danes claim that when a boy has reached 18 years of age he has begun to appreciate what education is and is ready to receive. If the New Zealand farmer were to send his back to school at 18 years of age, for Dto of three years, or, as the Dane sends his boy, for a five months' residential course each year for three or four years, he would want his boy taught carpentering or blneksmithing, the use of the Babcock test, or the method of treating ailments of dairy cows. Not so the practical Dane. The Dane, who has led the world in dairy science and in dairy practice for a great number of years now unhesitatingly turns down such subjects. He wants liis hoy educated in literature, music, in Danish history, in mathematics, and he wants him taught another language, generally English. He wants him to study geography and physics, sociology and economics. He wants him to learn for, and to work for, his own mental and spiritual development. He wants the boy's intellectual curiosity aroused. He wants him to learn that there is a world <f ideas to he reached through discussions, through hooks. He wants nim o to be taught to observe and to think, to generalise for himself, to apply tlie result of the. life around him. He wants him to learn how to fit in with other people with whom his life will lie spent. He wants to have him imbued with the spirit to go forth and work for his fellows and for the ends of the community. He can teach his bov practical agriculture at home. At school he wants him to aim at a broader culture. One of their teachers writing of his work at school, says that no satisfaction can he found in living only to get the wherewithal for eating and drinking; in being an ordinary man who will one day disappear and leave no trace behind him of anything he lias done worth while. BOVINE T ÜBERCI'LOSJ S. CLINICAL EXAMINATION ON , FIELD. AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT’S REPORT. ' 111 view of tjie incidence of bovine tuberculosis and the ben+od controversies which have arisen over its treatment, a few figures from the annual report of the Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture will be of interest to farmers. These figures and statistics are the result of a. thorough and active investigation by means of clinical examinations in the field. They serve to show how serious a matter the presence of this disease among cattle is. The number of cattle condemned for tuberculosis during the year by stock inspectors was 4881. The distribution of the condemned stock was: Auckland, 8021; Wellington (including Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough, and Nelson), 1242; Canterbury-West-land, 408; Otago-Southland, 210. During the year considerable use was made of tuberculin for diagnostic purposes, and this is a very encouraging sign, as it has been recognised tor many years as the most valuable and reliable agent for detecting tubercular animals which do not show definite clinical symptoms. It is being larger used in connection with cows supplying milk for human consumption, and ©very encouragement is given by the department to extend it and make its use available to every owner by carrying out the test free of cost. In the results of the examination of carcases on slaughter at freezing works and abattoirs the percentage of tubercular animals shows a slight decrease. Tho number of cattle (excluding calves) examined was 397,482, of which 5.41 pjer cent, were found to be affected in varying degrees, a considerable number only very slightly. The position of the Dominion as a whole in respect of bovine tuberculsis seems to show some improvement when all collateral circumstances are taken into consideration. Generally speaking, it is most prevalent in low-lving wet or swampy areas, particularly in fbe Auckland province. Drainage" and better farming methods combined with careful inspection and the observance of all possible preventive measures will, it is hoped, bring about improvements as time goes. on.

As regards swine tuberculosis, the position remains about the same as last year.