6oo Report of Small Holdings Committee, [jan., 



III. Recommendations as to Loans for Equipment of Small 

 Holdings. — That in addition to the experimental action of the 

 Central Department in acquiring land and establishing small 

 holdings in particular localities, State loans similar to those 

 granted under the Public Money Drainage Act of 1846 should 

 be made available, for the purpose of enabling landowners, 

 under certain conditions, to undertake the necessary adaptation 

 and equipment of voluntarily provided small holdings through- 

 out the countr}/. 



That such advances should be granted at the lowest rate of 

 interest possible without loss to the Treasury. 



IV. Recommendations as to Agricidtnral Education. — (^) That 

 further facilities should be provided for agricultural instruction 

 in rural districts, and that for this purpose an addition should 

 be made to the present grant to the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries. 



{b) That part of any such additional grant shall be applied 

 tQ the systematic training of those who are intending to culti- 

 vate the land in a small way, and to the provision of simple 

 demonstration plots — designed to meet the particular wants of 

 small cultivators — under the supervision of the collegiate insti- 

 tutions already provided. 



(^r) That in all rural and semi-rural elementary schools nature 

 study and manual work — both based on rural needs — should, 

 after the three R's, be made compulsory subjects of the curricu- 

 lum, and that the system of school gardens should be encouraged 

 as much as possible, and on practical lines. 



id) That children should be released from elementary day 

 schools during the summer months for longer periods, and their 

 attendance required in winter in further courses to a later age. 



V. Recommendations as to Agricultural Co-operation. — 

 {a) That practical steps be taken by Government -to promote 

 all forms of agricultural co-operation, and especially to en- 

 courage the formation of Agricultural Credit Societies by means 

 of State loans, on the approved security of a Central Co-opera- 

 tive Agricultural Credit Association. 



{b) That an annual grant be made to the Agricultural Organi- 

 sation Society by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, under 

 such limitations as the Board may think desirable. 



