APPENDIX II 433 



product is over six times the amount of capital stock of all 

 national banks ... it is two and a half times the gross 

 earnings from the operation of the railways ; it is three and 

 a half times the value of all minerals produced in the 

 country, including coal, iron ore, gold, silver, and quarried 

 stone" (Year Book of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, 1904). These utterances breathe a recognition 

 of the paramount importance of agriculture, a recognition 

 that in our country has decayed almost to extinction, but 

 which in these pages I have made a feeble attempt to 

 revive. 



In Chapter VI the methods of giving agricultural educa- 

 tion in France are described. The description applies with 

 equal force to Germany. There is probably no other country 

 in Europe that is better equipped than our own for higher 

 agricultural education. The training given in our higher 

 agricultural institutions is perhaps somewhat less practical 

 than that given in similar places abroad, but the main 

 difference is in the cost. Our higher schools, through lack 

 of State aid, or any worthy of the name, are compelled to 

 charge higher fees. For example, in the great agricultural 

 school of Hohenheim, near Stuttgart, with which I am well 

 acquainted, a pupil pays much less than one half of what he 

 would have to pay in a similar institution in this country. 

 But the State comes forward to supply any deficiency 

 that may annually accrue. That deficiency for Hohenheim 

 alone in 1901 was no less than ;^9700.^ 



It is in the lower grades of agricultural education that we 

 are so deficient. The theory of the German Government, 

 like that of the French, is that in the present day agriculture, 

 to be at its best, must be based on scientific training, and 

 knowing the important part the industry plays in the 

 economy of a country, these Governments do not hesitate to 

 supply that training to all classes. Hence the numerous 

 lower-class schools, where the education given is good and 



^ I should here like to acknowledge the courtesy and assistance I received from 

 Prof, von Vossler, the Principal, and Dr. Behrens during the two visits I have 

 paid to Hohenheim. A letter written from Stuttgart giving a full description of 

 this institution appeared in "The Times," October nth, 1894. 



