8 i'kk.sii)i:xt'.s address. 



The principal industry in South Africa will always be 

 Agriculture in all its branches, and we cannot ijcstow a greater 

 benefit on the coming generation than by spreading scientific 

 principles and methods, combined with intelligent 'practical 

 application , amongst the farming community. This should 

 be done not only at the Agricultural Schools, but at all first 

 and second-class schools, by introducing into the curriculum 

 of the Government Schools Elementary Agricviltural Science. 

 It is not intended to transform the boys at their schools into 

 Analysts, Botanists or Zoologists, but tliey should receive 

 so much intelligent instruction in the Elementary Agri- 

 cultural Sciences as to enable them to profitably read and 

 understand, and turn to use, the valuable information which 

 appears in our agricultural journals in the Union as well as in 

 Rhodesia. The value of the teaching of Science to the State 

 and to the general social conditions of the people is perhaps 

 best illustrated in Germany. According to Professor Wilhelm 

 Ostwald of Leipzig, who is a great authority on the subject, the 

 spreading of the principles of Agricultural Science in Germany 

 has had the effect that that country can now produce foodstuffs 

 for three times the numiber of people it had before elementary 

 Agricultural Science had become part and parcel of the edu- 

 cation of the people. It is true that at present large areas of 

 arable soil in South Africa are not yet cultivated, 'but it s^hould 

 be rememibered that profitable agricultural farming does not 

 depend upon getting small returns from large areas, put under 

 cultivation with much labour, 'but upon obtaining the maximum 

 yield from a limited area 'bv skilful cultivation. 



1 think tliat I have satisfactorily jjroved that the teaching 

 of Science has been considerably advanced during the last forty 

 years. There was no professorship or lectureship for any branch 

 of Science in existence, in any of the schools or colleges of 

 South Africa, forty years ago, whilst at the present time we 

 have over sixt}' professors and lecturers appointed to teach 

 certain branches of Science in our Colleges and Technical and 

 Agricultural Schools. 



It has been frequently asked : Are the colleges and technical 

 schools in a position to carry out in a satisfactory manner the 

 programme which they have put before themselves? Have 

 their institutions a sufficient staff and a proper equipment of 

 apparatus, materials, and practical means of instruction for 

 teaching all the branches of Science, not mierely by blackboard 

 instruction, but ]^ractically and experimentally, which is ad- 

 mittedly the only efficient means of teaching a scientific subject? 



Before 1 answer these questions I beg to draw your atten- 

 tion for a moment to a few figures, which 1 'have taken from 

 the annual reports issued by the Superintendent-General of Edu- 

 cation of the Colony from 1894 to 1909. I must limit myself 



