l62 



NATURE 



[March 30, i « ^ 1 1 



\Vi>t Jiulics aj)|)i;irs in ili.- W'.si Indirui Hull-tin, and the 



iiiori' ticlinical work / ' ' '\i-wi. Mr. 



i'. W. Soiiih (lr:iN ij, -illctin with 



I 111- <<>Mtrul of Nc;ik- in,,,, ,., ,...,>,,, ,,, , ' •••r.isiles. 



Ill' luiigi can be introduced in two wa\ I con- 



taining fructifications may be hung on thr ; to tin; 



M .il. -inl.-stid pari, or ill' fructifications niav In- siirr.-d up 

 Willi wahr, which i-> ih.-n sprayed on to fh" lr<. . W h. n 

 till- sixiros {^criniiiatc, tlu; liypha; j^jrow scales and 



destroy thf: insects. In everv issue \f<,ficu\lmal 



News a section is dev • •' '•■ inscri .,11 .unj^oid pests; 

 the diseases of rubbei m nienily riceived con- 



siderable attention. S<. isiamls, as Jamaica and 



Trinidad, i^-ue ilnir own iiuljeiins, in which ih' -:a!f 

 publications ap|)rar. In ilie Trinidad bulletin Mi. R.-i'i 

 deals with pod-icit, lank'i, and chu[K>n-wili ol cacao in a 

 well-illustrated jiaper ; spraying is shown to he elfe(ii\-e, 

 but definite instructions cannot yet be j^iveii owin^ lo the 

 absence of local experience of the treatment. 



The Circulars and .\t;ricullural Jt)urnal of the Ko\al 

 Hotanic (.an!' 11-. ( ■ \ Ion, ecmiain aieouiils, hv T. reicli, of 

 roiil c_lis' asi - ol lh\.a and ol .Iccn/c; dniii ri'ii.s, \vhich is 

 e\ten>i\-, 1\ planted -t^ a wind-hnak. in tea ])lanlal icni- ■.ni(\ 

 also loi" L;re.ii inanuiiiiL;. Ihi' hrown r<H)l diseasi, cans. d 

 1)\ I lynii-iim lidit,' iii>\i(i. is tju' commoiiest nxit disease of 

 llevea in C.vlon. ,ilih<iu-h this fungus does less damage 

 ih.in l-'(iiiii's si-Diili'sliis. Sf^lKiirnstilhi' ri'pens is also re- 

 <'orded, hut is as \,i noi eoniinon. Two diseases of Acac i.i 

 are descrihetl, «.n' caiis.d hy an .le.irie, A niiillciria fusiiprs, 

 the other 1>> /■Ooje.v ,tustialis. A reniaikahle ])l.i:;ii- . .| :, 

 large snail, .\,lhitiii,i l!ili,,i, is d.scrih.-d 1)\ \'.. \ .] (.liii, 

 which swarms in millions in one ;ire:t of the island. On 

 the whole, it is considered to do nuire j^ood th.in h;irm, as 

 it feeds on animal ,ind human excrement, and dcx's com- 

 paratively litlle (lam.ij,'e to the vegetation. Besides the 

 circulars and journal, a series of leaflets are sent out from 

 Ceylon. 



Much of the Japanese work is published in the Journal 

 of the College of Agriculture, Tokio, a beautifully illus- 

 trated_ periodical brought out in fuiglish and German. 

 Vol. ii., No. 4, contains a paper bv Ichiro Mivake on the 

 fungi attacking rice. The list is, the author believes, com- 

 plete, and as full references and descriptions are given, it 

 must prove cxtremily valuable to other workers. It is in 

 the true scientific si>irit that the Japanese have broken 

 down the barrier <if laneuage and issued their scientific 

 publications in lan.euaers that can be read in the West. 



In addition lo the work going on at some of the larger 

 agricultural colleges and departments in Great Britain, the 

 smaller colleges are also studying the pests and diseases 

 that occur in their districts. Mr. G. T. Malthouse 

 recently, in a bulletin issued bv the Harper-.Adams -Agri- 

 cultural College, dealt with the- wart disease of potatoes 

 (Chrysophlyctis endohiotica), wliicli has been doing much 

 damage in Shropshire and Staffordshire. .Accounts of the 

 various diseases are also circulated as leaflets bv the Board 

 of Agriculture, as w'ell as in their Journal. 



TECHNICAL IXSIRICriOX AND SECOXD IRY 



SCHOOLS.^ 

 "yECHNICAL instruction, in particular, has too long 

 been looked upon as having little relation to the 

 elementary or secondary schools. The schoolmaster has 

 perhaps been too apt to view the technical school or 

 college as an upstart and an interloper, the title of which 

 to the name of an educational institution rests on a very 

 insecure foundation, and the utilitarianism of which gives 

 a somewhat unfair advantage in the competition for 

 students. On the other hand, those engaged in technical 

 work have in some cases looked upon the schoolmaster 

 as an unpractical person, from whose clutches the student 

 should be rescued .1; ilie earliest possible moment. 



