AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT THROUGH EDUCATION AND EXPERIMENT.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XIII, Issue 2, 21 August 1916, Page 105

AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT THROUGH EDUCATION AND EXPERIMENT.

Paper read by Mr. J. Brown, B.Sc.Ag., N.D.A., Director of the Fields Division, at the Annual Conference of the New Zealand Council of Agriculture, July, 1916.

The title of my subject as it appears in the agenda paper is somewhat general and indefinite in its import, but my main object,’ as you may gather, is to review the chief agencies working for the improvement of agriculture, and to offer you my views as to how these agencies may be made more efficient. These agencies are education and experiment, the latter including the work of experimental stations, co-operative trials, demonstration work, and all other special inquiries and investigations arising out of the agricultural needs of the Dominion.

That improvement in agricultural methods and practices must be brought about largely through the operation of these agencies is a fact which hardly needs to be substantiated, and I do not propose to take up your time in doing so, unless a challenge should arise in discussion subsequent to the reading of this paper.

Views, discussions, and proposals' concerning agricultural education and the experimental functions of the Department of Agriculture have been brought into prominence in this country time after time for years past, at agricultural conferences, and by individuals -interested. A more adequate provision for agricultural instruction has been freely advocated by, amongst others, the . late Inspector-General of Schools, Mr. G. Hogben, and the present rural course in district high schools is the result mainly of his work. Recently Mr. Hogben contributed a paper on “Agricultural Education ” to the Council of Education, presenting his views on a more adequate scheme for the fostering of the aims of agricultural education. Again, quite recently a report was presented to the House by the Hon. Mr. Hanan, Minister of Education, the trend of which was strongly in favour of a system• of education which would minister more effectively to the needs of agriculture and to the mental efficiency of the rising generation of farmers. More recently still, certain members of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury have published views on the subject of . the , development of agriculture by methods of scientific research. •

The education authorities appear to. be agreed that the education of the future in New Zealand must be more and more related to the environment, of the pupil and to the affairs of the people, and to concern itself to a far less extent with things that .are, remote and which do not enter intimately into the lives of the people. Hitherto, and now, the tendency has been, and is, especially in many high schools, to deal almost exclusively with what is foreign to the pupils’ daily lives and experiences, or, as the report mentioned says, with ' pedantic studies and abstractions. Educators have come to realize that if education is to be ■ effective it must deal with the realities which surround and enter into the pupil’s existence, or, to put the matter into concrete form, in the rural schools of New Zealand there can be no education worthy of the name which does not use as a means to its ends the soils, the fields, the physical features, the plants, and the animals in the school environment, or which does not concern itself intimately and 1 sympathetically with the social aspirations and business relationships of the people who live in the country.

There is one great practical difficulty in the way of using the real affairs of the people as the source and inspiration of educational effort, and that is that in most cases the teachers themselves have not been educated on these lines, and have difficulty in using the natural phenomena and the real experiences of the country as educating agencies. The school itself has for. years been more or less of an exotic growth. It has not been native to the environment. The school and the affairs of the farm, for example, have been far apart. The education which a ' boy or a girl received at a country school had very little in common with the' experiences of the boy or -the girl outside of school hours. True, nature-study, elementary agriculture (so called), and. domestic science have for some years figured in the curriculum, but I fear that to a great extent these have been book subjects and but little related to farm and home interests and experiences. Matters have certainly improved in recent years; but I cannot help thinking that, while the authorities and the teachers are sincere and ' earnest' in their efforts to get away from the old formal routine methods of education, the thrall of the text-book is . still strong upon the great majority. This disability will not vanish until steps are taken : to properly train the rural teachers of the future to an intimacy with-and appreciation of the facts, affairs, and ideals of country life. ■ " - ■

This consideration is fundamental to my subject. No matter how excellent may be. the work of experimental stations and other projects for furthering agriculture, their work can be -of . use

just in proportion to the ; ability, of the farmers as a whole to understand, appreciate, and use their discoveries, and a high degree of such ability , can come only through education of the proper kind.

Another point: Not only should the school in ■ its purpose and method be native to its environment should be, particularly in the case of the country, school, the vital centre of the \ community which it ,serves. As .it. should educate in terms of' the actual affairs of the people, it ought to ; take a leading part in the interests of the people. As ■an example in • point, I . should ' say that , any experimental work which is undertaken in ■ the school districts should be as far as possible associated with the local ■ school.

