7

E.—7

Royal-Commission. The small excess is in cost of servants, due to our more extensive buildings, and to expenditure upon fuel, an item which does not appear in the Dookie accounts. Provision has been made for the erection of a new shearing shed, which will be fitted with shearing machines as soon as these are obtainable. The Director has also been authorised to take steps for the inclusion of poultry-farming and bee-keeping on a sufficient scale. A redistribution of the work of the teaching staff has been made, which will allow of more attention being devoted to entomology, botany, horticulture, especially in the direction of field and laboratory work. More attention, also, will be devoted to experimental work. The Director reports that owing to the attacks of the cabbage-moth, all manurial experiments upon the turnip crop have proved failures. He has very numerous varieties of grain under trial, the number of kinds of wheat alone being about eighty, and experiments with ensilage, grasses, &c, are carried on as usual. The grain yield on the farm last harvest was very satisfactory, the average being as follows —namely, Wheat, per acre, 42i bushels; oats, per acre, 63J- bushels ; barley, per acre, 35 bushels ; or an average, all round, of 45f bushels per acre, the total amount of grain grown being 9,300 bushels. The college and farm buildings are all in good order, and will require but little attention during the next twelve months. The annual report of the practical farm examiners (Messrs. J. W. Overtoil and W. Boag) is very satisfactory. The farm, fences, stock, &c, are described as being in good order during the year, and the work done by the students —ploughing, shearing, harvesting, and threshing—as most creditable. The financial year of the School of Agriculture has been made to terminate on the 30th June each year, as being much more suitable than the 31st December. It has been arranged that reports upon results of experiments interesting to the farming community shall be printed and circulated. This course is adopted by various agricultural colleges and experiment stations; the object being to bring any experiment quickly and prominently before the public. ■2. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL OP AGRICULTURE. Sib,— Lincoln, 2nd July, 1890. I have the honour to submit my report upon the work of the School of Agriculture for the past twelve months, together with balance-sheet of the farm and particulars of stock, with valuations, harvest returns, &c. Estimates for the ensuing twelve months have been furnished by me, and I have no doubt will be submitted in their complete form with this report. Students. —The number of resident students is 38, and of out-students 2, making a total of 40. The increase in the number is doubtless due to the reduction of the fee. So far the reduction has proved as successful as anticipated, but I still hold to the opinion that the best results would be obtained from the establishment of scholarships, were this practicable. A low fee w rill increase our numbers, probably keep us full, but is not likely to increase the proportion of workers. lam not satisfied with the indoor work of a large proportion of the students ; and not only is it hard and thankless work to try and teach these something, but the school itself is harmed by the passing through it of a number of idle or thick-headed youths who are no credit to the place, but, on the contrary, get it a bad name. Cost of Students. —From a return attached it may be gathered that the cost per head in 1890 of all persons in the college has been at the rate of £28 13s. 9d., compared with £25 2s. 6d. at the Dookie College, Victoria, for 1889. The cost of food is almost identically the same, the extra cost of servants at Lincoln being due to our much more extensive buildings, whilst the item "fuel" does not occur at Dookie, situated as it is in a timbered country. This method of calculation is that upon which is founded the " cost of students " at Dookie, given in the report of the late Royal Commission. Of course it is incorrect and misleading. Estimates. —These for the financial year ending 30th June, 1891, are presented in a somewhat different and, I think, improved form. The estimated total expenditure shows a slight real decrease, though the actual total is larger, through provision having to be made for an increased number of students. The estimated receipts also show an increase, there being a fair balance to credit. Teaching Staff. —I propose trying the redistribution of the duties of the two masters, as arranged with the Committee, during the ensuing term. As in the case of each master part of the work required would be new to him, I look upon the arrangement as merely tentative, but hope it will prove successful, more especially as I have of late found natural-science subjects unpopular with students, and I wish to make them take a greater interest in this important branch of our teaching by making it more practical. Farm. —The harvest returns for 1890 were good, the total amount of grain grown on the farm being 9,300 bushels. The average per acre was as follows : Wheat, 42J ; oats, 63J ; barley, 35 ; the average all round being 45-J- bushels per acre. The condition of the farm has been described in the annual report of the examiners in practical agriculture. The cropping for the ensuing year will include about the usual acreage. The winter crops have all gone in well, and are all above ground. The live-stock on the farm comprises: Sheep, 1,052; cattle, 67; pigs, 82; horses, 16. The valuation of live and dead stock amounts to £4,088 Is. 3d. Experimental Work. —l have continued experimental w rork with turnips and manures, but the persistent attacks of the cabbage-moth have rendered this all abortive. I have also done as much with ensilage and the various kinds of grain as could be accomplished in the ordinary course of farm work, as I have had no special fund for the work. I may say that I have over eighty varieties of wheat, mostly in small lots, under trial, as well as other grains, and all the procurable grasses, &c.; but experimental work should be largely increased, and I have ventured to place a small sum on the estimates for the year for this work. I have, &c, The Chairman, School of Agriculture Committee. W. B. Ivey, Director.