October, 1909,] 



341 



Miscellaneous^ 



Agriculture and, I trust that it will be 

 the ambition of every student to win it 

 by dint of untiring industry and appli- 

 cation, it is hoped that he will have a 

 knowledge of the sciences on which the 

 art of Agriculture is based sufficient to 

 make him an 'intelligent, helpful and 

 friendly critic of the ryots ' ancestral 

 methods. Special attention is also being 

 paid to the practical side of his training, 

 so that he may understand the actual 

 difficulties under which the ryot labours, 

 and may, if need be, show him how to 

 meet them. In order to combat success- 

 fully the practical objection which the 

 i*yot is so fertile in raising, he must him- 

 self have a thorough knowledge of all the 

 details of cultivation. It is mainly to 

 provide the students with the oppor- 

 tunity for acquiring this absolutely 

 essential practical knowledge that this 

 large tract of fertile and highly cultiva- 

 ted land has been added to the College, 

 embracing, as it does, wet land, irri- 

 gated dry land, and purely rain-fed dry 

 land, it is admirably suited for the pur- 

 pose. 



The rules which have been sanctioned 

 by Your Excellency's Government for 

 the admission of students to this College 

 have steadily kept in view the need for 

 attacting practical men rather than 

 mere students. Special care has been 

 taken to profit by the experience of the 

 past and to avoid the danger of attract- 

 ing an unsuitable type of men ready at 

 the first opportunity to drift into any 

 line of life rather than adopt the pro- 

 fession of an up-to-date farmer. No 

 scholarships are therefore granted, 

 and no promise of employment in 

 Government Service is held out, The 

 ordinary standard of education expected 

 is the Matriculation examination, but 

 where the applicant can satisfy the 

 Principal that he is a suitable student 

 in other respects, even this standard 

 is not insisted upon. In order to render 

 the College as accessible as possible to 

 the sous of the poorest ryots, no fees 

 are charged for the use of the hostels. 

 The students provide their own food 

 and can thus regulate their expenses ac- 

 cording to their individual means. The 

 hostels themselves have been built in 

 ten separate blocks, each accommodat- 

 ing six students , so there need be no 

 difficulties in the matter of caste. 



I trust this brief summary of the 

 aims and objects of our Agricultural 

 College and Research Institute, and this 

 description of the means which have 

 been adopted to secure them will have 

 satisfied Your Excellency that the 

 large sum of money expended on this 

 magnificent College and Farm has been 



well laid out. But just as walls with- 

 out men do not make a College or 

 centre of Research unless the men who 

 work in them are inspired by the pro- 

 per spirit, I have, therefore, much 

 pleasure in assuring Your Excellency 

 that the enthusiasm with which the 

 expert staff of the Department, Euro- 

 pean and Indian alike, have entered 

 upon their new duties, justifies the most 

 sanguine hopes that their labours will 

 be fruitful and will tend to the material 

 advancement of our mutual friend and 

 paymaster, the man behind the plough. 



It only remains for me to thank Your 

 Excellencies for your patient attention 

 to these explanatory remarks, and to 

 invite you, Sir, to be so good as to open 

 our Agricultural College and Research 

 Institute by unveiling the slab, whose 

 inscription will record for this and 

 every succeeding generation the inti- 

 mate connection of Your Excellency 

 with the establishment of an Institu- 

 tion founded for the express purpose 

 of improving the material condition 

 and increasing the happiness of millions 

 of our Indian fellow-subjects. 



His Excellency in the course of his 

 lengthy reply said that it was with very 

 sincere pleasure that he proceeded to 

 comply with the request which had been 

 made to him by the Hon'ble Mr. Castle- 

 stuart Stuart, viz., that he should per- 

 form the ceremony of declaring this Col- 

 lege to be duly opened. It was indeed 

 with great satisfaction to him to find 

 himself that day, because he took the 

 very deepest interest in the welfare of 

 this Institution. His Excellency rejoiced 

 to know that his name was to be associ- 

 ated with this institution from which 

 students will be trained and sent out to 

 carry on this useful purpose. The ad- 

 dress which was read by Mr. Stuart was 

 full of interest, and allusion was made to 

 the fact that it was His Excellency that 

 performed the ceremony of laying the 

 foundation-stone of that very College 

 that seemed to him to have occurred 

 only the day before yesterday, and yet 

 His Excellency realised that that cere- 

 mony took place during the first half 

 year of his career. His Excellency was 

 performing that day the final ceremony 

 of the opening of the College, and His 

 Excellency was grieved to find that it 

 was during the second half of his ad- 

 ministration, and that the time had gone 

 so quickly. Still he would watch the 

 success of this institution even when he 

 left the shores of India. He congratulat- 

 ed those who were responsible for this 

 object as well as those who took part 

 in the construction of this building. 

 His Excellency congratulated them more 



