period for a fair review." "With little modification 

 can the same be affirmed of a lesser educational in- 

 stitution than a university. 



The college has often been charged with having 

 come short of its mark, in th&'t it has turned out but 

 few practical farmers. This point has been more 

 than once touched upon and explained in the course 

 of our narrative. It is hoped that, the fact that the 

 training of practical agriculturists was neither the 

 exclusive nor the main object of the college, has been 

 made sufficiently clear. Even if some of the gradu- 

 ates were by nature or association inclined to pursue 

 rural callings, few of them were provided with suffi- 

 cient capital to enter into it at once. Unlike law or 

 literature, a tongue and a pen are not enough to 

 start a young man in the business of farming. 

 Neither could they utilize what agricultural knowl- 

 edge they acquired, by becoming directors on large 

 estates, simply because the native system of small 

 farming left no room for sach functionaries. The 

 alternative for those who would resort to agriculture, 

 was either to choose a post in civil service or to 

 " dig and delve " with hoe and spade. For the lat- 

 ter they either possessed too much self-respect or 

 too little self-sacrifice. 



Irrespective of the College in Sapporo, it is not to 

 be wondered at, that higher agricultural schools in 

 general, whether in Europe or America, have not 

 always turned out agriculturists. About the only 

 question which is settled in regard to Agricultural 

 Science, is that such a study is essential: the rest be- 

 longs to the domain of inquiry. What should an 

 agricultural course include and what should it ex- 



