196 EDUCATION 



tion. They propose to offer twenty-two prizes, or ' Queen's 

 Premiums,' of 200L each, to thoroughbred stallions, in the 

 hope of secui'ing the service, at nominal fees of 2?., of first- 

 class thoroughbred sires in every district in England. They 

 are also considering the German and French systems of 

 State haras, and the improvement of the old English strains 

 fostered by the Cleveland, Hackney, and Coaching Horse 

 Societies. It is also probable that the Committee upon 

 Dairy Produce may suggest some technical education in 

 butter and cheese making. In other directions the want 

 of an Agricultural Department is severely felt, as, for exam- 

 ple, to stamp out swine-fever and pleuro-pneumonia, and to 

 give reliable analyses of artificial manures or reports upon 

 seed samples. In this last direction technical education 

 may supply farmers with the necessary knowledge, but 

 meanwhile the loss is heavy. 



State depai'tments for agriculture alread}* exist abroad.' 

 Some account has been given of State aid to farming in 

 France. It may be interesting to illustrate the practical 

 working of that system. In the autumn of 1887 M. Barbe, 

 Minister for Agriculture in the Rouvier administration, 

 issued two circulars. In the first, which was addressed 

 to the Prefects, he calls attention to the black rot, 

 a new disease among vines in the Garonne district, 



' Germany has a powerfully equipped Ministry of Agriculture for 

 Agriculture, Domains, and Forests. In the United States the Central 

 Department of Agriculture is divided into 12 branches, each presided 

 over by a separate officer directly responsible to the Minister of Agri- 

 culture for the work of his division. Thus the Seed Division purchases, 

 tests, examines, reports upon seeds, experiments in their cultivation, 

 and ascertains the localities to which they are best suited. The other 

 divisions are (2) Botany, including plants and grasses ; (.3) Mycology, 

 which investigates diseases of trees and plants caused by fungi ; 

 (4) the Microscope ; (5) Forestry ; (6) Ornithology ; (7) Mammology ; 

 (8) Pomology, for the assistance of fruit-growers; (9) Chemistry; 

 (10) Entomology; (11) Veterinary Science ; (12) Statistics. 



