No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 327 



Duriug the year ended June 30, 190G, G24 lectures were delivered 

 with an average attendance of 57, and 14,994 visits and demonstra- 

 tions were given. 



• The establishment of several horticultural demonstration plots 

 throughout a county as examples of proper methods of selection 

 and cultivation of fruits, vegetables and flowers, is regarded as a 

 feature oi' great educational value in the scheme. At each plot 

 ^which it is recommended should not exceed a quarter of an acre 

 in extent) it is usual to plant apple, pear and plum trees, as well as 

 gooseberry and current bushes. Kaspberries and strawberries are 

 also planted, and the remainder of the plot is utilized for growing 

 vegetables, herbs and flowers. The planting is done under the super- 

 vision of the instructor who periodically visits the plot for the pur- 

 pose of directing its cultivation and conducting demonstration's. In 

 all 108 plots of this kind were established. 



The section of the scheme which is most generally appreciated 

 is that of regulating the purchase by County Oomissioners of trees 

 in bulk, and the reselling of same at cost price to residents in the 

 connties. Every care is taken to ensure that the trees so distributed 

 are of good quality and free from disease. The Department's horti- 

 cultural overseer in the first instance inspects the nurseries from 

 which the Committees decide to obtain their supplies, and the 

 advice of the county instructor is afterwards available for the 

 purchasers. 



From weekly returns furnished by the instructors, it appears that 

 duriug the twelve months ended 30th September, 1906, the follow- 

 ing varieties and quantities of trees were planted as a direct result 

 of the operation of the scheme: 



Apples . . .• 33,172 



Pears 1,519 



Plums 2,475 



Damsons 143 



Cherries 122 



Grooseberries 12,457 



Currants 5,233 



Raspberries 5,447 



Other fruits 7,091 



Other trees 158,907 



ITINERANT INSTRUCTION IN POULTRY-KEEPING. 



Twenty-nine itinerant instructors were employed during the year 

 and their duties as in previous years included the delivery of lec- 

 tures on poultry-keeping, visiting poultry runs, and giving practical 

 advice to poultry keepers, conducting classes on the fattening, 

 killing, plucking, trussing and preparation of fowl for market, 

 and on the grading, testing and packing of eggs. These classes 

 were conducted on a more extensive scale than previously, and were 

 of a practical nature. 



The following is a summary of the work of the instructors in 

 months ended September 30, 1906: 



Number of lectures, 2,024; average attendance, 67; number of 

 classes, 629; average attendance, 14; visits (fowl runs), 10,656. 



