InstrucHon to Farmers and Farmers' Sons. 393 



The Ai'i^ROVAL of Outside Bodies. 



Prior to the terniiuatiou of the class in each centre, an exam- 

 ination was heldj the attendance of students at which was purely 

 voluntary. Recognising the extreme value of technical education in 

 the direction of agriculture, the Australian Natives Association olfered 

 a gold medal for competition at all centres, to become the property 

 of the student gaining the highest number of points at the examina- 

 tions. This incentive was productive of the happiest results, and a 

 number of tine papers were sent in from each centre. A student 

 attending tho' Tatura class, Mr. A. Baldwin, was successful in 

 winning the A.N. A. gold medal, with a series of highly creditable 

 papers. The medal was subsequently publicly presented to Mr. 

 Baldwin, by the President, at the annual meeting of the A.N. A., 

 held at Daylesford. 



It is worthy of note, that the splendid library of approved text 

 books, attached to the class at each centre, was freely made use of 

 by the students, and there is every reason to believe that home 

 reading contributed in no small degree to the success of the examina- 

 tions. 



The Continuation and Extension of the Classes in 1903. 



The complete success which attended the classes in their initial 

 year, made it abundantly clear that there was a strong desire on the 

 part of young farmers to better their knowledge of the more 

 theoretical side of Agriculture, but in order to secure more per- 

 manent good resvilts, it appeared necessary to not only extend the 

 length of the term of the classes, but to increase the number of 

 centres. The management of all details in connection with the 

 classes, was placed in the hands of Dr. Howell, the Chemist for 

 Agriculture, whose Branch was represented by five lecturers. Applica- 

 tions were again invited through the country Agricultural Societies, 

 with the proviso that unless a guarantee of 40 students, over the age 

 of 16 years, could be given, no class could be allotted. A sum of 

 £500 was placed at the disposal of the Director by the Council for 

 Agricultural Education for the purposes of meeting and defraying 

 the expenses in connection with the classes. 



The following districts gave the required guarantee, and classes 

 were allotted to them — Boort, Warrnambool, Maffra, Shepparton, 

 Geelong, and Kyneton. 



The lecturers were Messrs. Lee, Garnsworthy, Robertson, Osborn, 

 and Trend, of the Chemical Branch ; Messrs. Archer (dairying) and 

 Hart (poultry), of the Dairy Branch; Adcock, Viticultural Branch; 

 Meeking and Cock, Fjiitomological Branch ; with Haile (wool 

 sorting), and Hawkins (poultry), of the Working Men's College. 



Dr. Cherry also delivered a lecture at Maffra, Warrnambool, and 

 Kyneton, on dairying. 



