Vol. I. No. 4. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



59 



EDUCATIONAL. 



Barbados. 



The following cxtiiict is taken fioni the recent 

 Report bv the Insjieetors of Schools at Hirbado.s for the 

 year l<)0"l :— 



' The Imperial Dt'iurtment of Agiicultiuc lieUl another 

 ■course of leetures in agriculture in Sei)tember, and ten m jre 

 male certificated teacher.s were declared competent to give 

 instruction to their |iu|(ils in the [irinciples of Agriculture. 

 There are now 34 teacher.s who have l)ecn placed in the first 

 rank, and who will thi.s j-ear prepare their jmpils in this 

 .subject. During the year the hoys of the 4th, 5th, (5th and 

 7tli Standards were examined in some i!4 schools in jiortions 

 of Blackie's Tropical Reader.s, Books I and II, and the 

 results were satisfactory ; and we expect still Ijetter results 

 this year. At the Local Kxhiliition held at Blowers on 

 January 14, 1902, the Commissioner of the Imperial 

 Dej)artment of Agriculture offered jirizes to school cliildren 

 for growing plants in pots and boxes. Seventeen children 

 won such i)rizes. We hope that many more children will 

 coniiiete for these prizes at the next exhibition.' 



Agricultural Teachinaf. 



The need of closer as.sociation between the 

 United State.s Dejiartinent of Agriculture and the 

 fanners, for whose benefit this Deiiaitnu/nt is suji}iorted, 

 is referred to in the report lor 1901 of the Seci'etary of 

 Agricidture as follows : — 



I am convinced that the publications of the Depart- 

 ment do not in themselves constitute all .sufficient means for 

 the dissemination of information on agiicultural subjects 

 among our people. Wliile the work of the Department and 

 the stations has already been so far disseminated and 

 ai>plied that it has made iinportant changes for the better in 

 our agriculture, the spread of the influence of these institu- 

 tions is comparatively slow, because the means for directly 

 reaching the farmers which they now possess are inade(|uate. 

 The fanners' institutes may in a great mea.sure supply this 

 lack. AVhen iirojierly organized, they will bring to the 

 masses of our farmers the information which they need to 

 enable them to understand and apjily the results of the work 

 of the Department and the stations, and will impress upon 

 them, by practical illustrations and demonstrations, the bene- 

 fits which advanced scientific knowledge may confer U[)on 

 our agriculture. Through the institutes, as in the case of 

 other educational agencies, the living teacher coming in 

 contact with the living worker can produce results which it 

 is hopeless to exjiect from printed documents however well 

 written and illustrated. 



The Education of the Young Fanner. 



Ill ail parts of th<' world tlicj education of the 

 young generation of fanners and j)lanters is a matter 

 which is occupying a large amount of attention. It has 

 been insisted in some quarters that scientific teaching 

 is of greater importance in this training than any- 

 thing else, — a point of view which has done harm to the 

 ■cause of agricultural education. It cannot fail to be 

 recognized, however, that the business (jualitications of 

 the tirrmer or planter are of nioi'e importance than a 

 .scientific education, and further, that a combination of 

 the two is the ideal at which we should aim. Indeed, 



without a knowledge of business in its widest sense it 

 is impossible for the practical man to make good iiso 

 of the results of scientific investigations on agricultural 

 subjects. The question where a training in the scien- 

 tific ])rinci|)les underlying agricultvire shijidd come in 

 the education of the young farmer is one of great 

 imjjortance. In a recent paper Pi'ofessor Gilchrist 

 deals with this matter in an original manner. * 



After pointing out that the education of the young 

 farmci- should be such as to give him not only a good 

 elementary education but also qualify him as far as 

 possible for the maii.igement of the farm on sound 

 business principles, Prof. Gilchrist states that thu 

 es.sentials of this eflucation are : — 



(1.) A good elementaiy education until the boy is 

 12 or 13 years old. 



(2.) A good general trairiing at a secondary school 

 from 12 to 1.5 or Ki with special teaching on the 

 commercial side, including book-keeping r//((^ <i (jooil. 

 yrouitdiny in (ilcvienldry science. 



(3.) The boy shoukl now return to the farm for two 

 or three years during which ho should acquii'e an 

 intimate acquaintance of all practical work connected 

 with the working of the farm. 



(4.) Having acipiired a knowledge of and famili- 

 arity with farming operations, the youth now devotes 

 one (jr two winters to a really jjractical course of 

 instruction at a College, spending the summer months 

 on the farm. 



-5. If the young farmer means to give attention to 

 dairy farming or poultry keeping, he should now under- 

 go a course of instruction in one or other of these 

 branches. 



How far the idea of allowing the 3'oung planter to 

 learn the di.'tails of estate work before taking a final 

 course in Agiicidtural Science at a College can be fol- 

 lowed in the West Indies remains to be seen. If practical, 

 the young jilanter woidd certainly appreciate to a far 

 greater extent, than at present, the application and 

 value of a knowledge of scientific principles. The diffi- 

 culty would be to find teachers and adapt the course of 

 study at Agiicultural Colleges to suit young planters 

 who would re<[uire special teaching in one or more 

 subjects. The iih.-a is a. good one and de.serves careful 

 consideration. 



AgricLiltural investigations in the Piiillipines. 



The West Indian Islands do not .seem to be 

 unique in the fact that large quantities of foodstuffs 

 are imported which could be grown locall}'. It aj)pear.s 

 that 4,000,000 dollars' worth of agi'icultural products — 

 mostly foodstuffs, — are imjjorted every year into the 

 Phillipines, and that rice, the leading bread-stuff of the 

 islands, is not at present produced in sufficient ([uanti- 

 tios to supply the hjcal clemands. In conseipieiice of 

 these facts the United States Government has appro- 

 priated a sum of money to found an Experiment 

 station in their new Colony in co-operation with the 

 Department of Agriculture. 



* The Education of the Young Farmer, by Professor Douglas 

 A. Gilchrist. Jonnud of ihe lioijal Aiji'icidtund liocietij of 

 EiKjlauil, v(j1. C2, pp. 58-00. 



