TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3134, 10 March 1909, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE. Whether the educational facilities to be had in this country lead to a lower estimate of the dignity of work cannot be said, but true it is that a smattering of the three R's is generally considered to bs a passport to a toilless job, says the "Taranaki Herald." Th.i danger of the educational system of New Zealand lies not so much in the fact that the average New Zealander is taught too much, but that he is insufficiently edicated. Specialisation and the discovery of the natural aptitude of individuals are the pointers of any modern system. If a boy is to became a sheepfarmer, why fill hi n full of knowledge of no use to him? It is much better to teach him all there is to know about a sheep tick than the heights of all the mountains in the world.

FROZEN MUTTON. '1 here are some countries in the world whic*! appear to possess every thing necessary for the production of mutton of the highest quality, but which have failed in the attempt, and Argentine and Australia, so far, appear to be in this category, remarks the "Oarnaru Mail." If there i-s anything that New Zealand is adapted for it is for the production of mutton which canno; be surpassed by even the best of the United Kingdom's product. Then there is no need to lose fceart because prices are down. What else could have been expected as the result of world-wide depression? The condition of industries at Home does not admit of the consumption of meat in any liberal measure. But the trouble is passing away, and preB2ntly prosperity will be as prevalent as ever.