Miscellaneous, 



140 



[February, 1910. 



by nature for the harmless amusement 

 of the queer people who meet in the 

 rooms of the Royal Society and such 

 like places where unpractical oddities 

 resort. And yet I ask you to reflect 

 upon the astounding results which have 

 arisen from Galvani's observations made 

 to discover the cause of the twitching of 

 the frog's legs, and to Faraday's dis- 

 covery of induction, and to indulge your 

 imaginations in an endeavour to predict 

 what may issue for man from Crookes's 

 investigations of the glow without heat 

 of the vacuum tubes, 



But I have neither the knowledge nor 

 the time to dwell upon the physical side 

 of the science. As in private duty 

 bound, I must devote the short time at 

 my disposal to examples culled from the 

 biological sciences. 



(To be continued.) 



THE EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG 

 FIRMER. 



By Alex. Holm, 

 General Manager, Government Experi- 

 mental Farm, Potchefstroom. 



(From the Transvaal Agricultural Jour- 

 nal, Vol. VIII., No. 29, October, 1909.) 

 This question is one of the greatest 

 interest and moment at the present 

 time, when the agricultural industry of 

 the whole of this sub-continent is now 

 entering upon a new era. Much inform- 

 ation and advice have already been 

 given in the pages of this Journal, in 

 the Director of Agriculture's reports, 

 and in the Press, in regard to the value 

 of agricultural education and the steps 

 to be taken to make it an accomplished 

 fact. 



This short article is not intended to 

 cover such a field, but rather to discuss 

 the actual conditions which arise in 

 considering how a youth's education 

 should be directed, if he intends to be- 

 come a farmer, and to give the lines 

 along which such an education should 

 proceed. The importance of giviug 

 every facility to our future farmers for 

 obtaining an insight into, and a 

 thorough grasp of, the divarse problems 

 and methods of agriculture can hardly 

 be exaggerated; the more so because 

 success or failure to an ever-increasing 

 extent depends upon the farmer's ability 

 to compete with his brothers eugaged 

 in similar pursuits in different parts of 

 the world, all disposing of their products 

 in a common "clearance house." 



A word, also, in regard to territorial 

 conditions, In all new countries,, and 



here South African conditions apply, 

 there is the greater necessity for the 

 systematic training of the young farmer 

 because the problems are ever new and 

 there is little accumulated experience— 

 the natural inheritance of the son from 

 the father —such as one finds in countries 

 older agriculturally. Here, again, a 

 greater proportion of the future farmers 

 will be drawn from a class almost wholly 

 unconnected with farming pursuits, ex- 

 cepting in so far as they have become 

 owners of properties hitherto almost 

 entirely undeveloped. Such young men 

 do not, therefore, start with that know- 

 ledge of country, animal, and plant life 

 which a "son of the soil" almost un- 

 consciously imbibes during his boyhood. 

 The training of such youths, to be suc- 

 cessful farmers, requires much patience 

 and must be well directed, otherwise 

 the effort will result in many failures. 



It may here be observed that this 

 question is being considered chiefly from 

 the standpoint of the youth who is to 

 become a farmer of no small means, and 

 whose parent or guardian is in a position 

 to provide for the education and train- 

 ing referred to hereunder. According 

 as our agricultural educational system 

 becomes more established provision will 

 probably be made through scholarships 

 and bursaries for the education of a 

 limited number of " bright " youths who 

 are, for pecuniary reasons, otherwise 

 unable to receive such a training. For 

 the remainder — and unfortunately, those 

 constitute a large proportion of our 

 future farmers— arrangements will re- 

 quire to be made for imparting to them 

 through special courses of instruction 

 a knowledge of such subjects as are 

 taught in other countries in " winter 

 schools " and other short intermittent 

 courses. 



This is not the place to discuss in 

 detail the elementary education of the 

 boy ; suffice it to say that it can be too 

 thorough. The important points to be 

 kept in view in the education of the 

 future farmer is a sound knowledge of 

 the languages of everyday use, in order 

 that he may be able to properly express 

 his thoughts and convey his requests 

 in writing, and further in order that he 

 may be able to grasp the views of 

 those from whom he may have much 

 to learn, Of no less importance is 

 arithmetic (including mensuration), and 

 with it the ability to mentally calculate 

 rapidly and correctly. It must be 

 remembered that no small part of his 

 affairs will be connected with holding 

 his own against astute business men. 

 For that reason, these remarks should 

 not be lightly set aside. Language and 



