REGIONAL SCHOOLS OF AGRICULTURE. 365 



The school of Grignon, in the department of Seine-et-Oise, not far 

 from Paris, which devotes special attention to grande culture, to 

 grasses, cereals, and industrial crops, to stock-breeding and to the ag 

 ricultural and viticultural interests of northern France generally. 

 An agricultural station is attached to the institution. The school of 

 Grand Jouan, in the department of Loire-Inferieure, studies espe 

 cially the best methods of bringing virgin lands under cultivation, 

 mixed pastoral husbandry, tenant farming, natural meadows, live 

 stock breeding, industrial and fruit crops, and the agricultural in 

 dustries of the western departments in general. The school of 

 Montpellier, in the department Herault, represents the agricultural 

 peculiarities of the Mediterranean region, embracing live-stock 

 breeding, the replanting of forests, irrigation, silk culture and 

 manufacture, and the agricultural, pomological, and viticultural in 

 terests of the region of the olive, the mulberry and the orange. It 

 has a sericultural and a viticultural station attached. 



These and all other agricultural schools are under the direction of 

 the minister of agriculture and commerce, to whom applications for 

 admission are addressed. By special indulgence foreign students 

 may be admitted. Each applicant must present a record of his 

 birth, a certificate .of moral character from his mayor, a medical cer 

 tificate, showing that he has been vaccinated or has had the vario- 

 loid, and a satisfactorily indorsed obligation to pay the tuition 

 charges at the beginning of each term. Pupils are divided into in 

 ternal and external pupils, and free hearers. The latter are ad 

 mitted by the director of the school, who notifies the minister of the 

 fact. Applicants are examined in arithmetic, algebra, plain geom 

 etry, (four books,) surveying, draughting, leveling, physics, hydro 

 statics, hydraulics, chemistry, geography, etc. A bachelor of science 

 is exempt from this examination. 



The courses of theoretic study embrace agriculture, horticult 

 ure, viticulture, silviculture, sericulture, natural history in all its 

 branches, zoology, and zootechny, physics, mechanics, chemistry, 

 meteorology, mineralogy, geology, topographical engineering, agri 

 cultural construction, rural economy and legislation, rights of ad 

 ministration, agricultural book-keeping, etc. Practical instruction 

 embraces laboratory practice, analysis of soils, fertilizers, agricultural 

 products, etc., water gauging, canal construction, irrigation, agri 

 cultural machinery, manipulation of fruits and vines, live-stock man 

 agement, cereal, grass, and industrial crops, fabrication of alcohol, 

 wine, and oil, farm management, etc. Pupils passing a satisfactory 

 examination on the completion of these courses receive a certificate 

 or diploma. These graduates may, upon the completion of an addi 

 tional course, receive the degree of agricultural engineer. Of these 

 latter graduates a few may obtain two years &quot;stages&quot; in private 

 or public agricultural establishments. These &quot; stagiaires&quot; may 

 be sent to study the agricultural resources of foreign countries, and 

 to investigate special subjects, presenting a memoir of their investi 

 gations to the administration. Internal or boarding pupils pay a 

 charge for tuition and board of 750 francs per annum; external 

 pupils and free hearers are charged 2CO francs per annum for tuition. 

 The school at Montpellier does not receive boarding pupils. 



The third grade embraces the primary or farm schools, of which 



