Vol. IV. No. 7-5. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



59 



THE RELATION OF TEACHERS TO 

 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. 



The following is ;x report, taken from the (ileaiwr 

 of January 18, of an address delivered to the teachers 

 attending the recent agricultural course at Jamaica by 

 his Grace the Archbishop of the West Indies : — 



The Archbishop said the subject he was asked to speak 

 on was the relation of teachers to the general agricultural 

 development of the island. They would observe that he had 

 several times before addressed the teachers attending the 

 agricultural course on the same subject, and he supposed the 

 reason for that was because he had so nuich to do with the 

 work of the teachers in all parts of the island, and that he 

 was able to advise on the subject in a general way. He 

 wanted them to realize that there was nothing technical in 

 what he was about to say. They had had a variety of 

 subjects dealt with by teachers who were competent to deal 

 with the technical part of the subject. \\'hat he had to do in 

 the time at his disposal was to try and stimulate them in 

 what they had to do in their work as teachers towards the 

 general agricultural development of the island. 



There was some misunderstanding as to the work they 

 were trying to carry out, even hostility ; but he asked them 

 to believe that the work they were called upon to do was 

 a great work, to remember that they came into daily contact 

 with the boys and girls who within the ne.xt fifteen years 

 would be the working people of the island, and pointed out 

 that theirs was the opportunity of turning the children's 

 attention — of implanting in their minds what would be 

 retjuired of them — in such a way as to have a profound effect 

 on the working folks of .Jamaica. He wanted them to get it 

 into their minds as a settled thing that the more a workman 

 knows the better workman he becomes, as well as a more 

 cthcient labourer of the soil. He knew a number of teachers 

 who were setting such an example to the youths in their 

 midst. He knew that many of the best elementary school 

 teachers had the best grounds in their districts before these 

 efforts were being attempted, and he hoped that this example 

 would now be general in spite of the rules. He urged on 

 them to remember that it was their privilege to show the 

 couununity in which they dwelt what was true industry and 

 the value that was to be put on the methods of the things of 

 life. 



He had heard the question put : ^^'hy should we trouble 

 .ourselves to introduce agriculture in our schools whilst it is 

 not done in other countries ? It was true that in England, in 

 .some of the agricultural districts, there had been little 

 .ixgricultural education ; but it was also true that the English 

 farmer was getting behind the rest of the world — was missing 

 his chances of competing with other people of the w^orld. In 

 .certain parts of France, particularly in Normandy, and in 

 Denmark, the small farmers had learnt to apply a great many 

 .things that were taught in agriculture but which were ignored 

 .by other peo[ile, and which resulted in their being able in 

 .some things to compete with the world. Let them think 

 what a great pity it was to have to import such a large 

 .quantity of Blue nose and of Danish butter into this country 

 — an agricultural country. But .Jamaica people had not 

 learnt farming yet. .Jamaica peoi)le had learnt to make 

 sugar and rum and to handle coffee, and in even that they 

 istill had something to learn. Some of their leading men 



were even slow to acknowledge that there were things new 

 to them or to learn to adopt scientific methods. And so 

 from generation to generation the Jamaica people were 

 ignorant of the things that go to make up the farmer. That 

 was not their fault, and so they had still to be taught to 

 become farmers in Jamaica. That, he thought, answered the 

 question whether agricultural education should be taught in 

 this country. They did not want to wait for a generation or 

 two to learn agriculture. They wanted to go ahead and be 

 able to compete with the rest of the world. 



His Grace related a story illustrating the carelessness in 

 the methods of grading coffee here. The practical endeavours 

 to do agricultural work, his Grace went on, were of the 

 highest importance, and he asked them to let no one dissuade 

 them from the usefulness of disseminating this knowledge 

 among the children in the .schools, as the more general 

 knowledge our jieople had, the more they would be able to 

 apply it to specific subjects. 



The speaker gave two apt illustrations of what was 

 being done to injure the reputation of Jamaica fruit abroad. 

 Travelling along any of the roads any day, it was no 

 unconnnon sight to see a cart laden with bananas, and on top 

 of the fruit were three or four [lersons along with their loads. 

 The cart driver had, either through civility or through what 

 he believed to be christian kindness, given them a lift. The 

 result was that when that fruit got to England the dealer 

 who Jiought them would find to his cost that they were 

 rotting, and the result was loss to him, and loss to the 

 reputation of our fruit, as it was only natural that he would 

 prefer to buy bananas shipped in crates. With oranges the 

 method was to place a cart ready to receive the fruit at the 

 side of a bank, and then the people came out one by one 

 and, standing on the edge, dumped the fruit into the cart. 

 The effect of such treatment was not seen until some time 

 after the fruit arrived in England, and the eftect was of 

 course disastrous. If he (the speaker) had the money he 

 would send a few of his hearers to see what was done abroad 

 in the way of packing and handling fruit for the market. 

 Only that day at the Board of Agriculture the matter vvas 

 discussed, and it was suggested to ha\e a chart and 

 on that chart should Ise written in the shortest crispest 

 way what people should do and what thej' should not 

 do. For example, he would like to see among them 

 this : ' Don't sit on the bananas.' A chart like that in 

 every school read once a week would do an immense amount 

 of good within five or six years. 



In concluding an admirable address his Grace expressed 

 the wish that the teachers would be encouraged to go on 

 most heartily in the course they were pursuing, that they 

 would be stimulated to go ahead in sjjite of adverse criticism 

 and so leave their mark on the youth of their district who 

 would bless them, and their country would also bless them. 



White Sorrel. Mr. C. J. Hering, of Sur inani 

 writes, in reference to the note in the Agrindtural News 

 (Vol. Ill, p. 167) on the Red Sorrel {Hibiscus Sahdariffa), 

 asking to be informed if the white (yellowish) sorrel is found 

 in the British West Indies. He says : ' The plant resembles 

 in all respects, except in colour of stem, leaves, and fruits, 

 the red sorrel. The flower is the same as the red sorrel, 

 while the jelly, marmalade, or wine made from it has 

 a greenish-yellow colour, but the same flavour as the red 

 one.' We are of opinion that the red variety is preferred in 

 the West Indies and that the white, though well known, is 

 not used to any extent. Possibly some of our readers can 

 supply information on this point. 



