xxxvi Monthly Council, Februa/ry 4, 1891. 
tral position, and if it ever saw the 
light and was likely to go on well, be 
to it something of a foster-mother. 
There were other institutions, such as 
Bangor, and it was possible that they 
might ally themselves distinctlj' and 
strictly with one of them. If his 
motion were carried then they came 
to details, and those details could only 
be dealt with by a special committee ; 
therefore he only asked the Council to 
go with him to that extent. He knew 
that the Society had not done all that 
they should have done in the past. Per- 
haps they had done, however, all that 
circumstances permitted, and all that 
popular feeling required. There was 
very much still to be done in the way 
of scientific teaching ; they must en- 
deavour to get the better of a most 
dreadful conflict with the elements of 
the soil and the air, and find out how 
to get the most they could out of 
them. For himself, he was content 
to copy the best practice of his neigh- 
bours ; but an institution must take 
higher views. Oxford had done so, 
and Cambridge was about to do so. 
He left those great institutions to 
carry out their own work. Therefore, 
should the Council feel inclined to 
accei^t the views which he had ven- 
tured to put forth, he proposed next 
to move that a committee be appointed 
to consider upon what lines the 
scheme should be carried out. 
Mr. Dent thought a word or two 
would be expected from him in justi- 
fication of the two reports, with the 
preparation of which he had had a 
good deal to do. He felt, if they 
accepted this supplementary report 
now pre>ented, that they in no way 
barred future action if necessary. If 
it should be found in the course of 
twelve months or so that the bodies 
taking up agricultural education were 
failing in what they were doing, and 
were not likely to afford the means 
for scientific agricultural teaching, 
then Mr. Pell or any one else 
might bring up, perfectly unfettered 
by anything which might take place 
that day, a mot-ion in favour of a 
normal school. But though he would 
not go back into the history of the 
educational struggles of that Society, 
he could not but think the teaching 
of agriculture in the schools mentioned 
by Mr. Fell had been a distinct advan- 
tage. What they wanted to do was 
to spread a general knowledge of 
agriculture throughout the country ; 
they wanted to facilitate the educa- 
tion of labourers as well as of farmers. 
The great difficulty, he had no doubt, 
would be to get pupils to attend ; 
there were two difficulties — the want 
of pupils and the want of teachers. 
That report sketched out how they 
thoughtthe thing might work. Large 
sums of money had been placed in 
the hands of the County Councils ; 
at present they might only assist 
institutions in their own counties, but 
if the Government carried the measure 
which they had promised to introduce, 
they would be able to use a portion 
of the funds at all events in contigu- 
ous counties, so that neighbouring 
institutions might derive advantage. 
His idea, as accepted yesterday by 
the Education Committee, was, in- 
stead of having a normal school to be 
established with new buildings and 
laboratories, that they should sub- 
sidise existing institutions. He could 
speak, and Mr. Kowlandson also, as 
to the very practical scheme which 
would enable them to receive the sons 
of farmers at the Yorkshire College, 
and to give assistance in the way of 
providing lecturers to bring home the 
matter to the small towns and villages 
of Yorkshire, if it should be accepted 
by the Technical Education Com- 
mittees of the Ridings. His opinion 
was that, until it was known what 
were the actual resources of the 
County Councils in regard to technical 
education in agriculture, they had 
better advise that existing institutions 
should be utilised. He thought very 
much of the idea of grouping round 
certain (|uarters, which was really a 
decentralisation from headquarters. 
It wwuld be very desirable, when such 
institutions were formed, that there 
should be a conference of teaching 
bodies, and that tliey should decide 
upon the syllabus of their education. 
The Society might then give up liaving 
special examinations, and accept tlie 
examinations of the teaching bodies ; 
and might instead give premiums or 
prizes, in the way suggested by the 
North Wales College, to a higher class 
of boys and young men, in order to 
encourage them to continue their 
agricultural studies. He did not 
