322 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



natives, has placed agricultural education first upon its pro- 

 gramme; the latter, having first of all to deal with a large 

 population of the most energetic European planters in the 

 world, has placed it later. 



There is no doubt that education, if properly conducted, is 

 one of the greatest agencies in agricultural progress. Not only 

 does it produce in the native new desires, and so tend to raise 

 the general standard of living in the country (and thus tend to 

 require more and more varied agriculture), but if rightly guided, 

 it may teach the boys to look to agriculture as a means of 

 livelihood, instead of, as has hitherto happened in most tropical 

 countries, tending to make them all look to the towns and to the 

 learned professions. 



There is now very little doubt that direct teaching of 

 agriculture as such, in the primary schools, is undesirable. 

 The teacher, among other reasons, does not know enough 

 about it in the majority of cases to be able to do better 

 than the surrounding village population, and consequently 

 is-liable to criticism tending to reduce the value of his work. 

 What can be done, however, is that school gardens may be 

 opened, and in them the masters and pupils may learn to deal 

 with plants that are not as yet familiar in the villages. They 

 learn the general principles of agricultural and horticultural 

 work just as well, they tend to introduce " new products " to the 

 villages, and they do not lay themselves open to criticism in 

 the same way. The work should of course be under the 

 general supervision of trained agricultural teachers, who can go 

 round at frequent intervals and inspect the school gardens. 

 Deliberate and well-organised schemes of this kind have now 

 been in operation for some years in Ceylon and the West 

 Indies, at least. 



Having passed through the primary school, the pupil may 

 receive more direct agricultural instruction in secondary schools 

 or in agricultural colleges, and this is already in full operation 

 in the West Indies. The old agricultural school in Ceylon was 

 closed some years ago, as it was found that its pupils went in 

 for anything rather than agriculture, and as yet no more modern 

 institution has been opened. 



Before the poorer villager can do anything but cultivate his 

 old crops in the old way, he must be provided with some access 

 to small capital at a cheap rate. This in general must be 



