Notes on Agricultural Education at Home and Abroad. 45 
active part in the promotion of the interests of the agricultural 
community in the kingdom. In the year 1886 " a Government 
Commission was instituted to inquire into the condition of 
Agriculture, and to suggest the best means for improving it by 
assistance from the State." The labours of this Commission 
have not yet been concluded, but interim Reports have been 
pi-esented. With respect to agricultural education, the Com- 
mission advise the establishment of agricultural colleges, and 
that the universities should be invited to co-operate by the 
institution of professorial chairs of agriculture, which should be 
endowed from Government funds. Further, they suggest raising 
the salaries of such teachers as have obtained a certificate of 
proficiency. 
They also consider that the institution of special professional 
schools (Volk-Schulen) is essential to the development of the 
agricultural prosperity of the country. " These schools, in the 
opinion of the Commission, should be small establishments, suited 
to local requirements, and easily accessible to the agricultural 
community of the State." Winter schools (Winter-Schulen) for 
theoretical instruction should also be encouraged, and while the 
instruction of the schools is under the direction of the State, the 
subsidy should amount to 50 per cent, of the expenses of insti- 
tution and management, provided that the prescribed conditions 
of efficiency are fulfilled. 
The Commission also recommend the acquisition of land for 
practical demonstration, and advise the appointment of special 
Government officials to be called Agricultural Instructors. In 
connection with these a further recommendation is made as to 
the establishment of three Government institutions for the 
purpose of testing the genuineness of manures, feeding-stuffs, 
seeds, and the chemical properties and value of " the soil, and 
natural attributes of the farm." The estimated cost of the three 
establishments would be 2,0007., the annual expenditure 801., 
and the staff of each would consist of a Director receiving 160?. 
to 180?., an Assistant 80?. to 120?., and a Clerk 40?. per annum. 
The necessary funds for the establishment of these stations 
have been voted, and they will be established and opened with- 
out further delay. 
The Legislature has also voted grants towards the expenses 
of a School of Forestry, and to a Dairy School at Oudshorn, and 
to found a course of instruction on the same subject in the 
Provinces of Gueldres and Overijssel. The Veterinary College 
at Utrecht, which had an attendance of ninety-nine, students 
in -1886-1887, who each go through a course of four years' 
instruction, is supported by the State. The total expense was. 
