410 Grants for Agricultural Education. 



of the country economy and efficiency would be advanced by 

 extended joint action on the part of county councils. Instruc- 

 tion in certain restricted and highly specialised subjects is often 

 avoided by a local authority, not because it fails to recognise 

 the importance of the subject, but owing to the fact that the 

 demand within its own area is necessarily insufficient to warrant 

 it in appointing a special instructor. But this difficulty could 

 be entirely overcome by contiguous counties associating them- 

 selves for a specific object, as is, in fact, done in many cases 

 with most satisfactory results. 



It has for some time been felt that a stage had been reached 

 when a greater measure of co-ordination of effort might with 

 advantage be introduced into the work of field demonstration 

 and experiment. The subject was enthusiastically taken up 

 by the Agricultural Education Association, with the result that 

 a series of detailed schemes suitable for joint action was 

 prepared, and the Board were glad, at the request of the asso- 

 ciation, to undertake their publication. 



As the result of a conference of county council representa- 

 tives, fruit growers, and others interested in the industry, a 

 scheme has been prepared for securing to the West of England 

 a cider institute, where instruction and research in the cultiva- 

 tion and manipulation of apples and other fruit, and in the 

 preparation and treatment of cider and similar products, may 

 receive attention to an extent impossible in temporary 

 premises. 



Part II. of the Appendix to the Report contains a series of 

 accounts of the results of the principal experiments conducted 

 by institutions aided by the Board. Among the subjects of 

 these experiments were the feeding of sheep and bullocks ; 

 sheep breeding ; the growth of wheat, barley, and oats ; the 

 manuring of hops, potatoes, and grass ; the variation in the 

 composition of cow's milk ; the cultivation of hops ; and the 

 rotation of crops. 



Part III. of the Appendix contains a statement showing that 

 the total amount expended on agricultural education by English 

 and Welsh county councils in 1 901- 1902 was about £88,oco, 

 or about ^"2,000 more than in the previous year. 



