■Education. 



320 



One of the great factors towards this end is the experiment station or farm. 

 A recent publication issued by the States Department of Agriculture by Messrs. 

 True & Crooby, gives a brief account of 720 experiment stations and similar insti- 

 tutions throughout the world, embracing all civilised countries, the largest number 

 of separate agencies being in Russia. There are 102 experimental stations and three 

 experimental forests, the bulk of which are for the purpose of introducing new agri- 

 cultural industries and teaching the peasants. 



Germany possesses . 



.. 80 



Australia possesses . 



. 31 



France ,, 



.. 71 



Netherlands ,, 



. 7 



Austria ,, 



.. 41 



Sweden ,, 



.. 26 



Great Britain ,, 



. 30 



Norway 



.. 12 



India „ 



. 11 



Japan ,, 



.. 15 



Belgium ,, 



.. 15 



Switzerland ,, 



.. 10 



Hungary ,, 



.. 20 



Canada ,, 



.. 12 



Italy ,, 



22 



United States ,, 



. 58 



It will be seen that an attempt has been made in this lecture to demon- 

 strate! the necessity for preparing the child for rural occupations. 



The primary system of education hitherto conducted has been more 

 adapted to the requirements of urban than of rural children. Many who attend 

 rural schools are unable to attend continuation or high schools. It would 

 further enhance the training of a child for country life by receiving 

 its earliest training in Kindergarten. Children of both sexes are rendered 

 more fitted for any occupation where manual effort and a trained eye are essential 

 to success. To direct the child's mental and physical development to useful purpose, 

 and in keeping with its surroundings, is the commendable aim of the new edu- 

 cation. The education for a child intended for rural life should commence in the 

 primary school from the first impulse to use the fingers in Kindergarten, to the 

 unfolding of natural processes by nature study ; the school garden, the study of 

 flowers, fruits, vegetables, birds, insect life, the domestic animals, and manual 

 training. 



Sir Philip Magnus, one of the highest authorities upon educational work, 

 writes : — 



" People often talk and write as if school time should be utilised for teaching 

 those things which a child is not likely to care to learn in after life, whereas the 

 real aim of school education should be to create a desire to continue in after life the 

 pursuit of the knowledge and skill acquired in school. In other words, the school 

 should be made, as far as possible, a preparation for the whole work of life, and 

 should, naturally, lead up to it. The endeavour of all educators should be to 

 establish such a relation between school instruction and the occupations of life as to 

 prevent a break of continuity in passing from one to the other. The methods by 

 which we gain information and experience in the busy world should be identical 

 with those adopted in schools. It is because the opposite theory has so long pre- 

 vailed that our school training has proved so inadequate a preparation for the real 

 work of life. The demand for technical instruction, both in our elementary and in 

 our secondary schools, is a protest against the contrast which has so long existed 

 between the subjects and methods of school teaching and the practical work of 

 every day life." 



Any system of education tending to direct children's attention from rural 

 industries in country districts is to be regretted. In the new Syallabus issued by 

 our Education Department, correlation, self-activity, and reality are prominent, and 

 the schemes for nature study and the rudiments of agricultural and elementary 

 science are set out in such form as will tend to provide one of the missing links to 

 the higher agricultural education. 



