lo Aug., 1909.] 



Agriculture in the State Schools. 



535 



THE PROGRESS OF ACIRICl LTURE IN THE STATE 

 SCHOOLS OF THE SALE (EAST GIPPSLAND) DLSTRICT. 



E. R. Davev, J/. A., LL.B., Inspector of Schools. 



Agriculture is now taken as the Science Course in 55 of the schools in. 

 this Inspectoral District. About 50 of them have undertaken the course 

 for the first time during the past twelve months, and the efforts made have 

 generallv been attended with much success. This may largely be accounted 

 for by — 



{a) The suitabilitv of the district ; 

 {b) The enthusiasm of the teachers; and 



{c) The interest manifested in the work both by children and 

 parents. 



MAIZE PLOT. ORBOST SCHOOL. 



There is no doubt that this vast district has never been experimentally 

 treated, and soils which have long been discarded, are now l)eing found to 

 give results of which they were thought quite incapable. Some of the 

 most striking results obtained in the .school plots during the past year might 

 be mentioned : — 



At Bengworden, where the school plots consist of a bght sandy loam, 

 potatoes w^ere produced weighing as much as 2 lbs. 10 ozs. — the largest 

 ever grow'n in the district. On this sandv soil, too, the sugar beet, maize, 

 and pumpkin crops were ver\ good ; but the thousand headed kale, 

 which is new to the district, throve .so well, that it is now being planted 

 generally by the farmers in the locality. 



Again, at Longford school, where the soil consists of almost pure sand. 

 a plot was sown with cow peas, which made such excellent growth through 

 a long ?.nd dry summer — while all the other plants, more or less, com- 

 pletelv succumbed to the heat — that they formed a verv valuable object 

 lesson to the farmers on drought resistance, manv of whom are now 

 planting them as a summer fodder for the'r cattle. 



