81 



peas, and other crops; securing the second crop of hay; harvesting- 

 and storing of root crops and potatoes; preparing and seeding land to 

 winter grains, etc. Thus a full 3'ear's attendance at the demonstra- 

 tions will bring all the main farm operations vip for discussion; it will 

 acquaint the students with the best practices in all cases, and will give 

 them a fund of combined practical and theoretical knowledge which 

 can be drawn upon for assistance throughout their lifetime. 



Excnmi&iis. — A fourth method of instruction in agrononi}' at Got- 

 tingen Agricultural Institute is supplied by the agricultural excursions 

 which are made to estates in the vicinity of Gottingen once every week, 

 generally Saturday afternoons, but at times covering one or more days. 

 The professor and students are shown around the premises by the owner, 

 or in his absence, by his foreman, who explains the system of farming 

 followed, the character of soil and manuring in the different fieHs, 

 and the history of these for a couple of years back as to crops grown 

 and systems of fertilization. Stal^les, barns, tool sheds, and other farm 

 buildings are also visited, and the owner's experience is ascertained in 

 each case, questions put by the professor or any in the party })eing as 

 a rule answered in an open, businesslike way. The excursion gener- 

 ally ends with a short social time, when light refreshments arc often 

 served, and points not previously touched upon, or more general topics 

 connected with the farm management, arc brought up and discussed. 

 The party is apparently heartily welcome at all the places visited, the 

 farmers seeming to consider it an honor to receive their visitors, in 

 spite of the fact that the visit in some cases is a yearly or even a half- 

 yearly a^'air. The hospitable spirit shown toward the professor and 

 the young men who are about to enter into practical farm work them- 

 selves, is strong evidence of the high esteem in which German farmers 

 hold their higher agricultural educational institutions and the men who 

 are intrusted with the instruction of their sons or neighbors' sons in 

 their future profession. 



As the excursions are under the charge of the professor of agronomy 

 they are necessarily of greater benetit to students in furnishing infor- 

 mation in this line than along the line of animal husbandry, or special 

 dairy husbandry. In the latter subjects there is, in general, less to be 

 learned iu a German university, or in Germany on the whole, by an 

 American student, than in almost any other branch of study, so far as 

 the writer's experience goes. 



The relations of the Government estate, Weende, to the agricultural 

 institute are somewhat different from those of the other estates visited, 

 in so far as the renter is under contract to give agricultural students 

 occasional talks on the work in progress on the estate, and to allow 

 inspection of the estate by the students at any time. . The fact that the - 

 present renter of the estate, Oekonomierat Beseler, is one of the promi- 

 nent grain growers of Germany, who, besides being the originator of 

 26Y77— No. 127—08 6 



