Miscellaneous. 



142 



[February, 1910. 



of experimentalists, to his pecuniary 

 advantage. No one is in a better posi- 

 tion to reap the greatest reward from a 

 course at an agricultural school than 

 the "son of the soil." It cannot be 

 too strongly urged that farmers should 

 not regard their "farmer son's" edu- 

 cation as complete without a course at 

 such an institition. The educatiou of 

 a lawyer, of an engineer, of a physician, 

 has really only earnestly begun when 

 he has graduated ; why, indeed, should 

 the brother who has determined to 

 "follow the plough" be deprived of 

 even the graduation course of an edu- 

 cation which in a similar way qualifies 

 him for his calling. 



A full course such as has been describ- 

 ed usually covers a period of two to 

 tour years. It may here be observed 

 that an institution attempting to teach 

 such subjects to the best advantage 

 should have attached to it a good farm, 

 thoroughly representative in its charac- 

 ter, and manage along sound up-to-date 

 and practical lines. Above all, an agri- 

 cultural atmosphere should permeate 

 the establishment, from the teachers 

 down to the students. 



It will not be out of place to give a 

 warning to those responsible for the 

 control of such institutions. Not in- 

 frequently does it happen that they are 

 made use of by young men who have 

 no earnest purpose, and who are simply 

 " marking time," by parents and guar- 

 dians who find such an institution a 

 convenient and inexpensive abode to 

 place their charges for a period until 

 "something turns up," and by those 

 who are physically unfit and are recom- 

 mended to a country lite to recuperate. 

 Such young men will defeat the purpose 

 of the institution, will lower its credit, 

 and will simply represent so much 

 waste effort. 



(4.) Further Experience. 



The young farmer's career has now 

 reached a stage when he is in a position 

 to put into practice that which he has 

 been taught, but certain experience has 

 yet to be obtained. He is now equipped 

 with a general knowledge of all branches 

 of agriculture. Probably by this time 

 the lad will show a preference for a 

 particular style of farming, e.g., stock- 

 farming (of one or more kinds), tillage, 

 fruitgrowing, and so forth. As a 

 general rule he would be well advised, be- 

 fore starting on his own account to spend 

 two years with one or two good farmers, 

 farming under the system which he 

 intends to pursue. On such farms an 

 opportunity will be afforded of gaining a 

 knowledge of the value of buying and 



selling of ordinary stock, marketing con- 

 ditions in general, and the management 

 of labour, An agricultural college farm 

 cannot, as a rule, offer such facilities. 

 The foregoing remarks, as already men- 

 tioned, apply in particular to the train- 

 ing of the " town-bred " lad. The son of 

 a farmer can, as a rule, obtain the neces- 

 sary experience on his father's farm, and 

 by visits to the farms of his relations. It 

 will thus be seen that the curriculum 

 of an agricultural education will, for 

 the farmer's son, cover a period of 

 three or four years, and for others at 

 least six or seven years. A little con- 

 sideration will show that it will be 

 completed quite soon enough for 

 responsibilities to be placed on young 

 shoulders. 



An idea, chiefly among those who have 

 no experience of farming, commonly 

 prevails, that one does not require to 

 be possessed of much ability in any 

 direction to succeed in farming. 

 Fortunately, the hard lessons of " pay- 

 ing for experience " is fast changing this 

 opinion. Many of the failures one sees 

 on every hand are due to his miscon- 

 ception. A successful farmer requires 

 to be a " man of parts." He must have 

 an extensive and intimate knowledge of 

 animal and plant life, and a specialised 

 knowledge of breed of stock, or tillage, 

 or both, as the case may be. He must 

 further be a good "business man," a judge 

 of character, have the ability to manage 

 and organise labour, and be possessed 

 of the power of application. He must 

 also have acquired such an intimate 

 experience and skill in all the varied 

 operations of a farm, in order that, 

 though he may not be called upon to per- 

 form them in after life, he may be able 

 to instruct his employees how to carry 

 them out, and to know at a glance 

 when they are properly done and with 

 sufficient expedition. Such an experi- 

 ence can only be gained by the student 

 taking an active part in the several 

 operations of the farm on which he is 

 trained. It cannot be acquired by be- 

 coming merely a "looker on, "as so 

 many unfortunately imgaine. It is 

 hoped that these remarks will persuade 

 parents not to advise any dull or 

 indolent sons to become farmers. 



It should be the ambition of the young 

 men who have had the opportunity and 

 have taken advantage of the course of 

 training herein described, to become the 

 " leaders " in their own particular dis- 

 trict or colony. One leads, others 

 follow. Thus progress, ever silent, but 

 none the less sure, makes headway. 



These thoughts have been placed on 

 record in the hope that they may serve 



