10 May. 1018.] 



^1 mcrirun Agriculture. 



261 



All these figures point to the intensification of farming as compared with 

 Victoria, and much greater diversification in crop production. 



AGEICULTUEAL EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA. 



The educational system in California is very sim.ilar to that of 

 Victoria, but the system of control is utterly different. 



(A) The County is the Unit. 

 Each county of the State controls its own educational system, and 

 is responsible for raising by taxation the necessary funds for this pur- 

 pose. The statutes or the political code of California prescribe what 

 type of education shall be given by the State as a whole, but it is left 

 to the individual county Government to see that the educational pro- 

 gramme is carried out. I am given to understand that the schools in 

 each State of the Union are governed in a similar manner. This is 



High School at Patterson. Erected at a Cost of 60,000 dollars. 



quite the opposite of the centralized administration of education which 

 prevails in the Australian States. The educationalists contend that 

 the county system produces excellent results. There is rivalry between 

 the counties, and each takes great pride in the schools erected within 

 the county. It develops county initiative in educational policy. The 

 high schools and grammar schools throughout California are on the 

 whole magnificent buildings, replete with elaborate teaching equipment, 

 and giving evidence of liberal policy and wise provision for the future. 

 As an example, a new irrigation settlement at Patterson, which I 

 visited, and which comprises 17,000 acres of land, the 600 settlers of 

 Patterson erected an elementary school, at a cost of $55,000, and a high 

 school at a cost of $60,000. The money was raised by bonds floated 

 at 5 per cent., repayable in 40 years. Initiative is shown, too, in mould- 

 ing the school policy in accordance with the trend of the people's 

 requirements in the county. Thus Oakland is a centre of manufactur- 

 ing industries. It has erected a magnificent technical school, with a 

 highly-trained technical staft', and has elaborately equipped it from 



