28 EDUCATION IN DAIRY FARMING, AND 



school the pupils are able to see and follow all the opera- 

 tions of culture. The pupils received are either boarders, 

 day-boarders, or externes ; the first named pay £16, the second 

 £10, and the externes £2 per annum, in three terms in advance. 

 They are also required to pay per annum a sum of 20 francs 

 (16s.) as a guarantee of payment of articles broken, spoiled, or 

 lost by any fault of their own. The Government annually pro- 

 vides £96, and the Department £160 for scholarships, which are 

 arranged by the Minister of Agriculture and the Prefect of the 

 Department, upon the proposition of the committee of surveil- 

 lance. These scholarships, or purses as they are termed, go to 

 successful pupils whose parents' means are shown to be insuffi- 

 cient for the education of their children. Pupils are received 

 after examination, which takes place on the third Monday 

 in September, and the course which commences immediately 

 afterwards terminates on the last Saturday in August. Pupils 

 must be between fourteen and twenty years of age, and they 

 are required to furnish the usual registers of birth, vaccination, 

 and good conduct. The examination for entrance is, in the 

 French language, the metric system, and the history and 

 geography of France ; but a knowledge of other subjects assists 

 them in competition for vacancies. The course of instruction 

 .lasts two years, and comprises both theory and practice — 

 one half of the day being devoted to practical work in the 

 field, the laboratory, or the dairy, or with the stock ; visits are 

 also made to the neighbouring farms. The theoretical in- 

 struction includes geometry, levelling, plane and lineal draw- 

 ing ; physics with special regard to their application to the 

 dairy, chemistry as applied to dairy farming ; natural science, 

 including botany, geology, zoology, diseases of plants ; general 

 agriculture ; rural engineering, dealing with the implements and 

 machines of the dairy farm ; rural economy, zootechny, espe- 

 cially with regard to the health of farm stock ; agricultural 

 accounts, and of course, as in almost every French school, 

 military exercise. Lessons last one and a half hovirs, the first 

 half hour being devoted to questions upon the preceding lesson. 

 Scholars who fail to pass their examinations may double their 

 period of instruction, but if they have received a scholarship 

 they lose the advantage of such State assistance. Certificates 

 of instruction when awarded convey certain rights, such as the 

 benefit of a year in the Volontariat, and the right to compete 

 for scholarships offered by the National School of Agriculture. 

 The 2yersonnel includes a director, who is in charge of the in- 

 .stitution and the farm ; and a sub-director, who takes charge of 

 the instruction and the discipline of the scholars. Especial 

 subjects are physics, chemistry, and dairying. There are two 

 professors ; — one who teaches agriculture, rural economy, and 



