228 A(;RICLrLTURAL KDL'CATION IN AUSTRALIA. 



cheese from lo lb. of milk. Butter is j)rocluced at the rate of 

 one pound by weight from 25 lb. of milk. 



There is. in connection with the college, a well-equipped 

 stock lecture-theatre, chiefly used for short courses by the 

 veterinary surgeon. It is so arranged that, without arjy difficulty, 

 typical cattle may be brought right into the hall, in front of the 

 lecturer, and their various points indicated. Last year 117 far- 

 mers attended a short course of this kind. 



A large .silo has been erected on the farm for providing the' 

 stock with food. In this connection, maize has been found to 

 be very profitable if cut up into chaff. The maize-chaff is mixed 

 with sorghiun, and the mixture is blown up to the top of the 

 silo by an air-blast. The mixture of maize and sorghum then 

 falls down in an even distribution for storage. This system of 

 silage — the only system that is said to pay — is turned out at 4s. 

 per ton, and the silage is fed to the milch cattle, mixed with 

 hay, etc., as it does not answer when fed alone. 



The only breed of sheep kept is Romney-Marsh, used for 

 the production of stud animals. 



The soil round about Hawkesbury is a poor sandstone, with 

 a layer of iron-stone gravel, on an average, about two feet below 

 the surface, and growing .sour grass (Iridaceae). The grounds 

 about the College extend over nearly 3.500 acres, of which about 

 1,000 acres are cultivated. There is a fully-stocked orchard, 

 with an evaporator and cannery, and practical instruction is 

 given in fruit-gfowing, preserving, packing, and also in market- 

 gardening. There is, moreover, a farm of 116 acres of alluvial 

 soil on the banks of the Hawkesbury River, and from that water- 

 way, said to be " the most picturesque in the world," a complete 

 irrigation system is here carried out ; and students are taught 

 along the lines of various aspects of intensive cultivation. Near 

 Hawd<esbury College is a large concrete elevated water-tank, 

 containing river-water for irrigation. This river-water, on 

 account of the clay in suspension, is not always fit for potable 

 purposes, and so, for drinking, rain-water has to be used. 



On our departure from the institution, Mr. Potts, in reply- 

 ing to a vote of thanks, reverted to what he had said at the out- 

 set, that Hawkesbury was teaching only practical agriculture, 

 but that it was hoped to teach the science of agriculture in 

 another 20, 30 or 50 years. The institution does not undertake 

 botanical or entomological determinations, or chemical analyses, 

 for farmers : these services may be done at Hawkesbury. but 

 the authorities do not favour such a course, work of that kind 

 being performed by the departmental experts stationed at Syd- 

 ney. The State's chemical, entomological, botanical, veterinary. 

 and dairying problems, says Prof. R. D. Watt.* are 

 studied by these experts, who spend part of their time at their 

 headquarters in the Agricultural Department in Sydney, and 

 part in travelling round the country and giving the farmers the 



* Briti.'^h .Association Handbook of New South Wales (1914"). 213. 



