104 



NATURE 



\Dec. lo, 1874 



derived by the world from the invention of the steam- 

 engine and the electric telegraph, and from the various 

 applications of chemistry to the industrial arts, have all, 

 until the last few years, radiated from England. We have 

 here the secret of a large part of England's riches and 

 England's strength. But it is useless to hope that the 

 mere knowledge of the acquired facts of science will 

 furnish that new weapon which nations are now adding 

 to the sword to enforce their superiority. The mental 

 soil which produces new ideas for a nation's use can only 

 be cultivated by the discipline of scientific investigation. 

 Further, it cannot be doubted that, as modern civilisation 

 is still further developed, the new ideas which a nation 

 produces and throws into a concrete form will be among 

 the most valuable of its exports, because each nation will 

 work up the old ideas for itself. 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION 



THE application of the law of selection to the pro- 

 duction of farm crops and animals offers a certain 

 and wide field for increasing our agricultural wealth. In 

 every department of the farmer's occupation there is 

 great room for improvement if this scientific principle 

 be borne in mind. 



It is well known that science has, in our time, thrown 

 extraordinary light on the action of manures. Yet too 

 few of our farmers arc guided in their practice by this 

 light. In every district of the United Kingdom farmers 

 apply manures which are either incapable of drawing out 

 the full productive powers of the soil, or comparatively 

 worthless. 



Again, it is notorious that the yield of millions of acres 

 of our wet, cold lands could be largely increased by 

 drainage. 



There is no branch of agriculture which has progressed 

 so much in modern times as the manufacture of farm im- 

 plements and machines. Yet, an enlightened and ex. 

 perienced agriculturist who travels through England 

 cannot fail to see an enormous waste of power, arising 

 from the use of unsuitable iLiiplements, as well as Irom 

 ignoraiice of the elementary principles of mechanical 

 science. 



Numerous additional examples could be cited, but it is 

 not necessary. It is enough to state the broad fact that 

 while the foremost of cur farmers are the most enlight- 

 ened in the world, there is a vast number of occupiers 

 of land in Great Britain and Ireland who do not avail 

 themselves of the aids which science is capable of affording 

 them. 



To the farmer, as to everybody else, knowledge is 

 power. The increased annual wealth capable of being 

 produced by the application of this power is very con- 

 siderable. It has been stated by several persons whose 

 opinions on agricultural questions appear to command 

 respect, that the produce of the soil of England could 

 be doubled by improved modes of farming. After 

 having seen from time to time a good deal of English 

 farming, I consider this estimate quite too high ; but all 

 thoughtful and experienced persons will concur in the 

 opinion that by the adoption of means which could be 

 called forth, the produce of the soil of Great Britain 



would soon be increased to an amount equal to the rental 

 of the entire land of the country ; that is to say, far?ners 

 could increase the productive power of the soil to the ex- 

 tent of, say, forty millions sterling a year! They would reap 

 the first fruits of this harvest. In due time the landlords 

 would come in for their share of it in the shape of in- 

 creased rents ; for, as I have often pointed out, it is a 

 law of agricultural progress that every increase in the 

 productiveness of the land, and every rise in the prices of 

 its products, by increasing the competition for land, tend 

 to raise rents. 



How can we increase the productiveness of the land? 

 There are many ways in which progress may be effected ; 

 but we must seek the solution of the question mainly in 

 education, using, the word in its widest sense. 



The wealth of farmers depends on their knowledge, 

 skill, and thrift. Of thrift we shall say nothing in this 

 note. Skill is required by both farmers and labourers. It 

 is a plant of slow growth. The navvy acquires it by 

 plodding application. The skill of the high-class agri- 

 cultural labourer is acquired in the same way. The skill of 

 the high class- farmer, too, is the result of continuous appli- 

 cation to business. The skill acquired by one generation 

 is capable of being imparted to, and of being improved 

 upon, by the next. The skill possessed by both agri- 

 cultural labourers and farmers in England has been thus 

 transmitted from generation to generation, and improved 

 in its transmission, in accordance with a law of develop- 

 ment. It would be unfortunate if any circumstances 

 or set of circumstances should interfere with this deve- 

 lopment. We cannot now discuss this subject ; but it 

 may be remarked that one of the features of the present 

 movement in the agricultural labour market which 

 deserves serious attention is, that skilled hands have 

 left many districts. Several very thoughtful English 

 farmers of my acquaintance already complain of want of 

 skill in the young hands who remain at home. In a 

 recent agricultural tour in England I saw evidence of the 

 same state of things. Unless the movement be arrested, 

 English farming will, in all human probability, undergo 

 a change which may be prejudicial to the agricultural 

 interest. What the tendency of that change would be is 

 foreign to the object of this paper, and accordingly I 

 proceed to make a few remarks on the importance of im- 

 parting agricultural knowledge. 



It has been already affirmed that'general knowledge 

 imparts power to every man. This is true in every 

 state of life. It is true in science ; it is equally true 

 in the industrial arts. The proposition is supported 

 by an overwhelming mass of evidence. Royal Commis- 

 sioners, Special Commissioners, and distinguished inde- 

 pendent inquirers are all in unison on the question. All 

 our systems of technical education are based on this one 

 leading idea. The whole programme of the Department 

 of Science and Art is based upon it. In the leading 

 cities and towns the rising generation of the manufactur- 

 ing classes can acquire scientific knowledge which will be 

 of direct use to them in their several pursuits. In the 

 village school scientific truths are imparted which cannot 

 fail to be of use to the trader and artisan. 



How different is the case with the farmer ! In his 

 education no systematic effort has been made to instil 

 into his mind those elementary scientific truths on which 



