202 



Agricultural Education in France. 



land, or a tenant on a long" lease, and all that the State does 

 is to provide the salaries of the director and staff, together 

 with a small sum for general expenses, and to give some 

 £160 to ^200 in scholarships to each school. The average 

 cost of this to the State seems to be from £800 to ^1,000 per 

 annum for each school. The time of study is about evenly 

 proportioned between class room instruction and practical 

 work. 



Both the farm schools and the practical schools are thus 

 more or less private institutions subsidised by the State. 

 These practical schools were instituted by a law of 1875, 

 and up to the end of 1881 there were but six of them, 

 although in 1882 three more were being organised. In 1888 

 they had risen to 18, and in 1 891 to 30. In 1894 M. Tisserand 

 mentioned, in all, 43, but divided them into ordinary practical 

 schools numbering 24, and schools devoted to some special 

 branch of agriculture (such as two for irrigation and drainage, 

 seven for milking,four for vine culture,and one for poultry keep- 

 ing) the total number of such special schools amounting to 19. 

 In Mr. Austin Lee's report only 40 practical schools are men- 

 tioned, but these do not include some, at any rate, of the 

 special schools given by M. Tisserand, for in the more recent 

 report are mentioned (in addition to the 40 named above) 

 two practical schools of poultry keeping, three cheese and 

 butter schools, and one school of horticulture. It may be 

 taken, then, that these schools are steadily on the increase, 

 and that in time the hopes of those interested in them may 

 be realised and that there will be one such school organised 

 in each Department of the country. 



In this connection may perhaps be most conveniently men- 

 tioned the agronomic stations and experimental fields 

 scattered throughout the country. The agronomic stations and 

 laboratories are, for the most part, departmental institutions 

 subsidised, tc a varying extent, by the State. Mr. Jenkins men- 

 tioned 23 agronomic stations in his report, mostly laboratories 

 for analysis, but a few being stations of research. In 1888 they 

 had doubled; in 1891 they had increased to 53; while M- 

 Tisserand in 1894 mentions 30 agronomic stations, 30 

 laboratories for analysis, and 18 stations specially devoted to 



