M.— AGRICULTURE. 207 



destiny is greater if they have but the vision, the courage, and, above all, 

 the will to press resolutely forward towards the goal to which public 

 duty and material advantage alike point the way.' 



What, then, is the actual farmer's position ? On him the greater 

 part of the burden falls ; how does the education provided help him to 

 support it ? 



In the case of the larger farmers general education and technical 

 training will be provided by means identical, or nearly so, to those I have 

 already discussed, and they with the landowner must share the burden 

 of leadership, leadership not only in technical skill and administrative 

 ability, but also in the more difficult task of building up a new rural life. 

 In the case of the smaller farmers the facilities are not so complete ; 

 the majority of these get their education at the local grammar schools, 

 which usually require that a boy shall enter before the age of twelve and 

 shall stay until the age of sixteen. In this way it should be possible to 

 secure that the general education is satisfactory, and that it should have 

 what is called a rural bias, or at any rate be closely related to environment 

 in country districts. It has been shown by a committee of this Association 

 on Training for Overseas Life that quite a number of grammar and 

 secondary schools have introduced some agricultural work of a kind which 

 may be regarded as semi-vocational, as something which would definitely 

 be of service when the boy leaves school, as he usually does, between the 

 ages of sixteen and seventeen. Definite technical education is subse- 

 quently provided by the Agricultural Colleges, by the Farm Institutes, and 

 the activities of the County Council officer in the way of lectures, demonstra- 

 tions, visits to institutions, discussion groups, and young farmers' clubs. 

 I feel, however, that this is not enough, good though it frequently is and 

 excellent as it may become. Something further is required, some scheme 

 whereby education may be continued in later years and not cut off short 

 at the time when it is perhaps most worth continuing. Is it too much 

 to hope that there may develop in this country something in the nature 

 of a rural university which shall continue education, and shall continue 

 it on university lines ? If I am correct, what is needed is not a greater 

 volume of technical instruction but a greater desire for technical instruc- 

 tion and a more educated habit of mind, which I believe can only be 

 obtained in these cases by an improvement in, and a continuation of, 

 general education to a later stage. 



It is frequently, though not universally, held that much of the success 

 of modern Danish agricultural organisation is due to the existence of the 

 famous Folk High Schools, 5 virtually rural universities, providing as they 

 do in a manner which is unique the advantages of a residential university. 

 It would take too long to examine the claim that has been made that 

 without these schools Danish agricultural co-operation and Danish 

 agricultural progress would have been impossible, but even if we make 

 allowances for the enthusiasm of the believers, it is certain that much of 

 the mental alertness and spirit of mutual help so essential to success has 

 been acquired in the High Schools. In Denmark even up to the present 

 day these have been almost entirely a rural development ; the towns have 



5 ' The Folk High Schools of Denmark and the Development of the Farming 

 Community,' by Holger Begtrup, Hans Lund, and Peter Manniche. 



