37 
NOTES ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION 
AT HOME AND ABROAD. 
At the meeting of the Council of the Society held in February 
last, allusions were made to certain suggestions on the subject 
of Agricultural Education, which had been thrown out by mem- 
bers at the half-yearly general meeting held in the previous 
December. Since that meeting of the Council I have had an 
opportunity of reading the Reports on the State Agricultural 
Departments of foreign countries which were laid before Parlia- 
ment by the Foreign Office in August 1889. At the present 
moment, when the business of our own Board of Agriculture 
is not definitely settled, it may be a matter of interest to notice 
what is being done by similar departments in other countries. 
The first point which I think comes prominently into view 
is, that in nearly all countries except our own, almost every 
movement with respect to agricultural development seems to 
be originated and carried into execution by a department of the 
Government. These departments have a very wide field of 
action : they have under their care not only agricultural educa- 
tion, but also statistics, scientific and practical experiments, breed- 
ing studs, forestry, mines, game licenses, fisheries, and indeed 
almost everything that can by any possibility be connected with 
the soil of the country. 
I propose to look at some of these Reports, especially with 
reference to two suggestions that were submitted to the Educa- 
tion Committee of our own Society : (1) That more should be 
done by the Society for the advancement of agricultural educa- 
tion. (2) That the Society should institute or encourage a 
system of travelling lecturers for the instruction of farmers. 
We may fairly ask, What has the Society done hitherto in 
either of these directions ? The question has constantly been 
before the Council — Mr. Chalmers Morton, Mr. Holland, and 
Mr. Randell, on many occasions presented with great force their 
views, viz., that the Society should itself initiate and develop 
schemes for the technical education of the farmer and the 
labourer. On the other hand, Sir Harry Meysey Thompson, 
the present Sir Thomas Dyke Acland and others, held the view 
that what was most required amongst the labourers and smaller 
farmers was not so much technical as general education — that a 
number of boys were constantly being sent out from our country 
schools so poorly grounded in general knowledge that they were 
quite unable to avail themselves of any higher scientific teaching. 
Ultimately, both parties, I think, considered that the Society 
