The Young Fanners' Club

"The Last Chance" on 15th November suffered much from the fact that the copy we had was in a poor state. Blurred images and blurred sound track did not altogether spoil the effect for those who were seeing it for the first time, but those few who thought one part funny had obviously not realised to the full what this fine and sincere film was about. "Pacific 231" seemed to me better on trains than on music; but I am not really competent to judge the latter, and I suspect that here again we were not well served by the sound track.

By a coincidence the film presented at the third showing was also by two directors : "I Believe in You" thoroughly belies its novelettish title : it has a good story, and tells it well; the climax may be a little strained but the film does radiate a warm human sympathy without lapsing into sentimentality and without, I imagine, glossing over the facts. I am additionally grateful to it because it had technical virtues that could be specified. "Our Village" was another Petroleum Board film showing the change that mechanisation is bringing to country life; it was pleasant to watch, pleasant to hear—Mr. Ralph Wightman's voice is always full of character—but the general effect was a little glossy : for one thing the weather throughout was too good, the cloud groupings too picturesque.

For the last meeting Donald Duck was in good form and poor Edgar Kennedy not : in this particular short he seemed too limited in both ability and location to be worth reviewing. However, "The Window" was very good value; just as shattering to see a second time when one knew it was going to turn out all right, as it had been the first time, when at least for a moment one began to have agonising doubts whether it would. The merits of this picture are not easy to put one's finger on : the slow, suspenseful, moving of the camera we have had many times before in other thrillers; the playing certainly is beyond reproach; direction, editing, etc., so unobtrusive as never, at the time, to be thought of : no ! it is just a superbly good story, full of dramatic irony : the parents, for instance, take their little boy to apologise to the murderer in a manner that, given the circumstances of the story, seems normal, even inevitable : again, the scene where the murderer with an ironic smile nudges into position with his foot the key that the boy is groping under the door to reach, is quite unforgettable. Thank you, Mr. Tatzlaff, for a near-masterpiece ! F.J.W.

YOUNG FARMERS' CLUB

Leader: MR. K. G. COULTHARD. Deputy Leader: D. C. HOLMES. Committee: R. D. WHEATLEY (Chairman), E. W. PEAT (Vice-Chairman), H. C. BULMER (Secretary), M. J. McCALLUM (Treasurer), C. R. G. McNEst (Librarian), J. B. HUZZARD, P. R. B. MEGGINSON.

The Club made two visits this term. The first took place on I 1th October, when we visited Mr. Fridlington's farms for the third time in order to study progress. We visited his new corn drier and store, and were shown how it works. Once again we wish to express our gratitude to Mr. Fridlington and Mr. Stephenson, who provided us with tea.

The second visit, on 9th December, was to the British Sugar Corporation factory at Poppleton. We were shown a film to introduce the process of extracting sugar from sugar beet and followed this process in a tour of the factory. Our thanks are due to Colonel Trollope for arranging this visit and for providing tea afterwards.

Five indoor meetings were held. On 1st October a debate was held, the motion being "The Combine Harvester is a welcome alternative to the older Binder and Thresher". P. R. B. Megginson and J. B. Huzzard, in proposing the motion, pointed out that the great advantage of the combine harvester is the speed at which it reaps the corn. D. C. Holmes and C. R. G. 'McNeil, opposing the motion, claimed that the combine harvester could not be used in this country, unless farmers learned to control the weather. The motion was lost by 10 votes to four.

On 15th October lectures were given on "The Deep Litter" and "Ferreting" by two members of the Club, H. C. Bulmer and A. H. Sneesby respectively. Bulmer emphasised the economic advantages of the deep litter over both the Free Range System and the Battery System of poultry-keeping. Sneesby gave a brief account of the history of ferrets and the various methods of using them.

A Brains Trust was held on '29th October to replace the advertised programme, the speaker having been prevented from attending by fog. The panel, who dealt worthily with a wide variety of questions, consisted of five members of the Club. At this meeting Mr. Coulthard proposed that in future the Club should be limited to 30 members. This change was accepted by the Club.

On 26th November A. H. Sneesby gave another talk, his subject being "Grass Drying". He gave brief details of five types of drier, and described grass drying on a Worcester farm.

The last meeting of the term was held on 10th December and was an open meeting. Mr. P. G. T. Ward spoke about the difficulties of a young farmer who has to start farming without much capital and who will not inherit a farm. He gave practical advice, much from his own experience, about overcoming these difficulties.