RUAKURA FARM

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15033, 2 September 1922, Page 6

RUAKURA FARM

INSTRUCTIONAL WORK. '——— DEVELOPMENT CONDITIONS. RETENTION OP BUILDINGS. Acting in the capacity of the Hamilton Borough' Council representative of ! the Auckland Provincial Agricultural i Committee, Mr J. Gilbert recentlj |visited the Ruakura State Farm of Instruction for the purpose of reporting ion its work, and he has addressed the following letter to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Agriculture, and Messrs ,T. A. Young "and R. F. Bollard, M’s.P.: — Si. “i have been familiar with the character,' condition, equipment and work of this farm for some years, during ‘which I have always been impressed 'with the excellent work, of an experi‘jmental and educational nature, within ■prescribed limits, that has been carjried on; but have, however, felt that the institution was not discharging many wider functions demanded by the ■■immense importance of the farming industry of this Dominion. Here we have the nucleus and foundation of an establishment which can be readily : ; knd easily made of greater help and ■service ’in saving the youth of this ioountry from drifting into “blind alley" than can be conceived in ■any other direction. Our local mar- :■ jkets will never be large enough to warrant the establishment of secondary industries in the hope of balancing" our primary industries, and we inust therefore concentrate on the potter and export our produce and take !as payment, or really exchange the manufactures of our overseas eusItomers. First let us develop our primary industries, and secondary industries must inevitably follow. This being' so, it is abundantly evident that ;our technical schools, useful and admirable though they be, should not take precedence over purely agricul- : Jtural schools, which should be established in every important agricultural .centre. If we are to have “producsjtion and more production,” we must . 'train the youth of the country to bei. borne ’skilled, scientific and successful ■farmers, nmi thereby increase our present production a hundred-fold, f “Mr Massey recently said that dairy Products had superseded wool as our Chief primary product. The premiership of dairying has been gained ■largely through the huge expansion of butter'. production in the Auckland province; w'hich has doubled during the past eight years. The N.Z. Co’operative Dairy Company manufactured in the last season more than one>'third -of the whole output of butter for the Dominion and two-thirds of, • (the total of the province, besides which it produced a substantial quantity of ■’■cheese, powdered milk and casein. "'The Waikato is the home of this great Industrial institution, probably the ■■“ largest manufacturing concern in the •Ccountryi- - These facts, wonderful as jitheyvarel .4o*not indicate what can be -■■accomplished during the next eight ■years'by closer settlement and more and intensive farming, and '■'form an eloquent, and insistent plea ; for the establishment of a fully--1 equipped Farm School at Ruakura, the ‘geographical, railway and dairying ■jifbentre of the North Island. 1-1 ‘.‘Ruakura’has been built up out of .'theMrough--on an unbroken policy, largely under the supervision of Mr A...W. Green, the present manager. Its

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plantations contain numerous varieties. ■ -j-pf native ancl imported trees, which have reached that stage of deyelop- ...' ment which will demonstrate their 'r-M characteristics, value and uses, as ililhpdges, .shelter belts, fencing timber, : - f Plant breeding and plant-testing v'Sy for the proper selection and improve-. inent of fodder crops has been an im- _ gportant feature of the work of this farm and of great interest and profit

to our farmers, who have neither the ‘.I ’time nor technical knowledge to coniinue experimenting for years. • \ “Ruakura was begun as an experi--1; mental farmland has developed, into a farm of "hjstjuction, and to add an agricultural "school would be simply a natural transition, whereas it would from 10 to 20 years to cultivate /i; and establish any other State farm in

jj the Dominion to be of full use as a '/•farm school. “Ruakura has the Hora Hora electriHlJ'bal sub-station on the farm; making “’available cheap and ample power for -'■•;mechanical purposes and for research work, .in,, the. application of electricity ■ to agriculture. ■. “Ruakura has 'about 25,000 acres of swamp lands adjoining, through which - drains have been cut and consolidation work generally well advanced. In a

Tew years this will become rich pas- - i. lure land, carrying immense herds of cattle, and be a practical demonstra-

of what can be done with peat ■f. swamps under* proper treatment by 7$ modern implements and methods, fcj, j “Ruakura is also handy to ’the great Taupo pumice belt, the development ' of which is and will be an interesting ind instructive experiment and achierement. Every type of soil is, in fact, iff present in the Waikato. Here also j: Research work could be undertaken ;JJ< jo discover the cause of and remedy \ ioV bush sickness in the Mamaku bush, ■ which adjoins the pumice area rc(j [erred to, and probably prove .as suc•ji fessful in the solution of the 'joroblem. •The Government, by the way, has acjomplished nothing in regard to bush [ .sickness. 1 a j “There are dairy instructors emiloyecl by the N.Z. Dairy Company and b ither institutions, for whom Ruakura fi youid be admirably situated and suitable as a training school and research aboratory.

“With the present excellent homeij dead, consisting of a lecture hall, resilontial quarters, with accommodation 'or the manager and his house staff ; nd 10 students, and the tine range of : :arm quarters and buildings for the 'arious branches, together with the tepatriation Department's buildings, yhich contain GO bedrooms, lecture |i tali, kitchen, dining-room, etc., Ruatura, as I have stated, can quickly and yith a comparatively small outlay be , nade available and equipped for one \ if the highest and most vital of the dominion's institutions, especially in his time of crisis and urgent cry for he produce of the land. “In conclusion, I regret to learn that, he Government has just reduced the •ote for agricultural work, and I hope '■ hat this does not foreshadow the : dosing down of Ruakura. The home- \ ; tead is empty of boys, and in the : oldiers’ quarters there are only 10 oldiers and five boys left. This week I 10 schoolboys were to have gone into l esidence on the farm for a course f instruction in agricultural subjects : ,y demonstrations and lectures in the ■ iractical work of the farm, but the 'Director of Education has refused the Accessary financial assistance, although 1 he Education Board had voted £l3O | pward tlie cost. The men and equipjfient are there, and the boys are meanlyhile idling away the week, while jollier boys in this district, who have "fjassed in agricultural subjects at pubtic schools with credit, have been com[felled to enter into other pursuits, for ffoaicli they feel neither call nor voca|on, because of the ahuencc of a Farm I

School in Ihe Waikato. Notwithstanding this. I understand the Government has voted £(50,000 to the British Industrial Exhibition. “The boys arc waiting. We want the school and the country needs it.” The Prime Minister has replied to Mr Gilbert that he will be glad to arrange for the representations made to have careful consideration. Since the receipt of this letter the matter has been mentioned in the House, and Mr J. A. Young has received word from the Minister of Agriculture to ffie effeot that the Repatriation Department’s buildings are to be retained on the farm for instructional work and that the form this instruction will be developed is under consideration at the present time.