district, easy of access from Europe, and with easy means of 

 communication with other adjacent tropical areas. 



Some provision for post-graduate study is already available 

 through the medium of the Imperial Department of Agricul- 

 ture for the West Indies . in association with the botanic 

 gardens and experiment stations of the several colonies, aided 

 by the liberality of several proprietors of plantations and 

 factories who permit facilities for study. Several students 

 have already availed themselves of these opportunities. 



It is claimed that there is real need for the endowment of 

 tropical agricultural research and education, and there is 

 reason to believe that this would yield a rich harvest to the 

 country making this provision. 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS FOR NATIVES IN 

 THE BELGIAN CONGO. 



By Professor EDMOND LEPLAE, 

 Director-General of Agriculture, Colonial Office, Belgium: 



[ABSTRACT.] 



The natives of the Belgian Congo are still in a semi-wild 

 state, and although they nearly all practise agriculture, their 

 crops are exclusively food crops. 



The development of the colony and the welfare of the 

 natives themselves make it very desirable that they should 

 learn to grow some crops for export, such as cotton, cocoa, 

 coconuts, rubber trees, ground nuts, coffee, kola, etc. 



A trial was made at the Eala Botanical Gardens, where a 

 school of agriculture was started a few years ago. This 

 attempt was not successful, on account of the pupils being too 

 old (fifteen to twenty years of age), and the programme too 

 elaborate (French, arithmetic, writing, geography, etc.). 



This school has been closed lately, and agricultural education 

 is contemplated on quite a different basis. 



A great number of elementary schools would be founded, 

 with native teachers, under the supervision of the missionaries. 

 A small sum would be paid annually by Government for each 

 school. 



The pupils would be taken at six or seven years of age, and 

 would have to cultivate small plots of exportable produce, the 

 crops belonging to the boys and being sold for their exclusive 

 benefit. Outside of this agricultural work, the pupils would 

 be taught reading, writing, and handicrafts : carpentry, 

 masonry, etc. 



