118 



THE AGRTCULTURAL NEWS. 



Ai'iuL 11, 191-1. 



COTTON. 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 

 Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date ^larch 2:!, with reference 

 bo the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton: — 



A fair busiDe.ss has been done in West Indian Sea Island 

 •cotton since our last vepoit, comprising principally extra fine 

 •qualities, and nn-diuni grades; the low qualities are .still quite 

 neglected, Egyptian being cheaper. 



The sales include Baibados at I9d, St. Kitts 11 hd. to 

 •22d., Nevis lid. to ISd., Montserrat IQ^d. to 18d, St. Vi'ncent 

 -20d. to 22d., with a few superfine bags at 26rf. 



The report of Messrs. Henry W. Frost & Co., on 

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending March 21, is as follows: — 



The buying this week was limited to 26 bales of Extra 

 Fine oft' in piepaiation at 23d Factors continue to hold veiy 

 firmly at previous prices, thinking the limited supply left of 

 this crop will be wanted in time. The Planters' ciop lots 

 remain as last revioited. 



We quote, viz: 



Extra Fine 

 Fully Fine 

 Fine 



2Gc. 



21:C. 



23c. 



= 14|d. 

 = 13fd. 

 = U{d. 



c.i.f ., it 5 per cent. 



This report shows that the total e.xports of Sea 

 Island cotton from the United States to Liverpool, 

 Manchester and Havre, up to March 21, 1914, were 

 4,828 bales, (i,-")45 bales, and 4,026 bales, respectively. 



A notice appears in the Antigua Sun (February 17, 

 1914) to the effect that the Hoard of Management of the 

 Antigua Onion Growers' Association has appointed represent- 

 atives in Barbados and Trinidad who will furnish periodical 

 advices as to the market prices for onions. The firms are 

 willing to handle consignments at the charge of 5 per cent, 

 commission. As to the Association's representatives, they will 

 use their best endeavours to promote the sale of Antigua 

 produce in the colonies in question. It might be mentioned 

 that there is .^aid to be a scarcity of onions at present in 

 Barbados. 



An account appears in the Trinidad Mirrnr, February ly, 

 1914, of an address by the acting Director of Agriculture, 

 Trinidad, at Xaparima, on agricultural banks. At this 

 meeting a visitor from St. Vincent spoke and suggested 

 that there should be separate banks for different races. 

 It is satisfactory to note the activity which continues 

 to exist in Trinidad as regards rural credit; and the fact 

 that the Government has promised £100 as a help towards 

 capitalizing any practical scheme should be concrete encour- 

 agement for the early materializatirm of ihe proposals which 

 have now been put forward for thirteen years. 



AN INDIAN REPORT. 



The following notes are taken from a Report on 

 Agricultural Education, compiled by Dr. Coleman, 

 Director of Agriculture, Mysore, as a result of an extend- 

 ed tour through Europe, America and Japan. It will 

 be observed that Dr. Coleman is of opinion that; 

 educational iniprovements are needed most in the 

 Indian primai-y and secondary schools, where the 

 agricultural in.struction should be made practical 

 and empirical. Progress in this special direction has 

 IjOw for some years been made in the West Indies. 



It will be seen that a great many different agencies are 

 employed and a great many different methods used iu the 

 furtherance of agricultural education. It is for us now to 

 consider which of these various agencies and which of the 

 methods, if any, with of course modifications to suit our 

 conditions, would in Mysore, be most likely to yield the 

 greatest results with the least expenditure of money. 



We find commonly, if not universally, that agricultural 

 education has started at the top with some form of agricultural 

 college to train departmental workers and the .sons of the 

 more influential and better educated agricultural classes. 

 This has been the case in India also. The hope and expecta- 

 tion has been that, from the few so trained, educative influ- 

 ences would gradually filter down through the lower strata of 

 agricultural society. This, however, must be, at the best, 

 a very .slow process, chietly because of the relatively very small 

 number that can be trained in an agricultural college. The 

 result has been that, sooner or later, the question of educating 

 the agricultural masses with special reference to their 

 occupation, in a more direct manner, has been taken up. 



Before proceeding to this question, it will be well to 

 examine what is at present being done in India in the way of 

 agricultural education. First of all we have, iu practically 

 every province and presidency, an agricultural college giving 

 a three years" course in agriculture and the related sciences. 

 Some of the.se colleges have, in addition, .short (usually one 

 year) practical coursesfor the sons of farmers and landowners. 



The most of these agricultural colleges have been in 

 existence only a few years and it is still doubtful whether they 

 are really going to fulfil the hopes and expectations with which 

 they were started In the Report on the Progress of 

 Agriculture in India 1910 11, p. 49, we find the following: — 



'A perusal of the reports of the provincial Departments 

 leads inevitably to the conclusion that, while the agricultural 

 colleges are patronized to a large extent by candidates for 

 Government emiiloyment, the number of agriculturists who 

 value a scientific education as a preparation for an 

 independent career for their sons is very small. Moreover, 

 the number of passed students who can find employment in 

 the Agricultural Department on a scale of pay commensurate 

 with the standard of education provided must always be 

 strictly limited and the colleges must, therefore, look to the 

 Revenue Department to provide a demand if they are to 

 become popular. This means that until agriculturists begin 

 to put a higher value on scientific training, the colleges will 

 merely be providing a substitute for a general education.' 



Ill this connexion, however, there is a feeling among 

 some of those engaged in work connected with agricultural 

 education that the type of instruction being given in the 

 agricultural colleges is not ex, icily suited to the needs or 



