RURAL EDUCATION.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 4, 15 April 1913, Page 405

RURAL EDUCATION.

WORK IN THE NORTHERN WANGANUI DISTRICT

Agricultural education in the district high schools of the northern district of the Wanganui Education Board is being conducted On a sound and original system. Practical .field-work is the main feature, and this, being carried out under a capable and enthusiastic director, Mr. R. Browne, is proving an effective means of imparting to the senior boys of the schools .in question, a good working knowledge of the various processes of rural economy based on correct underlying principles. It is gratifying to know that the lads have been extremely

interested in the work, and as a consequence many of them are expected to take up farming pursuits in preference to city occupations which have absorbed so many country boys in the past. Following is a synopsis of the work of this season, the course in each case lasting for a fortnight: — At Hawera, in iv early. August — \ (1.) Incubator work ; . housing and- feeding of fowls. (2.) . Veterinary science, i dealing more especially with the dairy cow, and ; diseases of same. . (3.) Orchard work : Pruning and spraying, of local orchards. (4.) Manures and top-dressing ; study of pastures. • - (5.) Babcock test; herd-testing.. ~ -

During the course special attention was directed to veterinary science, to orchard work, and to top-dressing. Veterinary work was taken in the form of lectures, as demonstration and practical work in the field, and at night lantern-slides were used with good effect. Orchard work took on so well that more orchards were available than could . be attended . to.. Farmers are .keenly supporting the class in topdressing, giving the use of their paddocks and finding the necessary manures for use during the coming winter.

At Hawera, in. early December : ; , (1.) Shearing. - ~ (2.) Wool-sorting.. ■ (3.) Pastures and their treatment. ■ - (4.) Manuring and sowing mangels, carrots, turnips, and lucerne. (5.) Dairy-work: Use of Babcock machine, and lactometer; calculation of added water ; herd-testing continued.

Special features m this course were the,, classes in shearing and. wool-sorting. As soon as the lads had sufficient practice, owners freely offered the use of sheds, and allowed the students to shear their flocks under actual shearing-conditions. The lads thoroughly entered into the spirit of .the,., work, working on some days from 7 a.m. till 6 p.m. At the end of the course farmers provided funds, and competitions were held in shearing, wool-sorting, and in milk-testing.

At Moumahaki Experimental Farm, in February : (1.) Weeding and thinning root crops, turnips, carrots, and mangels. (2.) Lucerne-growing, also saving of crop as hay or ensilage. (3.) The potato : Seed-selection, storing, and sprouting. (4.) Study of grass and other trial plots. (5.) Selection as applied to cereals —wheat, oat, and rye-corn . varieties , and strains. . ' (6.) Stacking. . ' .. (7.) Veterinary work : Study of cow, horse, and sheep, with . ’ i" special reference" to the dairy cow, and diseases’ of these. (8.) Orchard work in season. , The lads were thoroughly interested in their work at the farm, and are anxious to return, especially to carry, out. winter . spraying;; and pruning operations in the orchard, arid later on to shear ' all" the sheep available. For this course only senior boys will be . taken — i.e., those between fifteen and seventeen years of age. ■ ?. " . .

■ ■ The Austrian Government has set aside a fund which provides an annual sum of £250,000 for the development of the animal-breeding industry. ’ ‘.

' In spite of a plentiful supply, of forage at Ruakura Farm of Instruction the dry spell reduced the milk-yield considerably, and the probability is that records will not be so high as those of last season. '

The fourth crop of lucerne hay has just been cut at Ruakura Farm of Instruction, and, as it may be reckoned that four crops of hay are equal to six of green feed, the result is very encouraging.

Experiments are being conducted in England to test the value of marramgrass for papermaking. The grass was boiled under pressure when passing through crushing-rollers, and was then bleached. It was. found to produce a soft pulp with a short tear, which more nearly resembles the general feel and external appearance of the pulp produced from esparto, or chemical -wood pulp. The primary function of marram-grass is, of course, as a sand-binder; but it is possible that, should it be deemed of sufficient importance- as papermaking material, its cultivation will be extended over considerable areas of sandy country. The commercial value of the grass for papermaking has not yet been ascertained. — Journal of British Board of Agriculture. ' ... ' .