

JOINT COMMITTEE'S REPORT, 1890 323 



knowledge acquired in such research should be widely diffused 

 for the national benefit. 



This school should be freely open to the inspection of all 

 interested in agriculture, and arrangements should be made to 

 enable practical farmers to attend for short periods in order to 

 study any particular branch of agriculture in which they were 

 specially interested. 



SUMMARY. 

 RECOMMENDATIONS. 



The Committee beg to append the following summary of their 

 recommendations : 



(1) That there should be established and maintained, 

 at the cost of the State, a Central Normal School of Agri- 

 culture. 



(2) That State aid should be liberally given to certain 

 Endowed and County Schools, on condition of their esta- 

 blishing an agricultural side for the proper teaching of the 

 theory and practice of agriculture practical instruction 

 being carried out on a farm, which might either be the 

 property of the school, or rented by the school, or available 

 by permission of neighbouring farmers. Arrangements 

 should be made for the delivery of courses of lectures by 

 the teaching staff or other lecturers open to farmers of the 

 district. 



(3) That grants should continue to be given by the State 

 in aid of local effort to provide technical instruction in dairy 

 or other branches of farm work. 



(4) That aid should be similarly given to local Agricultural 

 Associations or Chambers of Agriculture engaged in scientific 

 research. 



(5) That in all cases where State aid is afforded it should 

 be of a permanent character, subject only to certain definite 

 conditions laid down by the Board of Agriculture, and to 

 the admission of annual inspection by an officer of the 

 Board. 



(6) That ample facilities should be afforded by the State 

 to enable children in rural elementary schools to acquire 

 knowledge of their future work, either as agricultural 

 labourers or as tenants of small holdings. 



In concluding their report the Committee desire to state that 

 they are fully aware of the importance and difficulty of the 

 subject with which they have had to deal. 



They had hoped that the report to Parliament promised by 

 the President of the Board of Agriculture on " the various Agri- 

 cultural Schools and Associations which have been aided by 

 Government grants during the past year " might have been in 

 their hands before the termination of their labours. In the 

 absence of the detailed information which would have been thus 



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