1922.] 



Farm Institutes 



pentry and joinery in the carpenter's shop, where the timber 

 grown on the estate is utilized. 33G acres are under arable cul- 

 tivation ; the extensive gardens are laid out for market gardening, 

 fruit growing, horticulture and bee-keeping. There are, in fact, 

 four farms which are now being run as one. The soil is a heavy 

 clay mixed with a small amount of chalk and flints. Much of 

 the land is in poor condition, especially the pastures, but already 

 where slag has been applied the beneficial effect on the wild white 

 clover is very marked. The arable land has apparently been 

 ploughed at a shallow depth for many years, and it is intended 

 that a certain proportion of the land each year shall be steam 

 cultivated or sub-soiled when ploughed in order to break up 

 the pan. Up to the present 70 acres have been so treated. 

 Most of the fields, moreover, are wet, and part of the land will 

 be mole-drained each year : 60 acres have already been done. 

 Green manuring and forage cropping are practised. The students 

 will learn many useful lessons from the various measures which 

 are being taken to improve the condition of the farm. 



Courses of Instruction. — The aim of all courses of teaching 

 and training at the Institute is instruction in farming as a busi- 

 ness and in farming operations as a means of livelihood with a 

 view to turning out skilled and inteUigent workers. The estate 

 and lands are worked, farmed and run, on practical lines for 

 profit, vdth a full staff of workers, and the employment of pupils 

 in the Institute is directed to giving them not only a practical 

 acquaintance with tho ordinary operations connected with a farm 

 or garden, but also instruction in the underlying scientific prin- 

 ciples. The teaching given at the Institute extends to carpentry, 

 saddlery, implement repairing, basket making, etc. 



The Winter Course for male students consists of two winter 

 sessions of about six months each, commencing at Michaelmas 

 and ending at Lady Day. Students are therefore able to return 

 to their homes at a busy time of the year and to work on the 

 land until the end of the harvest. Such a method benefits the 

 small farmer by giving him the services of the pupil when these 

 are most needed, besides keeping the pupil in touch with his 

 home surroundings and giving him the opportunity to put into 

 practice knowledge acquired at the Institute. 



Farm classes are a special feature of the instruction and in- 

 clude a practical demonstration of every matter dealt with in the 

 class room, e.g., ploughing, sowing, marketing, hedging, ditch- 

 ing, thatching, the use of different kinds of machinery, stock 

 judging, buying and selling stock, the estimation of the vnlue 



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