October, 1910.] 



325 



Agricultural Education, 



their elementary education, or never 

 had gotten beyond fourth class work in 

 the public school. But all were anxious 

 to learn and made excellent progress. 



The nature of the course was about as 

 follows : Arithmetic with a practical 

 bearing on farm problems, Farm book- 

 keeping, Live Stock Judging, Seed 

 Judging, Pood Requirements of the Soil, 

 Drainage, Identification of Weeds and 

 Injurious Insects, etc. An effort was 

 made throughout to make every subject 

 as practical as possible. 



The interest was such at the end of 

 six weeks that the members of the class 

 came forward unanimously asking that 

 the course be extended for another two 

 weeks. 



Owing to the success attained in this 

 winter course, and the evident value to 

 the young farmers of the county, we 

 have decided so far as our work in the 

 High School is concerned, to concentrate 

 all our efforts in developing this line, 

 which, for the County of Essex under 

 the conditions which exist there, seems 

 to be the most satisfactory line to follow. 

 The High School Board have not been 

 slow in seeing the value of this winter 

 course, and are spending a considerable 

 sum of money in fitting up a class-room 

 to accommodate the much larger attend- 

 ance which is expected at this wintbr 

 short course. 



Speaking generally regarding the pro- 

 gress of the experiment in other sections, 

 where the work has been attempted, 

 many of the men have met with similar 

 results in connection with the two years' 

 course in Agriculture in the High School. 

 Some I find have abandoned the general 

 course and are following other lines of 

 work. Others are working along with 

 fairly good success and with a fair 

 attendance. 



Whether or not a general course in Agri- 

 culture will ever be an established thing, 

 or whether it would be wiser for those 

 anxious for such a course to attend the 

 Ontario Agricultural College, and there 

 get a better course in half the time for 

 the same money, is something that time 

 will decide. 



But for a course that touches the boy 

 who is just beginning to farm, and who 

 id at the age to appreciate the work, and 

 is unable to spare the time or money for 

 a long or short course at an Agricul- 

 tural College, the High School winter 

 course seems to be the proper thing. It 

 is at his home, it is cheap, and it gives 

 him exactly what he needs, as the in- 

 structor is acquainted with these condi- 

 tions, and has a chance to solve the 

 problems which he is up against. 



It has proven satisfactory for Essex 

 County, and could, I think, be tried 

 advantageously in other sections where 

 High School work is being undertaken. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Minutes of a meeting of the Board of 

 Agriculture, held at the Council Cham- 

 ber on Monday the 3rd October, 1910, at 

 12 noon. 



The Hon'ble Mr. H.L.Crawford, c.m.g,, 

 Acting Colonial Secretary, presided. 

 There were also present :— The Hon. Mr. 

 P. Arunachalam, Drs. J. C- Willis and 

 H. M. Fernando, Messrs. G, W. Sturgess, 

 P. L, Daniel, Tudor Rajapakse, and the 

 Secretary. 



The minutes of the meeting held on 

 August 1 were read and confirmed. 



Progress Report No. 51 was adopted. 



Statements of Expenditure for August 

 and September were tabled. 



Dr. Willis read a paper on " Co-opera- 

 tion." Mr. Arunachalam and the chair- 

 man offered some remarks. 



" A Note on the Soy Beau " was read 

 by the Secretary. Dr. Willis, Dr. 

 Fernando, and Mr. Sturgess offered com- 

 ments. The meeting terminated with a 

 vote of thanks to the Chair. 



C. Drieberg, 



Secretary, C.A.S. 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 Progress Report LI. 



Membership, Branch Societies, &c, — 

 Messrs. S. G. Hawkes, Joseph Holloway, 

 R. M. Eckert, F. W. de Hoedt, Gerald P. 

 Walker, and C. M. S. Samaraweera have 

 joined the Society since the last meeting. 

 This brings the total up to 938. 



At a meeting of the Wellaboda Pattu 

 (Galle) Branch, held on]August 4, officers 

 were appointed to visit and inspect the 

 fields of paddy transplanted by mem- 

 bers, and a syndicate was formed to 



