EDUCATION. 115 



everjAvhere — except to a limited extent in Switzerland — 

 gone down and seen their place virtually taken by a less 

 exacting institution, in which manual work, work on the 

 teaching farm, is not demanded, but all instruction given 

 is theoretical and scientific. Such institutions are generally 

 known as " winter schools," or " winter courses." The 

 name denotes the season in which they are held — purposely 

 so, as not to interfere with practical farm labour. However, 

 their teaching is supplemented by visits to demonstration 

 plots, combined with lectures, on convenient days also in 

 summer. Such winter teaching has proved decidedly 

 popular and successful. The difference between " winter 

 schools " and " winter courses " is this, that in the former 

 there is residence and a general, so to call it, encyclopaedic 

 curriculum, whereas the latter are considerably freer in 

 form, and deal for the most part somewhat empirically with 

 selected subjects judged to be of practical interest for the 

 pupils to be taught. They are found to enlist more lively 

 interest and to put less strain upon the faculties. Obvi- 

 ously for adults, even only of recent maturity, the " courses " 

 are preferable. Both forms have been found attractive, 

 and the " winter schools " have tempted many a youth 

 on to higher teaching and so gained recruits for up-to-date 

 farming. To what extent the change has affected agricul- 

 tural teaching may be judged from the fact that, as between 

 1875-6 and 1908-9, in Prussia the number of "Farm- 

 schools " has gone down from 126 to 17, whereas the number 

 of " winter schools " has increased from 12 to 184. There 

 has been a corresponding movement throughout the 

 Continent. Even in Switzerland, where Fellenberg's 

 Wehrlischulen still best hold their ground, " winter schools " 

 gain conspicuously upon them. In France the modern 

 ecoles d' agriculture pratique are steadily crowding out the 

 o\d-i3iSh.ioned fermes ecoles (apprentice schools). The change 

 is particularly marked in the Netherlands and in Belgium, 

 both which countries have laboured assiduously and with 

 excellent results in the province of Agricultural Education. 

 In the Netherlands there were in 1912, 126 mainly agri- 

 cultural " winter courses," with 8,875 pupils, as contrasting 



