DAIRYING IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 51 



various branches of Italian farming and crop growing. This, 

 however, does not exhaust the list : there are six agricultural 

 chemical stations. Italy is also provided with a system of in- 

 struction by means of lectures, which are carried on in a very 

 complete manner, and the whole system is under the Ministry 

 of Agriculture. The total cost of the Agricultural Department 

 is shown by the copy of the Budget for 1887-8, which we have 

 received, to be 5,385,943 lire (about £215,000). Of this sum 

 the subsidies to the schools, stations, and agricultural com- 

 mittees amount to 1,579,000 lire (about £63,000), to which a 

 number of smaller and special grants might be added. In this 

 report, however, we are concerned only with the dairy instruc- 

 tion which is provided, and we are fortunate in having been 

 able to see in previous years the chief stations to which refer- 

 ence has been made. 



Reggio-E'inilia. — Professor Zanelli, in answer to some ques- 

 tions put to him, says that the students at the dairy school of 

 Reggio follow a biennial course of instruction in the theory and 

 practice of dairying and cattle management. The instruction 

 has the double end of teaching milk manipulation and the 

 breeding of farm stock. For that purpose pupils are taught 

 the theory of anatomy and physiology, which serve to introduce 

 them to the study of zootechny. Following this question on its 

 practical side, the students work daily in the cow-house and 

 piggery, and among the sheep. For assistance in the dairy 

 they are instructed in the elements of physics and chemistry, 

 and obtain practice in the use of the instruments of milk con- 

 trol, and analysis. 



The pupils are divided into two squads — one remaining a 

 week among the stock, and the other for the same period in the 

 dairy. Each squad is under a teacher, who daily designs the 

 work to be undertaken. Four and a half hours daily are 

 devoted to theoretical study, and the remainder to practical 

 work. There are upon the average 30 pupils, of whom five 

 only are externes, lodging in the town of Reggio. The fees for 

 pupils who board and lodge in the school amount to £16 per 

 annum, and there is seldom a vacancy. Up to this moment 

 every pupil leaving the school with his diploma has found em- 

 ployment when he has desired it, so highly is the course 

 esteemed. 



The Government provides a sum equal to three-fifths of the 

 entire expenditure, but we find by the Budget above referred to, 

 Stato di Provisione Delia Spesa, del Ministero di Ar/ricoltura, 

 that the total cost is estimated at 40,900 lire (£1636), while 

 the Government contribution is put at £600, and the contribu- 

 tion received from local authorities is £400. The authorities 

 of the school especially desire still further means of investiga- 