You may infer from what' I have said that in agricultural districts the aim should be to have all the education of a kind that might be described as agricultural,'’ and that is, in truth, what it amounts to, but not in any strict or narrow sense, or what the pedagogue would -call purely ' vocational. Using the facts and experiences of his 'environment as a means of cultivating his faculties does not necessarily .imply' a materialistic or technical type of education. The latter 'must come after the foundations of education have been broadly and liberally established, and the pupil is destined to earn his living in some way which would .warrant a specific education combined with a certain amount of definite instruction in agriculture. • .

How these aims' may. be achieved is set forth in a scheme of agricultural education for New Zealand prepared by Mr. Hogben and submitted to the General Council of Education on the 30th June, 1915. So far as the future of a rational primary-school education is concerned, there should be no difficulty, provided the education in district high schools and in high schools of the pupils who are to be the teachers of the future is on the right lines. In the district high schools an agricultural course, is provided which is perfectly sound in conception provided it is duly and efficiently executed. That . something is lacking would, seem to be suggested by . the context of remit No. 11 on your present order paper.* To a large extent the agricultural science portion of the curriculum' is carried out by itinerant agricultural instructors, and this, to my mind, is by no means a satisfactory arrangement. The agricultural teacher should be a member of the staff. There are' reasons why this should be so which are hard to explain, but' the chief con-

sideration is that science studies, including agricultural studies, are not of a nature to permit of satisfactory progress under the itinerant-instructor system. Moreover, it is not instruction that is wanted, but education, and under this requirement the itinerant system is rather apt to break down.

I do not think that the best results can be achieved until each high school has its own teacher of agricultural science, helped out .perhaps by the visiting instructors; and the great need underlying the whole organization is a means of educating and training those teachers before they enter upon their work. How this is to be brought about is for the Education authorities to say. It has been suggested that an agricultural college is the solution. Mr. Hogben suggests that instead of going to an agricultural college some of the teachers might go to the experimental farms of the Department of Agriculture if that Department could arrange, to receive them. It appears to me to be quite certain that, not for this end alone but on other grounds, a high degree of co-operation should be established between the - two Departments. All additions to our knowledge arise out of research and experiment, consequently it is from research and experiment that the teachers of agriculture, in whatever . capacity, must • draw their knowledge and inspiration. On the other hand, their ability to conduct investigations, experiments, and research postulates a certain kind of education for the experimenters and research men. The two interests are most intimately and inseparably bound together, and only by the closest co-operation can any great achievement be brought about. To sum up the matter in its educational aspects I would state the following points : .

(1.) The Department of Agriculture should strengthen its organization for research, investigation, and experiment by rearranging and co-ordinating the machinery at present at its disposal for that purpose. This the Department is endeavouring to do.

(2.) If practicable and possible, the Department of Agriculture should arrange provision for a certain number of teachers destined for agricultural-science work in district high schools to enable them to associate for a time with its specialists, and to receive instruction and bias towards agricultural science from them.

(3.) For reasons which I shall endeavour to explain later, the Education Department might extend its scholarship provisions to one of the institutions of the Department of Agriculture, in order that young men of adequate education might be available for training thereat, with a view to subsequent employment as field officers of the Agriculture Department, or as agricultural instructors under the Education Department.

With these provisions a satisfactory measure of agricultural education for our present needs might be instituted in New Zealand, except in the case of those pupils who leave the primary school to take up agricultural work direct. It is suggested that in the scheme of education already referred to this defect may be remedied by the institution of afternoon and evening classes at suitable centres, and this appears to me to have everything to recommend it.

