20 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



cai instruction in Great Britain. She was slow in realizing her condition. 

 Switzerland, Germany and the United States were fast crowding her out 

 of certain lines of trade and it was a matter of self-preservation that first 

 induced her to foster industrial education. 



At one time England passed a law requiring all goods imported from 

 Germany to bear the inscription, "Made in Germany," This was intended 

 to designate the article as inferior to that made at home. Germany was 

 compelled to bear this reproach for a time, but when, a few years ago, 

 the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, the finest steamship then afloat, steamed 

 into Southhampton bearing a placard so large that all England might 

 read, — "Made in Germany,'' the nations of the earth lifted their hats and 

 said "sublime." And now "Made in Germany" usually bears testimony 

 to a high grade of skilled labor. 



All the leading countries of Europe have fostered agTicultural educa- 

 tion. To show the influence of education and an advanced state of civiliza- 

 tion on the productiveness of a country, we have but to compare the annual 

 yield of mother earth in such countries as Turkey, Greece, Italy and 

 Spain with that of Germany, France and England. In the former coun- 

 tries the soil has been growing poorer for centuries. We know from the 

 population that Italy and Greece maintained at one time, that their land 

 must have been very productive. 



But in Germany, France and England the land is growing more pro- 

 ductive every year. As compared with their condition three hundred 

 years ago, the change for the better is very great. The economic benefits 

 derived from their agricultural schools have been very gratifying. Eng- 

 land spends less by far than either of the other countries, yet with an 

 area of but one-fourth larger than the state of New York, she expends 

 over $400,000 annually for technical instruction in agriculture. The 

 experimental work carried on by Gilbert and Lawes for more than half 

 a century has been of the first importance, not only to the agricultural 

 interests of England, but to the entire world. We could say the same for 

 much of the work done in both Germany and France. 



Industrial education is destined to be the prominent factor during the 

 next century in the amelioration of the masses. It goes hand in hand 

 with the scientific spirit of the times. 



