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Parliamentary Publications. 



merit Act, 1892, relates to agriculture. In this report it is stated 

 that some Scotch county councils, notably those of the south- 

 west of Scotland, have contributed largely from their funds 

 towards the support of agricultural education in various 

 forms, and have given liberal assistance both directly and 

 indirectly toward such central institutions as the Agricultural 

 Department of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical 

 College and the Kilmarnock Dairy School. Many counties how- 

 ever, appear to have done nothing for the encouragement of 

 agricultural education, while others have confined their efforts 

 to such instruction of a comparatively valueless nature as is 

 given in connection with evening continuation schools. The 

 special grant of ^2,000 voted for agricultural education in Scot- 

 land, and now administered by the Scotch Education Depart- 

 ment, has been distributed in various amounts to four 

 institutions, viz., the Edinburgh School of Rural Economy, the 

 Agricultural Departments of Aberdeen University and of the 

 Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, and the 

 Kilmarnock Dairy School, which institutions may be expected 

 to have a wide sphere of activity in their special districts. The 

 Committee report that they have every reason to suppose 

 that good work has been done in connection with each of 

 these institutions, but that they would desire to see some 

 or all of them more fully equipped, and their sphere of activity 

 more widely extended, so that they may be in a position to 

 exercise a more decided influence on the progress of agriculture 

 in Scotland. The funds at the disposal of the Department 

 are not sufficient by themselves to meet this purpose, and the 

 Committee are of opinion that much better results might be 

 obtained if the grants which they are able to make to these 

 institutions were more largely reinforced by contributions 

 from the various local authorities interested. They have 

 accordingly welcomed the proposals by certain county coun- 

 cils for the establishment of an independent Agricultural 

 College in the West of Scotland, which should give facili- 

 ties for the most thorough and highly developed instruction 

 in agriculture to those students who are able to devote a 

 considerable time to this study, and should at the same time 

 be a means of bringing home to the agricultural population 