These considerations on agricultural education and its progress, as I have said, are fundamental to research and experiment, and it is equally clear to me that education having for its aim the improvement of agriculture, through raising the standard of intelligence of the agricultural population, must be based on the work of agricultural - research and investigation throughout the world, but especially within the Dominion. To this task the Department of Agriculture must apply itself with ever-increasing zeal and by every available means. In recent times there has been an ever-growing clamour on the part of the farming community for the services of qualified officers to give advice in connection with cultivation, liming, manuring, cropping, grassing, control of disease, &c., and to carry out experiments and demonstrations, and farmers are inclined to be impatient that more is not done on these lines. Few are . aware that to this day the Department has in its service for undertaking this work the merest handful of trained men, and the few officers whose duties lie in the direction indicated are apt to be so engrossed in efforts to comply with demands of every conceivable description, and from the North Cape to the Bluff, that the pursuit of any continuous experimentation or planned research is practically impossible. We have nothing in New Zealand to compare with the fully equipped experimental stations, with their complete complement of trained men and facilities for the uninterrupted pursuit of experiment and research, as is the case in other countries, and this . is . a state of matters which is not easily remedied. Not only does the Department lack qualified specialists for research, and men of all-round training for the prosecution of local experimental and demonstration work, but of men having the necessary training and at the same time sufficient experience of New Zealand .- conditions to make their services of value there are very few, and these few generally have more remunerative fields for their abilities.

Local experimental , work has been pursued by the Department with the means at its command, and has not been unproductive of good, pace the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, but a better and more complete organization is certainly most desirable, and

just... as the initial;. step towards securing a better system of agricultural education was found to be the preliminary training of the teachers, so in the case of the work of. the Department of Agriculture the prime necessity is to provide a system of training for the men to whom the . work , of the Department might be subsequently entrusted. So far as I can see, there. is only one way to. bring' this about, and that is to limit strictly the administrative and routine duties of the few officers now in the . Department’s service who are specialists in some particular branch of the Department's work, and to bring them together at one of the experimental stations for the purpose of engaging more definitely in experimental and 'research work appropriate to the needs of the Dominion as a , whole, and at the same time to undertake the training of the men whose subsequent services as officers of the Department would; enable an adequate expansion ■. of the.' work to be undertaken at the . experimental . stations themselves, and throughout the various districts of the Dominion. • v

The original subject suggested to me for this Conference was 7. Methods of Experimentation as pursued in other Countries, and their Application to New Zealand.” The methods adopted in other countries, such as Great Britain, France, Canada, and the United States, almost without exception depend upon an organization which has as its. basis either an agricultural college or an experimental; station, staffed by experts, and associated with that station certain .. substations :in • the provinces or. , counties, smaller experimental areas, and a system of farmers' co-operative experiments, all directed and supervised by the headquarters staff and immediately managed by officers trained at the central institution. Under that system there is the least possible waste of effort, and that is without doubt a type of organization which, considering our present limited supply of trained men, it would be most expedient for New Zealand to follow.' Probably you will not agree with. me . when I assert that before any movement is made to establish more experimental farms steps should be taken to' properly equip one of the existing farms for this purpose, and to set the scientific men to work there ; but if you will consider the matter seriously and try to divest your minds of local bias you cannot fail to agree that that is the only sensible course to pursue.

In insisting upon the need for an adequately equipped and staffed base station I do not overlook the fact that district work correlated with, but to some .. extent independent of, the main station.is very necessary ; indeed, one of the functions of the main station would be the training of. men for 'district work t but in the : meantime the experimental work that has hitherto, been carried

on throughout'New Zealand must not be allowed to lapse. I think, however, that to a large extent it should be redirected, and the change,; to my mind, should be in the- direction of reducing the. co-operative experiments carried out by farmers on their farms in favour of an extension ,of experimental substations of the type of Ashburton, although perhaps on a smaller scale, and in.the establishment of. experimental areas, associated with district high schools or elsewhere, in conjunction with local agricultural committees. Time; ' has . demonstrated that' the attainment of trustworthy results from experimental work involves a sacrifice which not one farmer in a thousand is prepared to make. There must be a close attention to detail, and an exactitude in carrying out the work in all stages, which the; private farmer cannot properly undertake. Inevitably there comes a time when it is a question of proper, attention to the experiment or a loss in connection with the other crops, on the farm. Needless to say, .the experiment suffers. Experiments must necessarily be conducted regardfess of the profit to be derived from the produce of the experiments, and when that fact is brought home to a ■ farmer his interest in experimental work, as an undertaking by himself, ceases. Certain kinds of trial work, such as variety-testing and trials of manures, when conducted on a reasonable scale, are possible to the private farmer without unduly interfering with his ordinary farm - work, and these experiments should be continued, limiting the number undertaken. in any district, and . increasing-, the size of the plots to an extent which would warrant the trouble of separate threshing in the case of cereals, or feeding off the plots individually, and thus obtaining proper records in the case of forage crops.

