The Department op Agriculture during the War. 643 



THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE DURING 



THE WAR. 



[This article, which commenced in the Ma\', 1920, issue, and is conchided in this, briefly 

 reviews the work carried out by the various branches of the Department during the 

 years of the war, and records some achievements despite the many difficulties 

 encountered through the abnormal conditions then existing. — Acting Editor.] 



Agricultural Education. 



The foregoing- outline of the work carried out by the various 

 divisions of the Department does not deal with that important part of 

 its activities known as " ag-ricultural education." details of which are 

 published in its annual reports. The functions falling under this 

 branch of the Department are manj-, including' the teaching and 

 training- of students at the five ag-ricultural schools and experiment 

 stations, agricultural research, experiments and investigations, exten- 

 sion work, lectures and demonstrations, improvement and manage- 

 ment of stock and crops, etc. Agricultural education, therefore, is 

 concerned with a large number of measures taken to improve our 

 knowledge of the agricultural conditions of the country and the 

 dissemination of that knowledge among the farming population. The 

 staff at the agricultural schools and experiment stations collaborate 

 and co-operate with the officers of the different divisions at head- 

 quarters (referred to earlier in this article) engaged in research and 

 investigational work. The combined effort is bearing fruit in an 

 increase of our knowledge of agricultural conditions, practice, and 

 problems, as witnessed in the position of agriculture to-day compared 

 with not so many years ago. It is not possible to include in this 

 article all the many and diverse matters which were dealt with by the 

 agricultural education section, with its five agricultural schools and 

 experiment stations (each in itself a miniature department of agri- 

 culture for the area relegated to its sphere of operations), and brief 

 reference onlj- will he made of certain main subjects, common to all 

 the institutions, which came under purview during the time of the 

 war. 



As has been referred to in connection with other divisions the 

 outbreak of war, with its trail of consequences such as staff shortage 

 and financial stringency, was the cause of arresting to a large extent 

 the steady forward progress of agricultural education. Nevertheless, 

 in the face of many difficulties, the work accomplished in 1914-15 and 

 since has brought many benefits to the farmer, who has come to rely 

 more and more on the services of Government officials. The number 

 of students in residence at the various schools was affected by tii"- 

 large number which left to join the military forces, as clearly shown 

 in the following table, viz. : — 



Attendance in Regular Courses. 



N... N... 



1914 205 191T 109 



1915- 104 1918 126 



1916 130 



