BY THE ENGLISn SCIENTIFIC COMMISSION. 795 



very good service in collecting specimens of plants and 

 seeds of all kinds, and distributing them in small parcels 

 to agriculturists throughout the country. 



1536. Are the agricultural colleges that you have men- 

 tioned under any control of the Agricultural Department? 

 — No, they are entirely under the control of the State 

 governments. 



1537. The endowment of the agricultural colleges, how- 

 ever, was originally granted, was it not, by the central 

 Government ? — Yes. 



1538. So that the central Government has endowed them, 

 but has handed over the government of them to the States ? 

 —Yes". 



1539. Do you conceive that the agricultural colleges are 

 doing much good ? — I think they are doing good in the way 

 of teaching science, and I think they generally resolve 

 themselves into ordinary schools in which science is pre- 

 dominant. In connection with them there are farms, but 

 I think that the pupils are not very desirous of gaining 

 manual information or dexterity in the way of ploughing. 

 Indeed, in America, the effect of education is to render 

 people impatient in regard to labor. In Massachusetts, 

 where education is most generally diffused, it is almost 

 impossible to find an American who is willing to plough, 

 or to do any low manual labor. The people of Massachu- 

 setts prefer higher employment : they make up, however, 

 for this deficiency by the invention of labor-saving ma- 

 chines. There are more labor-saving machines invented in 

 New England than in any other part of the world. 



1540. Do you think that they get as much clone by their 

 labor-saving machines, and as well done, as they would by 

 human labor ? — More and better, I think. There is always 

 required a certain amount of human labor, and this is 

 accomplished by the Irish and the Germans. 



1541. I judge, simply from hearsay, that there must be 

 some scientific teaching going on in the State schools, be- 

 cause of the demand for elementary books in science in the 

 State schools ? — I think there is. I suppose the elementary 

 books are on natural philosophy and chemistry, probably in 

 the secondary schools. I may say that there is in the United 

 States a large number of normal schools for teachers, and 

 they have lectures on all subjects, and it is considered very 

 important that teachers should be well taught. 



1542. I think there is one direction in which the Govern- 

 ment of the United States has done a good deal for science 

 which has not been mentioned to-day, and that is in the 



