Of Little Value to Farmers. 37 



have been made by various County Councils, or which 

 may be made, can never efficiently supply the agricul- 

 tural requirements of the nation. For whatever efforts 

 may be made by each County Council, paddling its own 

 canoe, as each county does in the way of roads and 

 other matters, will only lead to a number of all-over- 

 the-shop experiments — fairly well-conducted, perhaps, 

 in one county and badly in another, and leading to 

 numerous conflicting conclusions. What, then, is obvi- 

 ously required is that groups of counties of closely 

 similar conditions as to soils and climates should be 

 marked out, and a farm and school established at some 

 convenient centre in each group, and that all these 

 institutions should be placed under an Agricultural 

 Department, which should direct and control the various 

 schools and farms throughout the country ; and, in 

 especial, keep the farmer fully informed, and up to date, 

 as to all the agricultural conditions in the world. But 

 is it not evident that it is only with the aid of education 

 and world-wide information that our farmers will be in 

 a position to alter and re-alter the direction of their 

 efforts in accordance with the requirements of the times 1 

 In the next chapter 1 purpose going further into 

 details as regards chicory and burnet, and preceding my 

 remarks by some observations as to Arthur Young 

 and his writings, with special reference to lii.s great 

 unpublished and, almost unknown work, which now 

 reposes on the shelves of the MSS. Department of the 

 British Museum. 



