ON EDUCATIONAL TRAINING FOR OVERSEAS LIFE. 349 
or ran school gardens, the reports as to the effects on the character of the boys are 
wholly favourable. Expressions such as the following occur in replies from schools 
in Group A: ‘Boys become more observant, more self-reliant,’ ‘independent,’ 
‘improvement in health,’ ‘ greater steadiness of character, no diminution of interest 
in school games, or work,’ ‘ undoubtedly helped the general school work, and helped 
in developing character.’ ‘In every way results are satisfactory.’ ‘ Many boys, of 
a certain type, who have stuck low in the school improve immensely in industry, 
character, and interest.’ ‘The scheme has had a most beneficial effect in every 
respect.’ 
M When taught by a master who is sound in both the practice and theory of 
agriculture, the subject can be the moral and educational salvation of many boys. 
(I have seen this on many occasions.) But the teacher must be master of the subject ; 
for example, a science man who knows a little theory, and no practice, should not be 
allowed to teach it. I would emphasise two further points specially :— 
‘1. Observations of farm live stock during the course of natural events in the 
animal’s life has a potent influence in purifying the minds of boys. 
«2. Non-agricultural boys—probably the future town dwellers—obtain a wider 
outlook, and gather a wider sympathy with the problems of the land, and with those 
who work upon it, by daily contact with farm life.’ 
URBAN SCHOOLS.—In a large number of schools it is, of course, obviously 
impossible to give boys an opportunity of working on the land. Schools situated in 
large urban districts have no land in the immediate vicinity of the school available ; 
but considered from the economic point of view the urban schools need the intro- 
duction of this broader outlook on life even more than the schools in the country. 
There the pressure of competition is greater. It should be possible to give the youths 
of our city schools some real insight into the open healthy life on the land, and the 
possibilities in the overseas Dominions of the British Empire, as offering an 
alternative to the sedentary life to which the ordinary school work generally leads. 
Methods of securing this were suggested in the following replies :— 
‘Manchester Grammar School has five Scout Troops and their work both in term 
and in the holidays is directly in line with the requirements of colonial pioneer life. 
‘Camping and trekking their best training ; ten or more camp out every Whitsun- 
tide and again in August and September.’ ‘A permanent camp in Cheshire in three 
army huts and outdoor work in nature study, geography, and astronomy.’ 
“Roan School, Greenwich, depends upon holiday courses ; camping out on model 
farms a godsend to our town boys who long to go abroad and want some first-hand 
knowledge first.’ 
‘ Material for lectures on life in the Colonies might be sent to the schools, and the 
parents invited to attend.’ 
SCHOOL RESOURCES IN LAND.—It may be mentioned that nearly 50 per 
cent. of schools from which replies were received have access to land which could be 
used for agricultural and horticultural experiments, though only 9 per cent. of the 
schools are actually using the land for this purpose. 
In many cases circumstances of staff, organisation, and funds are contributory 
difficulties. This is especially so in day schools, as travelling to and from school 
absorbs so much time. It is possible, however, to give boys an insight into farm 
life by means of lectures, and by adopting a science course which should include some 
of the problems connected with work on the land, such as the properties of the soil, 
climate, growth of plants, and animal physiology. 
Only a few schools other than those in Group A can really claim that the science 
work is run with any agricultural bias. Some 30 per cent. of the replies show that 
botany, natural history, chemistry when taught in the schools are looked upon as 
providing a link with agriculture, but it is not at all clear that they do so in the sense 
meant by our questionnaire. 
On the history side the value of good farming, and the part it has played in the 
economic life of the country, might be included in the syllabus, and thus contribute 
valuable aid in directing a boy’s thoughts towards the land as the means of an 
honourable livelihood. 
ATTITUDE OF HEADMASTERS.—The replies as a whole indicate that, while 
possibly a majority of headmasters are indifferent, non-committal, or definitely 
opposed to the suggestion of any practical work being undertaken by boys at school, 
a considerable number are very strongly in favour of the idea of a more practical 
outlook being given to a section at least of the boys concerned. 
