Reformatory and Industrial Schools. 
173 
agricultural labour seemed to hold a prominent place. Secondly, 
I visited all those schools from the authorities of which I received 
replies to my questions, namely, eighteen Reformatory and eight 
Industrial Schools, having attached to them a total of 1831 acres 
of land in the former case, and of 654 in the latter. By these 
means I trust that I have been able to throw some light upon the 
question of the combination of general with technical instruc- 
tion in schools where the general education is of an elementary 
character. Admitting the necessary separation of the two 
•classes of instruction in our High Schools and Universities, 
I believe that the sons of farm-labourers, farm-bailifFs, and even 
small farmers — whose school-life is necessarily of very limited 
duration, — may be usefully instructed in farm-practice and in 
the elements of the agricultural sciences without detriment to 
the efficiency of their general education ; and the evidence given 
in the following pages by the authorities of Reformatory and 
Industrial Schools entirely supports this view, in spite of the 
fact that they (especially the former) have to deal with the most 
unpromising raw material that one can imagine. 
It is gratifying to remark that gentlemen interested in the 
success of Reformatory and Industrial Schools have found in 
my Report to the Royal Commission on Technical Instruction 
material which they deem worthy of consideration from their 
point of view, and thus it seems that we have placed each other 
under mutual obligations. The first of these papers which came 
under my observation was a very thoughtfully constructed essay 
on " Technical Education " by my friend Mr. John Bowden, 
Head Master of the Boys' Farm Home, East Barnet ; * it was 
published in two instalments in ' The Reformatory and Refuge 
Journal' for January to March, 1885. The second was a very 
interesting and able paper read by Capt. Legard at York last 
June,t in which the author remarked, after referring to the 
Continental Farm-schools, " Now it will be observed that in our 
Reformatory Schools, conducted on the " Farm System " we 
have precisely that control over a child's education at a critical 
period of his life, viz., from twelve to fourteen, which we lose 
in our Elementary Schools. I think the experience we have 
gained in our Reformatories, and the results attained, should 
help much to guide us in adopting any system in our Elemen- 
tary and Secondary system of Education. We have here to 
deal with the least promising class of the community, but the 
results have been extraordinary." He added : " Our educational 
system, especially in rural districts, is not doing all that was 
* A notice of this school is given on pp. 210, 211. 
t ' Report of tlie Third Conference of the National Association of Certified 
Eeformatory and Industrial Schools,' pp. 53 et se<i. 
