THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



347 



giving the right food to the right animal, and the doing 

 the right thing in the right way ; to lessen the cost of 

 production and to increase the annual nturns ; to win 

 more fully the prize we all have in view, viz., money, or 

 money's worth — to secure by scientific culture a secu- 

 lar success. I will now enter upon the question of 

 education, and I purpose to consider the necessary 

 changes in the course of study to be pursued, and the 

 system of educ;ition necessiuy, in the agricultural schools 

 of England. What then is our object in education ? It 

 is to draw out the latent powers of youth ; to culture 

 for the future as well as for time; to discipline the 

 heart as well as to inform the intellect ; to make happy 

 men, respected men, men beloved by their fellow-men, 

 and to insure success in life. Let it be remembered 

 that education is not a mere matter of schoolmasters 

 and of school discipline ; parents cannot, in reality, 

 delegate their responsibilities. Rely upon it, education 

 commences at a much earlier stage Ihau we commonly 

 recognise ; and from whom the child learns his mother- 

 tongue, from the same does he imbibe his principles. 

 We speak of breeding and blood, as if hereditary like- 

 ness arose from the simple fact of parentage; depend 

 upon it, the force of imitation, and the power of in- 

 fluence and example have more to do in the formation 

 of a character than the power of descent. We who are 

 accustomed to the maxims of breeding admit, as a fact, 

 that much size goes in at the mouth — that the quantity 

 and quality of the food govern the physical develop- 

 ment of the animal ; and, rely upon it, the mental incli- 

 nation and the dispositional development of the child 

 are governed more by those quick and early inlets to 

 the soul — the eye and the ear — by the influence of 

 those around ihem, than by any inert inborn principle. 

 We are daily becoming more alive to this fact in the 

 careful selection of servants, and in the choice of play- 

 mates and companions ; and I enter into this digression 

 to show that the boy may have received a wrong im- 

 pression long before reaching the hands of the school- 

 master, and the tutor has probably to deal with a spoilt 

 child, instead of a promising, well-cultured, well- 

 trained boy ; the twig has received a wrong twist, and 

 to rectify the past, to antidote past poison, to regain 

 wasted opportunities, and, at the last, to stand well in 

 the race with so unpromising a colt, is more than we have 

 a right to expect ; and I here express my conviction 

 that more than half the failures and sorrows of life are 

 traceable to the want of the proper fulfilment of pa- 

 rental discipline, extending from childhood to the age 

 of twenty-one years. I am a great advocate for the 

 culture of the heart as well as the culture of the head ; 

 no man is truly a man without it ; and it is especially 

 the duty of parents early to implant, to foster, and to 

 uphold sound Christian principle ; to culture in acts of 

 reverence, in feelings of love and affection, and in deeds 

 ot unselfish kindness ; to insist on obedience and truth- 

 fulness. And it has been my observation that without 

 this Christian security the most successful secular life 

 is at best but a mistake, and the most hopeful intel- 

 lectual attainments a comparative abortion. There 

 must be the ballast of sound principle, of right feeling. 



and right doing, as well as the sail or the steam-power 

 of ability. Education cannot be purely secular to be 

 successful ; and though my observations on this point 

 may appear beyond the mark, yet I plainly assert that 

 no education is perfect, no prosperity sure, no happi- 

 ness complete, which is not based on Christian prin- 

 ciple. I have informed myself, by an extensive cor- 

 respondence, upon the course of agricultural study 

 generally pursued throughout the kingdom. In the 

 Colleges, such as Cirencestt-r, Kensington, and Queen- 

 wood, the whole course of study is enlightened, suitable, 

 and satisfactory. In the local schools, generally, the 

 sciences are much neglected; in more than one-half 

 of the prospectuses received from such schools the 

 sciences are not even mentioned, and in many, where 

 alluded to, it is in a foot-note, to state — " taught if re- 

 quired." Now, it is not the fault of the schoolmaster 

 that this is the case : it is for us, as agriculturists, to 

 make up our minds, to have clear views upon this point, 

 and to express our wishes. It is for us to say whether 

 these things ought thus to be. I observe there is the sa me 

 dunning at Latin and Greek as when I was a school- 

 boy, and I dare say there is the same plausible reason 

 given for the continuance of the system, viz., discipline. 

 Now there is no one a greater advocate for mental 

 discipline than myself, but why the dead languages are 

 so infinitely superior in their influence I cannot for the 

 life of me conceive. To me it appears such studies may 

 make boys word-searching mental-memory machines ; 

 but what is there to excite the observation, to induce 

 inquiry, to lead to reflection and real thought ? Now, 

 where the dead languages so essentially fail, the sciences 

 so eminently succeed. The sciences dwell upon subjects 

 of real utility— subjects which meet us at every turn; and 

 such subjects of every-day life are ever suggesting con- 

 sideration and research. They constantly interest the 

 boy, and teach him to use both his perceptive and re- 

 flective faculties. The boy sees a plant, and contem- 

 plates its construction ; he thinks over the process of 

 vegetation, the works of the roots and rootlets, the 

 ascension of the sap, the functions of the leaves, and 

 the whole busy process of accelerated nature most ac- 

 tively working to manufacture food for man. He sees 

 a steam-engine, and at once examines its manufacture ; 

 he understands its mechanism, and contemplates the 

 possibility of some mechanical improvement. All 

 nature and art, to a mind scientifically cultured, 

 are vast fields of interest, of observation, and thought. 

 Surely, then, gentlemen, for those destined for agri- 

 culture, a study of the sciences is the course to pur- 

 sue, to manufacture thinking boys and intelligent 

 thinking men. Give the boy an early bent to under- 

 stand the why-and-because of all around him ; you 

 thus place before him a deep mine of wealth, which it is 

 discipline indeed to comprehend, and a study through- 

 out life fully to acquire ; he never lacks a subject for 

 intelligent thought, and you culture the mind, by a 

 gradual process, to make constant efforts ; the know- 

 ledge and facts acquired, all bearing upon agriculture, 

 are literally power— power to apply in the manufacture 

 of meat, and the manufacture of corn ; and you culti- 



