I—H. 21.

H.—2l

1913. NEW ZEALAND.

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN NEW SOUTH WALES (REPORT ON), WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE HAWKESBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, BY Mr. E. NEWMAN, M.P.

Laid on the Table by leave of the House.

Sir,— Wellington, 10th July, 1913. I have the honour to report that, as arranged, 1 proceeded to New South Wales in order to inspect the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, and to gain an insight into the system of agricultural education which is followed in that State. I arrived in Sydney on the 3rd June, and at once presented the letter of introduction with which you were good enough to provide me to the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. J. L. Trefle, M.P., by whom I was most cordially received. Mr. Trefle at once fell in with your suggestion that I should be afforded an opportunity of inspecting Hawkesbury and generally acquiring information with regard to agricultural education in the Department under his control, and instructed Mr. George Valder, Undersecretary for Agriculture, accordingly. I desire here to acknowledge the courtesy and consideration extended to me as your representative on this occasion, and I especially wish to mention with appreciation the attention and interest displayed in connection with my mission by Messrs. Valder, Under-Secretary for Agriculture, and H. W. Potts, F.C.S., F.L.S., Principal of the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, and also by other officers of the Department. Ihe Minister very kindly supplied me with a shorthand-typist, and, in order that you might get as nearly as possible first-hand information, I had my last interviews with Messrs. Valder and Potts taken down in shorthand and typewritten. Attached hereto please find the reports of those interviews, which I trust will prove of interest to you. I propose— (1.) To describe the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, its objects, and its work; (2.) To briefly refer to the general system of agricultural education in vogue in New South Wales; (3.) To give you my impressions of the College and the New South Wales system. In order, again, that your information may be as reliable as possible, I shall endeavour to quote from authorized documents in so far as I can do so. Part I.—Description of Hawkesbury Agricultural College, its Objects, and its Work. Proceeding on this principle I propose to quote from the " Prospectus of the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, Dairy School, and Experimental Farm, Richmond, New South Wales." Objects of the Institution. —The primary object that the Department of Agriculture had in view in establishing this College and farm was to teach the science of agriculture and the various other sciences connected therewith, their practical application to the cultivation of the soil, the rearing and management of stock, and to qualify students as far as possible for the profitable management of farms, orchards, vineyards, &c, either as proprietors or managers of same. To this end it was deemed indispensable that every young man who should be admitted to the College should learn to labour and become proficient in the use of the various implements of husbandry employed on the farm, and in the management of the various kinds of live-stock included in the practice of agriculture. Every student, therefore, is required to perform a certain amount of labour. One other object in view in establishing the farm was the conducting of experiments in various branches of agriculture, but more particularly in respect to the comparative values of the various artificial and commercial fertilizers, the rotation of crops, and growth of plants suitable to the climate of New South Wales, but not generally adopted in agriculture. In a