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they should occupy the students time. In the early times of Agricul 

 tural Colleges, it was thought that large &quot;model farms,&quot; whose labor 

 should be performed by students, were the best means of imparting 

 truly practical knowledge. The first attempts of this kind, probably, 

 were made in Germany; and it was there, too, that the system was first 

 found to be a failure. Since then, the same experience has been gone 

 over in England, France, and in this country. 



The result substantially was, first, that the graduates from model 

 farms too frequently failed as farm managers elsewhere ; second, that 

 the patronage of these institutions, large at first, rapidly diminished 

 after the first few years, and in some cases was almost reduced to zero. 



It is not difficult, at this time, to see the causes of these failures. 

 The performance of so large an amount of physical labor left the stu 

 dents too little time, and still less of the needful mental freshness, to 

 acquire that knowledge of the natural causes governing success or 

 failure in agricultural pursuits, which alone can lead to the correct ap 

 plication of general principles. 



They therefore became mere apprentices to the art of agriculture 

 mere routine men, who could do admirably on the spot, and under the 

 same circumstances, under which they had learned their lessons ; but 

 were apt to fail so soon as removed from that narrow circle. No wonder 

 then that they themselves, as well as their parents, should come to the 

 conclusion, that after all the home farm was about as good as the model 

 farm ; especially considering that the work done at home paid the 

 laborer himself, while that done at the &quot; College,&quot; seemingly at least, 

 served mainly to defray the expenses of that establishment. 



There is another and often well-grounded cause of failure, and of 

 distrust on the part of agriculturists, of the efficac) of &quot;model 

 farm&quot; teaching. A truly model farm must be lucrative in its financial 

 results; for that, after all, is &quot; what we are after.&quot; If not lucrative, 

 it is not, as a ivhole, a model to be followed ; and it is clear that to be 

 lucrative, all considerations of an educational character must be subor. 

 d mated to the business requirements. That is, the interests of the 

 farm, and not those of the student, must be mainly kept in view. 



Now, this is not flattering news to those who, in depriving themselves 

 of their sons labor t ou the home farm, often do so at a considerable 

 sacrifice. Moreover, should the model farm be a financial success, it 

 will always labor under the suspicion, that this measure of success is 

 largely owing to its being backed by outside advantages and capital, 

 which would not be at the command of a private farm similarly man- 



