48 THE P HILADELP HIA FLORIST. 



fe REPORT ON AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS IN IRELAND. £) 



BY DR. KIRKPATRICK, AGRICULTURAL INSPECTOR. Cfj 



Dublin, April, 1851. 

 7b *Ae Commissioners of National Education. 



Gentlemen: — In submitting my Third Annual Report on the 

 Agricultural department of the system of National Education in Ire- 

 land, I beg to congratulate the Commissioners and the public on the 

 steady progress it continues to make, notwithstanding the various 

 counteracting influences with which it has had to contend. 



At the date of my last report there were thirteen Model Agricul- 

 tural Schools in operation, and ten for which building grants had 

 been made. At the present date there are seventeen in operation — 

 five in partial operation, and three in course of building. 



In the district Model schools having agricultural departments in 

 connection with them, the '-pupil-teachers" attend the lectures of the 

 agriculturist, and receive practical instruction on the model farm at- 

 tached, in the various operations of which they are required to assist 

 at specified times. Though objections have been urged against this 

 arrangement, as calculated to interfere with the special objects of 

 their training, and though, I regret to find that, in one instance, some 

 reluctance has been exhibited by the pupils themselves as to taking 

 part in the drudgery of agricultural labor, still I think it can be car- 

 ried out so as not only not to retard, but, as I believe, to promote 

 their advancement in the other departments of their study, by train- 

 ing them to habits of industry, showing them how they may turn 

 every hour of their time to profitable account, and invigorating 

 their physical, and, consequently, their mental constitution. — ''The 

 vigor of the body imparts itself to the intellect; and not only re- 

 lieves the monotony of the school-room by the alternate labor in the 

 fields, but it gives zest and energy to the powers of the mind." As 

 to the objections of the pupils themselves — if they are the offspring 

 of false pride, 1 think a little reflection should be sufficient to show 

 their absurdity. Why, instead of its being a degradation to assist in 

 even the lowest offices of agricultural labor, it should, to every sen- 

 sible mind, form an additional ground for esteem and approbation. In 

 proof of this 1 might cite many instances of individuals of high rank 

 and attainments who considered it an honor and a happiness to share 

 in this employment ; but I need not go farther than our own day, 

 our own country, and our own schools, to find an instance in which 

 a gentleman of high acquirements, and independent fortune (the 

 brother of a baronet and high sheriff of one of our eastern counties), 

 in order to acquire a perfect practical knowledge of agriculture, en- 

 tered as an extern pupil at the Glasnevin establishment, and cheer- 

 fully assisted in all the farm operations. I have seen him* with his 

 coat off laying tiles in the bottom of a drain, and joining in every 

 other kind of labor on the farm — yet he never thought it any degra- 

 dation to be so employed ; and 1 think it would be an insult to com- 

 mon sense to ask whether he, or one of the same rank, who would 

 be afraid to soil his fingers, should be entitled to the most respect. 



If the objections are made on the ground that it is useless to re- 

 quire them to assist in or learn the practical details of farming, as 

 such is not the profession they are destined for in after-life, I would 

 ask is it useless that their physical constitutions should be improved, 



* Vere Foster. 



