2 THE PRINCIPLES OF 



mosaic composed of fragments of all the known sciences. 

 But while the agricultural teacher ought to be well instructed 

 in the various sciences bearing upon agriculture, he ought 

 not to forget that he has chiefly to do with a great central 

 subject upon which modern science throws its beneficent rays. 

 The necessity of such a warning has been forced upon me 

 chiefly in my capacity of Examiner in Agriculture to the 

 Science and Art Department. I have been struck with the 

 degree of narrowness, not only in the answers given to 

 questions, but also in the selection of questions to be 

 answered. It may be well to explain that the Department 

 allows a considerable amount of choice to candidates for its 

 honours. The examiners may set twelve, or even fifteen, 

 questions, but the regulations of the Department only allow 

 the candidate to answer a limited number, usually about six. 

 It is natural that examiners should vary their questions so 

 as to elicit information upon as large a number of topics 

 as possible, but the bias of candidates is distinctly towards 

 a certain class of questions dealing rather with the molecular, 

 microscopic, and minute sections of the subject than with 

 those of larger, wider, and more practical scope. I have been 

 led to think how far the class of topics evidently preferred 

 by candidates would be of interest to even highly-educated 

 men who are intrusted with the ownership or, it may be, the 

 management of large landed estates. From long contact with 

 such men, I am inclined to think that a large number of 

 the topics upon which examinees love to dilate would excite 

 among them but a feeble interest. I am aware that those 

 who present themselves as candidates for the honours of the 

 Science and Art Department must have been influenced in 

 their choice of questions by the teaching and the text-books 

 to which they have had access, and the inference forced upon 

 me is that their selection of questions, and their treatment 

 of such questions, is a reflection of the instruction and the 



