THE EDUCATIONALIST. 67 



part of boys to take up skilled occupations. For instance, 

 there had been a sheep-shearing class, and, although the 

 instruction was free, the boys did not think it worth while ; 

 it was impossible to get two or three, although it was quite 

 clear that if they learnt they could add to their wages. 

 Such apathy was largely due to the feeling that the job was 

 a dead end and led nowhere and the boy meant to get off 

 the farm at the first opportunity. The reward was not good 

 enough to make it worth while staying, and so many drifted 

 to Canada. 



It was agreed that we wanted the boy trained in manual 

 occupations, thatching, etc. Who was going to do the job 

 the farmer, the workman or the continuation school ? 

 The continuation school ought to have nothing to do with 

 that class of instruction ; it would either be incompetent or 

 very expensive. Who would go to the village schoolmaster 

 to learn ploughing ? 



It was said, " We must have ploughing instructions. 

 Bring a skilled man to the school to teach." The moment 

 you try to organise teaching in gangs, everything breaks 

 down. They must learn by seeing operations done and 

 then holding the plough themselves; they must be taught 

 by the man who says, " It's done this way." 



Any attempt to teach in schools would be very expensive 

 or very ineffective. 



The farmer must be encouraged to teach boys. English 

 farmers had been unskilled in handling labour; they had 

 taken it grumbling but had not taught it. The best farmers 

 had thought about it. 



We must not give in to the apparently sound cry of 

 teaching the practical side in the continuation school. 



Was there anything we could teach young agriculturists ? 

 What could we do ? We must think broadly, and keep 

 the boy and girl intelligent beings, stimulate them to make 

 the best of themselves. 



If we took Denmark as an enlightened farming com- 

 munity they had no system of technical instruction superior 

 to that of England. The difference was in the better 

 education of the general mass. Their high schools were not 



