582.- EDUCATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF 



AGRICULTURE. 



The following extracts arc from an address on Education for trie 

 Improvement of Agriculture, delivered at Halifax, by Mr. James W. 

 Robertson, the Commissioner of Canada :—" * * ° Our progress 

 is made by advances in education and agriculture The only sure way 

 of advancing any worthy interest is by the application of intelligent 

 labour— there is no other means. The application of intelligent 

 labor affects the individual and his occupations, it affl cts his locality, 

 it affects his province, it affects the whole country. Whether a man 

 gathers wealth out of a gold-mine, or whether he accumulates it at 

 home, or remains reasonably poor, he makes progress in himself by 

 the application of intelligent labour: and the intelligent quality in 

 his labour depends upon the measure of his education. For educa- 

 tional purposes we have established school houses and colleges ; and 

 in passing 1 may say that there is a heap ol foolishness in the mind 

 of ordinary society as to what constitutes an educated person. A 

 good many suppose that the obtaining of a degree from a college, or 

 the having in one's possession a parchment from some such institu- 

 tion. insur< s the enjoyment of an education. A few of the most 

 helpless men I have ever known were fellows who owned a piece of 

 parchment like that. They never had educational experiences that 

 lead to the ability to do things, to bring things to pass at the right 

 time in the right way. When I say that intelligent labour rests upon 

 education I do not mean to say it rests upon the number of days a 

 man may have gone to school or the number of days or years he may 

 have attended college. What I mean is that it n sts on the experi- 

 ences of life that lead to ability to think, to know, to do and 

 to manage life and things. Are we giving the young people of this 

 province a fair chance to gain the ability to manage things on the 

 farm '? If we have not done so in the past can we not do so now ? 

 I think we can. ° * * I would like to mention instances 



of a few ways in which agriculture is being developed elsewhere or is 

 being developed here. It is wise to take note of all the methods and 

 means that have been successful. I think it is foolish for a man to 

 say that he will start from the beginning without first doing that ; 

 such a man would proclaim himself a fool in any practical under- 

 taking. The most that any people of any generation can do is to 

 improve a little on what their forefathers left them. You have made 

 progress along several lines. Cannot these lines be broadei ed and 

 lengthened : can new ones be joined to them, while still getting full 

 seivice from what has been found useful in the past ? There is need 

 for more knowledge among people who farm in regard to managing 

 tlie natural forces in accordance with the laws that govern all plant 

 lifi and that govern all animal growth. There is a real difference 

 between knowledge and ability. There is a wide difference between 

 soil physics and practical tillage. Every man who understands soil 

 phvsics can manage land and crops better than if he did not under- 

 stand the principles. Knowledge will help every man to greater 

 ability, but it does not in itself constitute or confer lm>ine<s ability. 

 A man may know all about the composition of a -oil and still lie a 



