AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 217 



to be from twelve to fifteen years of age. They were examined, 

 in the first instance, by the inspector of schools, in grammar, 

 geography, and arithmetic ; and scarcely a single question did 

 they fail to answer correctly. They were then examined, by an 

 agricultural professor, in the scientific branches, and by two 

 practical farmers in the practical departments of agriculture. 

 Their acquaintance with these was alike delightful and astonish 

 ing. They detailed the chemical constitution of the soil and the 

 effect of manures, the land best fitted for green crops, the 

 different kinds of grain, the dairy, and the system of rotation of 

 crops. Many of these answers required considerable exercise of 

 reflection ; and as previous concert between themselves and the 

 gentlemen who examined them was out of the question, their 

 acquirements seemed to take the meeting by surprise ; at the 

 same time they afforded it the utmost satisfaction, as evincing 

 how much could be done by a proper system of training.&quot; 



I confess the establishment at Larne afforded me, in this 

 respect, very high gratification. The agricultural studies are 

 not made compulsory, but voluntary j and one hour per day is 

 devoted to agricultural labor. The Board of Education in 

 Ireland have now under their control three thousand teachers ; 

 and it is proposed, wherever it may be deemed useful, to make 

 agriculture a standard branch of common-school education. 

 They already have seven agricultural training establishments ; 

 and it is in contemplation to have twenty-five, with which it is 

 proposed shall be connected small model farms, so that every 

 where, besides furnishing this most valuable instruction to the 

 pupils of the schools, the farmers in the vicinity may be excited 

 and instructed to improve their cultivation. Thus diffusive is 

 the nature of all beneficence. A good deed, like a stone thrown 

 into the water, is sure to agitate the whole mass. Its strongest 

 effects will be felt where the blow is given ; but the concentric 

 circles are seen extending themselves on every side, and reach 

 much farther than the eye can follow them. In the moral as 

 well as physical world, the condition of mutual attraction 

 and dependence is universal and indissoluble. We have reason 

 to hope that no good seed is ever sown in vain, but will sooner 

 or later germinate and yield its proper fruits. 



These establishments do certainly the highest honor and 

 credit to the intelligence and philanthropy of Ireland, and their 

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