108 OUR ENGLISH LAND MUDDLE. 



is very small : fees range at about £25 a year. 

 (I notice an agricultural college in England, the 

 fees of which range up to £172 a year !) 



But it is recognized that only a small pro- 

 portion of the lads of the country will prepare 

 themselves so seriously for agriculture as to 

 attend a college where they will go through a 

 whole course of practical and laboratory work. 

 So there is provision for special holiday courses 

 for farmers and the sons of farmers, and there 

 are travelling lecturers, who visit all agricultural 

 centres, to give instruction to the settler and 

 his children in their own homes. Research work 

 is not neglected : soil and manure analysis is 

 undertaken for farmers, and advice given as to 

 the most suitable crops ; the best strains of 

 cattle and poultry, as well as of grains and 

 trees, are bred, and made available to the settler 

 either free or at cost price. Seeds for experi- 

 mental work are provided free. Another branch 

 of agricultural educational work in Australia 

 takes the form of testing the chances of new 

 crops and new industries. There is constant 

 experimental investigation of the chances of 

 acclimatizing to Australian conditions appar- 



