524 Report on Agricultural Education. 
Agricultural Society, and between 1858 and 1881 twenty-four 
took the diploma of the Highland and Agricultural Society of 
Scotland. It will be seen hereafter that these distinctions, and 
especially the former, are not conferred unless the candidate 
passes an examination more thorough and searching than that 
for many a University degree." 
College of Ageiculture, Downton, Wilts. 
This College, which is an enterprise of a purely private 
nature, was founded in the year 1880 under the name of the 
Wilts and Hants Agricultural College. This title, however, was 
subsequently changed for the above designation. It is under- 
stood that it was organized with due regard to commercial 
principles, and that it has hitherto been not unsuccessful as a 
business undertaking. The building itself is an old farm-house, 
which has been adapted and enlarged for the accommodation of 
about forty indoor students. It contains a dining hall, common- 
room, lecture-room, and other offices, while laboratories have 
been established in the out-buildings. 
As in the case of Cirencester, no preliminary examination is 
required of students, but it is requisite that they should obtain 
references as to previous general conduct. Out-students must 
be 21 years of age, and in-students at least 18. The charges 
are not unlike those of Cirencester, being 129Z. a year for in- 
students, and 60/. for out-students. These charges include for 
the former, board, lodging, tuition, and laundry. According 
to the prospectus : — " Instruction is imparted by lectures, field- 
classes, practical work, and catechetical lectures, and there are 
weekly examinations, conducted on the farm, in the laboratories, 
and by means of printed papers. Each student is expected to 
keep a farm journal, and these books are inspected and reported 
upon at regular intervals." 
The subjects of instruction are in almost every detail "similar 
to those at Cirencester, and it is evident that the instruction in 
the latter-named College has been the model upon which the 
President has worked. Diplomas are awarded at the end of 
a two years' course, and a scholarship of the value of 10/. is 
offered at the end of each session. The board of examiners for 
the diplomas or certificates of membership consists, as at Ciren- 
cester, of the Professors of the College, assisted by eminent 
agriculturists. In addition to these diplomas, a certificate- of 
proficiency in practical agriculture is granted to such students 
as do not compete for the first-named honours, but who, never- 
theless, acquire a sound knowledge of practical farming, as 
shown by a satisfactory examination. 