Ue have, howev. r, now emerged from this stage, and 

 are ready to discuss the relationships of our various schools 

 with a better knowledge of the necessities and limitations 

 ot each, and taking as the basis the requirements of the 

 scholar and not the supposed benefit to the school. 



riatJo^ ^^"^T"" ^^^^Jr° 'J"* ^I^"."^' Congress of the Secondarj' Schools Asso- 

 cmion, held at Bradford on February 24, by Prof. Walter M. Gardner. 



NO. 2 161, VOL. 86] 



The scholar*!! work, from entering the elementary «chtK4 

 to til ■ ' ' siudenlihip, wfjcnever that may be, 



shoul : in as an unbroken progress., during 



which (gradually unfolding a definite scheme 



leading eventually to his life's career. In so far as the 

 various grades of education form a scries of detached 

 -c li. nies without |e rrelationshjp, and to the 



' \i' III ii> whiih ill -. time is wasted when he 



\> 11 one grade u> another by reation of this, to 



I • our educational administration is defective, 



■11. . .. , .1.^ administrators, are lacking in .skill or in our 

 duty to the students and to the public. The solution ol 

 this problem proves to h.- v ry difficult, and even now the 



ntion which it deserves. To 

 i onomical manner courses 



ihrougiioui tii<; sctiool suited to the different needs and 

 capacities of various scholars is the educational problem. 

 .At what stage to introduce differentiation, and when to 

 lieLMi: sp. c ialisation, and at what age a scholar should 

 pass troni one school to another — these are im{X)rtant but 

 minor matters incidental to the main problem. 



Keeping to the front iIk- thought of the ultimate benefit 

 of the student, and in.ikini^ this the determining factor, 

 many det.iils will s< tile themselves. Difficulties, of course, 

 at one I aris. , du. to ih- uncertainty or to differences of 

 opinion .is t<f whih- r a particular course of action is or 

 is not tor the j,. n. tn of the scholar. Here ideals will 

 ])rolj,ahly at once clash with practicabilities, and, as the 

 h'-.id of .a technical institution, 1 am perhaps predisposed 

 lo la\ stress on the latter. 



1 li ■ prohlem presents itself to me in this form : — " How 

 can wi- make the best use of the student's time up to the 

 agi' when experience shows he w^ill, in all probability, 

 leave school, and what portion of this should be allocated 

 to technical instruction?" Others may state it thus: — 

 "In order to acquire a thoroughly trained intellect and 

 well-stored mind, .1 student should pass from the element- 

 ary school at twelve or thirteen years of age to the 

 secindarx school, and should remain at the latter for at 

 least Icrur or live ye.;i^. He cannot, therefore, enter a 

 technical school under the age "f s..^•,.n^wen or eighteen." 

 How are we to reconcile these 



Whilst it is, of course, tru- . of us, men and 



women alike, and whatever our avocation, are of greater 

 service, are more efficient, if we have received some train- 

 ing which may legitimately be termed "technical," we 

 are not concerned with this general aspect of the subject 

 on this occasion, but with that specialised technical instruc- 

 tion provided in the technical institutions. The students 

 we wish to get in such institutions are those who will 

 pass into the great industries of the country ; and in 

 investigating this matter we are at once confronted with 

 the fundamental point that, of a thousand boys who pass 

 through the elementary schools and who ultimately take 

 positions as workmen, foremen, or managers in industrial 

 concerns, probably not more than forty pass through a 

 secondary school, and not more than three or four enter a 

 day technical college. There is, therefore, a problem of 

 enormous magnitude still requiring solution relative to the 

 further instruction of the 950 out of every thousand boys 

 who do not proceed beyond the elementary schools. 



Before the advent of steam-driven machinery, when 

 industrial conditions were much simpler, the personal 

 instructions which the boys received under the apprentice- 

 ship system sutTu.d 10 produce the necessary skill and 

 training, though in a v<ry unequal degree. The personal 

 association of the craftsmaster and the learner cannot, 

 however, be relied upon under modern industrial condi- 

 tions, and therefore the technical schools are called upon 

 to provide a substitute for the apprenticeship system. 

 Boys leaving the elementary schools are not, however, 

 suflicie nily mature to nap the full benefit of the advanced 

 specialised instruction provided in day technical schools, 

 and for these boys, most of whom will eventually become 

 industrial operatives, I stropi^ly advocate the establishment 

 of wliat are known as trade preparatory schools, with a 

 two y'\irs' course comprising, roughly, two-thirds general 

 subjects and one-third handicraft work. The majority of 

 the boys should then go to work and attend evening 

 technical courses, but those who show special promise 

 should be drafted into the day courses of the technical 

 school by mean* of scholarships. A necessary and 



