Reformatory and Industrial Schools. 
183 
" The receipts last year were as follows : — 
"Sold— £ s. d. £ 8. d. 
Live-stock 27 1 3 
Vegetables 65 9 9 
Wheat 22 1 3 
Seeds 2 3 1 
IIG 15 4 
Supplied — 
Live-stock 29 12 6 
Vegetables , .. 27 2 7 
Fu'ewood .. 710 0 
64 5 1 
Horse-feed 17 10 0 
Boys' labour for farmers 105 10 7 
Total £304 1 0 
" The farm-buildings consist of bam, piggery, stable, cart-sheds, and root- 
house — all small, but suitable for a small farm, and the dry-earth system 
gives some manure. 
"One, if not the chief, necessity in the training of street boys is to make 
continuous work easy to them, and farm work certainly is the best work 
known for making any boy healthy and strong to labour. Hard continuous 
work to a feeble lad is simply severe punishment, but to a healthy strong 
one a pleasure. These boys make capital soldiers, sailors, emigrants, or 
anything else. The only outside work is done for neighbouring farmers in 
the harvest fields, farmyards, and houses. We find this kind of work of 
much service as a reward to the boys, trying their honesty, industry, &c., 
and also training them in many useful works upon the farm. The school- 
work is done after the day's work on the farm is over, and the boys are 
trained to the service of God, and, especially, good morals are inculcated. 
" We find that ' elementary education ' has to be confined to few subjects 
in each Standard in our school. Eeadinc;, Writing, Arithmetic, Dictation, and 
the composition of a letter, will all, I think, compare favourably with Board 
Schools ; but our boys are much older than Board School children. 
" My personal opinion on labourers' children being trained in technical 
work is decidedly against such training at so early an age as those children 
leave school. I think that such very young ones should give all their time 
to mental work, i.e., to what we now consider and call ' elementary education.' 
" If we could induce parents to keep their children in school another year 
or two, technical education may well take the place of, say, English literature, 
and be most beneficial to the children. Apropos to this, I have found, curiously 
enough, that in a mixed school, where the girls spent about five hours a week 
in sewing, &c., they were able to keep, and did keep, abreast of the boys in 
elementary work ! 
" William Harris, 
" Superintendent, Devon and Exeter Reformatory Farm Schools, 
" Brampford Wood, Exeter" 
This is an interesting school, situated on high ground, the 
land being well cropped with market-garden vegetables, such 
as broccoli, cabbages, savoys, onions, parsnips, turnips, &c., as 
well as small areas of wheat, barley, and oats. At the time of 
my visit (August 27th) the scarlet runners were still very fine, 
as they had been persistently watered throughout the long 
drought. These were selling very dear on Exeter Market, to 