The local agricultural committees should be in a position ;to help the Department to carry out such experiments. in a feasible way, and although they have not so far had an opportunity, of rendering any considerable amount of service in this direction, it is hoped that as matters are now. on a better footing in the Department itself progress may be made. The fact that local experimental work. in Great Britain has been undertaken mainly on the co-operative principle with success is no criterion for- its success here, for the work in the Old Country has been undertaken to a' largeextent by the “home” or “estate”, farms, with all their conveniences and- plentiful supply of : labour, and by patrons of agriculture, who are similarly well placed for carrying out . the work. . As I have hinted, it is probable that experimental work, requiring great care and attention to detail, will have to be undertaken at the ' substations . and . experimental ; areas, but. as' to the exact basis of working these I have no official ? authority for

pronouncing. In the case of Ashburton the entire conduct and execution of the work is in the hands of the Department, and it is probable that one or two similar stations in the South Island will be established.

I do not think, however, that, any considerable extension of experimental substations should be taken in hand until the possibilities in this direction provided by the special institutional farms of the Mental Hospitals and Education Departments have been exhausted. There . are at least five of these in the South Island well provided with suitable land and ample labour and -equipment, and it would seem as if mutual advantage would accrue to the Departments concerned by co-operative action for the institution of a scheme of strict experimental work on these farms. ' There is also the question as to whether or not the local authorities might not reasonably be expected to bear a share in the establishment of these district substations, as is done elsewhere.* In the American State of Ohio, for example, what is known as the ■ County Experiment Law authorizes the establishment of county experiment farms, in order to demonstrate the practical application under the local conditions of the result of the investigations of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, and for the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of the agriculture ■ of the various counties of the State. It authorizes the County Commissioners, after certain preliminary procedure, to levy a tax for the - purpose, out of which the cost of the experiment farm, its equipment, and the cost of labour is met, to an extent not exceeding £4OO annually. The management of all county experiment farms is vested in the Director of the Ohio Experimental ’ Station. The law also requires that a county experiment' farm shall contain not less than 80 acres of land. .

Any provision that may be made in the direction of establishing experimental substations will not, however, obviate the necessity for other experimental areas, . especially in a country like New Zealand, which, exhibits such a variety of local conditions. It has been suggested that schemes of - experiment on reasonable areas might be operated in association with high schools throughout the Dominion, and provided satisfactory arrangements were made for the cultural work this appears .to me to be an excellent idea. As ■ a reasonable working basis I would suggest that the school, supported by the local agricultural committee or other responsible authority, should provide a minimum of io acres of land, and

arrange for the supply of labour, teams, and implements, and that the Department, through its officers, should formulate experimental schemes in consultation with the local authority, provide the seeds and manures, and subsidize the cost by payment of a fixed sum per acre, according to the class of work undertaken, when satisfied that the work has been properly carried out.

The essence of my remarks constitutes a plea for co-operation —co-operation between Departments, and between them and local agricultural bodies for the furtherance of their joint interests. Departments, much less than individuals, can afford to pursue their own ends and interests exclusively without consideration of the common good. The important thing is to get together and get to work. We can do the. work and do it well, and to the complete satisfaction of the needs of the Dominion for years to come, with the opportunities that may be grasped by a little mutual arrangement and understanding, and without resort to any chimerical objective such as a National Institute of Agriculture. Such an institute was proposed recently at a Philosophical Institute of Canterbury meeting. The institute was to be governed by men of scientific standing. With only one or two exceptions . the men of scientific standing in agriculture in New Zealand are in the service of the Department of Agriculture, and, so far as I know, when some of the arrangements which I have foreshadowed are brought into operation they will be more than content to remain there.

f * The remit (from Feilding Agricultural and Pastoral Association) was as follows: "That at each high school there should be a small area of land suitable for farm experimental work, and that a science master should be attached to such school to supervise the agricultural education of the scholars and work in connection with the Department of Agriculture.”- - -

* In the discussion on the paper Sir James Wilson mentioned that County Councils in New Zealand have the power to subsidize and to have a farm under their management. The power, however, has never been exercised.