10 



seed of a half to one acre at the price of one shilling. The United 

 States Department of Agriculture are so convinced of the practical 

 utility of the improved nitragin that they are distributing large 

 quantities to American farmers. In this way the material will be 

 thoroughly tried in two hemispheres under practical conditions, 

 and abundant evidence should soon be forthcoming as regards its 

 effects. It is to be hoped that British investigators will not be 

 deterred by past disappointments from putting the new form of 

 nitragin to the test. 



THE AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION CON- 

 FERENCE AT GLOUCESTER.* 



Under the auspices of the Gloucestershire County Council, a 

 conference on agricultural education was held at the Shire Hall, 

 Gloucester, on October 15. There was a large attendance not only 

 of those locally interested in either education or agriculture, but 

 also of delegates from many of the other counties. After a few 

 preliminary remarks from the Chairman, Sir John Dorrington, Lord 

 Onslow opened the proceedings, and explained the work his 

 department was charged with in regard to education. He justified 

 the retention of that work by the Board of Agriculture ihstead of 

 allowing it to be merged in the general educational system ad- 

 ministered by the Board of Education, on the plea that agriculture 

 in England was so far from being the leading industry that the 

 specialised education it required would get scant attention were 

 there not his own department peculiarly interested in fostering it. 

 He claimed that the constant and sympathetic communication be- 

 tween the two departments secured more favourable results than 

 could be acquired under the Board of Education exclusively. The 

 work of the Board of Agriculture was confined to assisting the 

 collegiate centres under which the greater part of the country was 

 now grouped ; there was, however, a large blank on the educa- 

 tional map, for the whole of the west country, including Glou- 

 cestershire itself, had no centre of university rank from which 

 agricultural instruction emanated. He trusted that the present 

 conference would pave the way towards remedying the need he 

 had indicated. 



Sir William Hart-Dyke, to whom the first paper, on higher agri- 

 cultural education, had been entrusted, was unable to be present ; 

 his paper, of which an abstract was read, warned the meeting of 

 the difficulty that now confronted all countries in the matter of 

 higher education because of the great draft on their funds for the 

 future training of elementary schoolmasters. 



A paper by Prof. Middleton, of Cambridge University, next dealt 

 with the proper function of experimental plots in local agricultural 

 education ; Prof. Percival, of Reading, who followed, dealt with 

 the ideal course of instruction in an agricultural college. The 



*From "Nature," October SO, 1904. 



