I 
tio 
The object of these schools is stated to be " to 
take the child as he leaves tlie primary or superior 
primary school, to give him thorough practical and 
theoretical training, and then to send him back to 
the agricultural family, which he will not again 
leave." The practical school does not pretend to 
make! finished agriculturists, but furnishes them 
with the means of becoming so by giving them a solid 
foundation of essential agricultural knowledge. The 
scheme devised for these schools has the merit both 
of simplicity and of economy to the State. The 
Director is either proprietor, tenant, or manager for 
some company department, or commerce. In the 
two latter cases he usuall.v undertakes the farming 
at his own risk against an almost nominal rent. The 
initial cost of adapting the farm for the purposes 
of a school is borne — except in rare instances — by 
the proprietor or lessee alone or in conjunction 
with the department. The owner, however, often 
provides the whole of his cost, being repaid by the 
department by annuities. The State is in no way 
concerned with such matters, nor participates in 
the management or the agricultural venture. 
When the school is founded with the sanction of 
the Minister of Agriculture, the Government 
undertakes to provide the salaries of the Director 
and staff, a small sum for general expenses, 
and usually from £100 to £200 for Scholar&hipp, 
Bome of which are, as a rule, also offered by 
individual departments- 
The average course of study is 2 years, the 
average number of students 30 to 40. 
The average fees are £20 for boarders, £10 for 
half boarders, £2 for day .scholars. The scale of 
charges is fixed by the Minister of Agriculture. If 
qualifying and where needed a competitive eiami- 
nfttion precedes admission ; a certificate of elemen- 
try education exempting from examination. The 
direct supervision of each school is in the hands of 
a committee of officials and unofiScials, The staff 
usually includes a director, three professors, a 
teacher-superintendent, Veterinary Surgeon, over- 
[Nov. 1 1899. 
eers for Agricultural, and horticultural work, and 
Military superintendent. 
The pupils receive theoretical and perform 
manual labour alternately morning and after- 
noon ; the practical portion of the tuition being 
supplemented by numerous excursions, which give 
occasion for object lessons in agricultural matters. 
Whil.«t there is much diversity in the practical 
training, the theoretical tuition is of a fairly 
uniform type, including ; 
1. Agriculture, zootechnics (the study of the 
habits and charuclerislics of the different kinds of 
live-stocks, and then classified according to age, 
race, &c- ) rural legislation and economy, and rural 
engineering. 
5. Physics, chemistry, technology, and meteoro- 
logy. 
8. Botany, zoology, geology, horticulture, ento- 
mology, and the studj' of useful and harmless 
insecte. 
4. Superior primary instruction, civil law. 
mathematics, surveying, levelling, and book-keep- 
ing. 
5. Hygiene and " first aid " to animals. 
A weekly examination is held in each subject, 
and pupils are practised in laboratory and the 
work of the microscope. 
We are then given a short sketch of two 
typical practical schools, viz., those at Berthonval 
in the North, and Oiides in Southern France. 
The average cost to the State of Practical 
Agricultural Schools would appear to .be be'ween 
£800 and £1,000. A certain number of schools 
afford instruction of a .special character, such as 
the manufacture of cheese and butter. Poultry 
Farming and Horticulture, e.ff. the Practical 
School of Poultry Farming at Sanvic, near Havre, 
and the Milk Industrial School at Poligny. 
Here we close our review of this interesting 
report, reserving our notice of secondary, higher 
and general agricultural education in France for 
future issues. 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." 
I 
