250 Fifth Conference 



there the labour is all skilled and well-trained labour, 

 and the tillers of the soil reap the full benefit. 



I would that the great mass of agriculturists in this 

 country would take these things to heart, and take the 

 trouble, at all events, to inquire into and recognize 

 what we are endeavouring to carry out. Too many 

 of them, alas! have a notion that the more the labourers 

 learn, the more difficult they will be to deal with; but 

 our policy is to produce a class of labourer who will 

 know the why and the wherefore, and apply both 

 intelligence and method to the work before him. 



We have everything to encourage us in the task 

 before us. Two government departments are com- 

 peting in furtherance of the object we have in view. 

 In many counties the councils are taking up our 

 cause with earnestness and success. County schools, 

 local classes, scholarships, and exhibitions are being 

 established in all directions with every prospect of 

 good result. 



This exhibition is, I believe, unique in its character 

 in this country. It will bear fruit for many a long day, 

 and we owe an everlasting debt of gratitude to Mr. 

 Medd and his co-workers for the energy, skill, and 

 perseverance which has secured such a pronounced 

 success. The principle involved in our policy, Nature- 

 study, must not be confined to rural schools, but 

 should permeate our school training throughout. 

 This benefit, at all events, I can predict as the out- 

 come of our eft"orts: our rural schools will become 

 more popular and therefore a better average atten- 

 dance will be secured, thus earning higher grants for 

 the credit of the locality in which they are placed. 

 If we can add a more cheerful and a brighter side to 



