very significance of farming and of the farming people con- 

 stitutes a reason for assistance from the missions rather than 

 avoidance of this service. 



2. There is danger of duplication. This is true potentially 

 of all types of Christian education except theology, for all types 

 will be carried on under public control. The main safeguards 

 against duplication, applicable in all departments of the 

 Christian educational enterprise, lie in the uniqueness of the 

 work with respect to quality, emphasis, and outlook. 



3. The objection that the contribution of agricultural 

 education must of necessity be relatively so slight as to render 

 it not worth while, holds for many Christian enterprises in 

 China if it holds for this one. Again, the test is not that of 

 quantity. The work already done by Canton and Nanking, in 

 silk and cotton improvement alone, has probably contributed 

 more financial benefit to Chinese farmers than the institutions 

 have cost. It must be remembered that agricultural education 

 is directly productive. The work of the investigator frequently 

 solves a difficult problem for a million farmers. 



4. The cost of agricultural education must necessarily be 

 considerable, though not so large as is sometimes assumed. It 

 is probably quite impossible for the mission boards to finance, 

 out of ordinary funds at their disposal, a full-panoplied system 

 of agricultural education. But it is believed that there are 

 sources of income thus far untouched that will be available in 

 the course of time for so important and useful a piece of service 

 as stimulating China's rural advancement. 



5. Trained men of the first order are scarce everywhere. 

 The opportunities for expert service in agriculture in Western 

 lands are multifarious. But there is no reason to suppose that 

 the missionary appeal may not meet a response among trained 

 agriculturists as quickly as in any other group, once the call is 

 made with distinctness and breadth of purpose. As a matter 

 of fact, most of the agricultural specialist in America at least, 

 make financial sacrifice in order to carry on their present 

 service. The missionary spirit is not unknown among them. 



6. It cannot be claimed for technical education that it has 

 the same rank, among types of work to be taken up by the 

 Mission forces in China, as, for example, has preaching or 

 teaching, especially if limitations of money and men compel 

 choices among these types. But one of the demonstrations 



