AGRKIJLTUKAI. i:])U( ATION IN SOUTH AFRICA. 203 



ing and Building Construction ; Agricultural Law and Eco- 

 nomics ; Horticulture ; Viticulture and Wine-making ( at Elsen- 

 'burg onlx). Further Carpentry, (ieneral Blacksmithing and 

 Horse-shoeing, and Harnessmaking are taught as iiurcly prac- 

 tical subjects. 



The instruction is both practical and theoretical, more than 

 half the student's time being devoted to practical work. The only 

 exception is in case of the one-year men. who get mainly theo- 

 retical instruction. They mtist take most of the lectures of the 

 first and the second year men. and get only a relatively small 

 amount of practical instruction, as they are supposed to be well 

 accjuainted with ])ractical farming when starting on their course. 

 These courses of instruction are eminently suitable to those of 

 our future farmers who do not wish to carry their studies in the 

 secondary school to the Matriculation or Senior Certificate exami- 

 nation with a view to taking a somewhat similar course at one of 

 the newly- founded Agricultural Faculties mentioned above. 



I have some criticisms to offer on the courses of instruction 

 as at ])resent gi\en in our Agricultural Schools, but these I shall 

 bring forward towards the end of this paper. With reference to 

 the Short Courses of instruction given at our Agricultiu'al Schools 

 I wish to state that the subjects for each course are so chosen as 

 to serve best the grain and stock farmers in the tirst course, and 

 the wine and fruit farmers in the second course, certain subjects 

 being given in both courses. These courses are excellent for 

 those already farming who cannot get away from their farms for 

 more than 2-4 weeks at a time. Further, they offer an excellent 

 0])])ortunity to teachers and the general public for getting an 

 insight into the principles and practice of farming in South 

 Africa. For this reason one of these courses (usually the second) 

 is always so arranged as to fall in the vacation of our public 

 schools. These courses are much better ])atronised than the one 

 and two years courses, and they are becoming more popular year 

 by year. 



To the above I must add that the lecturers at these schools 

 do much extension work to educate the outside public h\ means 

 of correspondence, lectures, demonstrations, and ])ersonal visits. 

 All these schools are fairly well equipped, have fairly coiuplete 

 and well-trained staffs, and stand under the able and energetic 

 departmental control of Mr. Alex. Holm, the Under Secretary 

 for Agriculture (Education). 



Present and Future Needs. — In a country like South Africa, 

 where ^Agriculture is the main industry of its people — I say this 

 without forgetting or underrating the importance and usefulness 

 of our great mining industry — properly trained agriculturists, and 

 many of them, are a primary need. In a country like our own. 

 where long droughts and numbers of dangerous stock-diseases 

 are to be counted amongst the farmer's more or less permanent 

 enemies, this becomes all the more imperative. Whilst farming 

 is the oldest profession of man, it is bound also to last as long 

 as men will live upon our planet, and it will always continue to 



