EDITORIAL. 535 



These state farms, often spoken of as stud farms, serve not only as 

 models to the whole country, but they produce the best stallions, the 

 best bulls, and the best seed for distribution throughout the country, 

 thus providing- an effectual means for the improvement of stock of 

 various kinds; and in the performance of this service they are so well 

 managed that they are said to yield an annual revenue of a million 

 and a half dollars to the state. More than three thousand stallions 

 are owned by the state and hired out for public service at small fees. 

 These animals are all under military control, and the men of the 

 cavalrv regiments serve their three years upon the stud farm, thus 

 not only saving the state a heavy bill for labor, but gaining a large 

 amount of knowledge and experience in horse breeding and manage- 

 ment which they are able to turn to account on returning to their own 

 farms. 



Equally interesting are the steps taken by the government for the 

 development of cattle breeding, the improvement of dairy cattle, the 

 elimination of contagious diseases, and the fostering care of the poul- 

 try industry, for which a state farm and school have been established 

 on the crown estate of Godollo. Here the most suitable breeds are 

 reared, and the cock birds are exchanged with the farmers for common 

 poultry. In 1901 nearly eight thousand cocks were sent out in this way, 

 and a similar system of exchange is followed in fui-nishing eggs for 

 hatching. Local egg-collecting stations have been established, mostly 

 in connection with the local cooperative dairies, which aid the farmers 

 in marketing their eggs. By S3^stematic sorting, and by eliminating 

 the German middlemen, the farmers are able to realize from 30 to 40 

 per cent more for export eggs. Under this system the exports of 

 poultry and eggs have increased 80 per cent in five years. 



To encourage silkworm culture, a home industry said to be carried 

 on by 100,000 peasant families, the state has established 115 nurseries 

 for the propagation of mulberry trees, a silk-breeding station for pro- 

 viding and distributing the eggs, twenty -four cocooneries or depots 

 for collecting the silk, and five silk factories. 



While Mr. Dymond admits that this state aid in the commercial 

 development of agriculture has been a gigantic success in Hungary, 

 and that "the countr}' is going ahead by leaps and bounds as a direct 

 consequence," he calls attention to some of its obvious disadvantages. 

 He points out, however, the advantages of the centralized system of 

 agricultural instruction, as applied to the whole country, and draws a 

 comparison between it and the lack of system of Great Britain. In 

 the latter country "it is the system of decentralization, of remitting 

 to the county councils the duties of agricultural education, under which 

 title almost all scientific development of agriculture is now carried on 

 in this country [England], that is the diflicult}" in the wa}" of the sys- 

 tematic application of any scheme to the whole country. The great 



