AGRICULTURAL TRAINING

Wairarapa Daily Times, 15 March 1932, Page 2

AGRICULTURAL TRAINING

CAMP AT PENROCE. An extended report on the agricultural training and holiday camp organired recently l»y a Wellington Y.AI.C.A.- | i Rotary .Joint Committee and held at 1 1 tlie Training Farm at Penrose, states | that the camp was an experiment in the direction of ameliorating Pm condition of boys who we're either unemployed themselves or had come from homes where the breadwinner -or other members of the family were out of work. The report states inter alia:— The majority of the hoys enthusiastic n y responded to the demands made upon' them. Quite early in the camp, and as the result of voluntary action on the part of the hoys themselves almost the entire recreational pud sports programme as originally arranged was abandoned in order to enable the hoys to coneentrate on their farm training. After giving details of the eam]i working routine, the report goes on to observe that there was about this no suggestion of a picnic. Every day meant long hours and hard work and the boys undertook in good heart even the tasks of drudgery allotted to them. Some had to rise at 4.1.1 a.m. an d walk three miles to engage in machine milking. The competition among the boys to do the most arduous tasks was very keen indeed. These city boys seemed to want activity and plenty of it, and they felt themselves proud to he handling horses and implements, and to be engaged in some of the “mansized’’ jobs about the farm. A most impressive feature of the Camp was the manner in which the bovs responded to the discipline. cruiar hours and the strictest discipline were introduced right at the inception of the camp, and were maintained throughout. The boys uickly responded to these essentials and the discipline goon became a voluntary matter instead of something imposed by the authorities. Only five boys bad to he sent home and five were recalled Inna rents or left the camp to enter emplovment. The spirit of the camp as between leaders and boys and among the boys themselves was excellent. , . The response of the boys to th moral and character-training side of the camp life was most impressive. At the end of the period of training the various instructors sat as a boaid of examiners and each boy was subjected to a test and at the same time given the sympathetic advice and counsel of his examiners. As a result of this test 41 boys obtained their ‘ A pass, 17 were classed as “B' r which implied that they were either too young or too inexperienced and needed moie training, six were found to be backward in their training but showed possibilities in farm work, seven were round suitable only for city work, anu seven others had physical detects which rendered them unsuitable tar farming. The remainder either did no submit themselves for the tests or had left before the examination had taken place Summed up, it would seem that the majority of these city boys, hardly anv of whom had any previous country experience, showed a remarkable aptitude and capacity for farm work, this fact impressed both the farm instructors and the lecturers and observers from the Department of Agriculture, ’While the camp will have attained a measure of success in itself, it will be readily understood that complete success will only be realised when the majority of boys who passed through the camp have found positions in the country. A number of the younger lads, successful though they might have keen in camp, have gone back to school for another year. The committee, through the medium of the Y.AI.C.A., has been busy finding employment for the others. The audited statement discloses the following position: —Items of expenditure: Supplies, £l2B/0/2; transportation £42/5/4; purchase and hire of equipment, £42/2/11; wages for cooks and certain manual work, £d9/IS//; boots for boys, £6/11/10; postages, telephones, etc., £l4/8/10; sundries, £9 17/5: accounts not yet to hand or in dispute (estimated) £27/10/-; total expenditure, £3lO/14/5. Receipts: Donations, £2.'12/!>/5; special contribution Mayor’s Relief Fund, £00; sundry, 10/1. Total are several promised donations still outstanding which it is anticipated will make up the shortage of £l7/8/11. H will be seen by the above figures that the cost of setting up the camp and maintaining the boys while in camp worked out at £4/7/7 per head for 4 weeks’ 5 days, or approximately 14/4 per week, covering everything. The i-ommitteo and the organisations represented * are specially indebted among others—to the chairman, trustees and staff of the Wairarapa Training Farm; the many private citizens, business firms, clubs and institutions, in Wellington, Masterton and Carterton, who contributed services, money and goods, provided entertainment, and in various other ways assisted the project, the Masterton Y.M.C.A. and Rotary Club.