410  THE  TROPICAl 
THE  ACHUCULTljRAL  SCHOOL  :-IN 
DEFENCE. 
If  the  Unofficial  Members  of  Council  have  not 
been  very  successful  in  their  legislative  battles, 
they  have  sometimes  clone  good  service  in  tlraw- 
ing  the  attention  of  the  Oovernment  to  wliat 
they  believe  to  be  errors  of  policy  on  the  part 
of  the  Executive  and  thereby  have  brouglit  the 
light  of  criticism  to  bear  upon  defects  where 
they  are  alleged  to  exist.  As  we  liave  already 
stated,  we  are  rather  at  a loss  to  assign  a 
motive  for  the  vigorous  attack  which  the  Tamil 
Member  made  on  the  Agricultural  School,  par- 
ticularly when  we  recall  the  fact  that  his  zeal  for 
the  security  of  our  Uuauces  seemed  to  forsake  him 
during^  the  debate  on  the  Arrack  Kent  Sales. 
Mr.  Coouiaraswamy’s  plea  for  the  suppression 
of  the  School  was  supported  by  two  ar- 
guments, first,  that  the  expenditure  on  the 
institution  was  excessive,  and  secondly  that  the 
School  itself  was  a failure.  In  support  of  his  first 
argument  the  Tamil  Member  quoted  figures  from 
the  Blue  Books  to  the  ettect  that  the  net  expen- 
diture on  the  Agricultural  School  for  the  past 
three  years  was  as  follows  : — 
In  1892  ..  1U2, 007-41 
„ 1893  ..  K12,728  11 
„ 1894  ..  1112,370-75 
Now  we  find  on  reference  to  our  Blue  Books 
for  three  years  that  included  in  the  above  is 
a sum  of  KojOUO  ])aid  to  the  Colonial  Veteri- 
nary Surgeon  during  each  year.  VVliy  this  s\im 
should  he  included  in  the  expenditure  on  the 
.Agricultural  School  it  is  difficult  to  say.  We 
should  be  sorry  to  think  that  the  work  of 
the  Government  Veterinary  Surgeon  was  con- 
fined to  the  Agricultural  School ; and  indeed  if 
this  be  so,  so  large  an  expenditure  on  the 
salary  of  a teacher  would  not  be  warranted.  We 
know,  however,  that  tliis  office  of  Veterinary 
Surgeon  is  for  the  whole  colony,  and  that  the 
Surgeon’s  special  work  lies  in  the  .study  of 
large  fpiestions  concerned  with  the  stock  ot  the 
country — especially  Avith  reference  to  the  sup- 
pression of  cattle  disease.  We  presume  that  the 
Veterinary  Surgeon  besides,  conducts  a class  in 
the  Agricutural  ScliO(»l  ; but  it  is  nevertlieless 
most  unreasonalde  to  debit  the  School  with 
the  whole  .salary  of  K5,000,  when  the  salaries 
of  the  Superintendent  ami  his  staff  of  tlirce 
Assistants  aggregates  not  mucit  more  than 
Ko,(X)0  '.  We  should  have  thought  that  it 
would  have  been  more  consistent  to  attach  tlie 
Government  Veterinary  officer,  as  a "Colonial 
Sur''eon,”  to  the  Medical  Department,  where 
he  ought  to  prove  more  useful  under  an  able 
administrator  like  Dr.  Kynsey.  Indeed,  it  ap- 
pears quite  anomalous  that  a Colonial  Veterinary 
Surgeon  should  have  the  Director  of  Public  In- 
struction as  his  chief.  If  the  change  we  advocate 
is  made  the  veterinary  class  in  the  Agricultural 
School  could  still  be  taken  by  the  Colonial  Vete- 
rinary Surgeon  or  even  by  the  tfovernmeut  vete- 
rinary scholar  who  had  such  a brilliant  career  at 
the  Bombay  College,  and  who  we  believe  is  already 
on  the  staff  of  teachers.  Taking  away  the  salary 
at  leant  of  the  (Jovernment  Veterinary  Surgeon 
(for  there  may  be  other  cxi)enses  for  wliich  he  is 
responsible)  from  the  cost  of  working  tlie  Agri- 
cultural School,  wc  find  the  figures  quoted  by  Mr. 
Coomai-aswamy  reduced  to  the  following 
1892  • • • • 7,007-41 
1893  ..  , 7,728-11 
1894  ..  ••  7,370-78 
The  Veterinary  Surgeon’s  salary,  therefore,  forms 
40  per  ceut  of  the  exnenditure  on  the  School  and 
as  it  should  come  under  another  head  altogether, 
the  above  would  be  fairer  ligui'ea  lor  the  Tamil 
AGRICULTURIST.  [Dec.  2,  1895. 
and  Mercantile  members  to  take  in  reckoning  the 
cost  per  student  and  in  comparing  the  total  cost 
with  that  of  tlie  Teclinical  School  or  Koyal 
College.  Mr.  Cooniaraswamy’s  assuinjition  that 
the  expenditure  per  year  for  the  last  11  years 
Avas  over  K12,U00  is  quite  unwarranteil.  Even  if 
he,  tlirough  an  oversight,  included  115,000  in 
1892,  1893  and  1894,  he  should  have  remembered 
that  there  Avas  no  Veterinary  Surgeon  before 
1892,  and  that  the  Superintendent,  Mr.  Drieberg, 
joined  the  staff  only  in  1889.  The  real  expendi- 
ture for  the  11  years  is  thus  noAvhere  near 
K140,000  or  Kl50,duo,  but  more  like  KfiU,00O  or 
K70,000.  It  is  very  suri»ri.sing  to  us  that  there 
was  no  official — not  even  the  Treasurer  or  the 
Government  Agent  of  the  Province — sufficiently 
up  in  the  subject  to  correct  the  unofficial  speakers  ! 
If  the  paid  members  of  the  Executive  and  Legis- 
lative Councils  do  not  study  the  annual  Blue 
Books,  Avho  can  Ave  expect  to  do  so  ? 
There  is  another  point  to  Avhicli  we  may  direct 
attention  and  that  is  that  the  Training  School 
and  Practising  School  are  bracketed  under  the 
head  of  Agricultural  Scliool,  though  the  ex- 
penses of  the  three  are  given  separately.  From 
this  it  Avould  ai)pear  that  the  Principal  of  the 
Agricultural  School  is  Superintendent  <as  Avell  of 
tAvo  other  Schools.  If  so,  tlien  surely  the  salary 
of  this  officer  sliould  be  divided  proportionately 
in  estimating  the  expenditure  on  tliese  three  es- 
tablishments ? We  are  further  reminded  of  the 
existence  of  the  GoAernment  Dairy — a separate 
in.stitution  from  the  School — against  Avliich  in 
all  reasonableness  a large  slice  of  Mr.  Driebergs’ 
salary  should  be  debited.  If  not,  the  alterna- 
tive must  be  tliat  the  proceeds  of  the  Dairy 
should  go  to  sAvell  the  receipts  from  the  soil. 
The  Direi^tor  of  I’nblic  Instruction  in  his  Ad- 
ministration Report  for  1894  speaks  of  a number 
of  students  being  refused  admittance  into  the 
Agricultural  School  ; this  Avould  indicate  that 
onlj'  a limited  number  is  taken  on,  and  if  so 
tlie  small  numbers  are  not  due  to  lack  of  appli- 
cants for  admission.  It  Avould  appear  from  the 
total  receijits  that  the  fees  charged  at  the 
School  are  unduly  low,  and  indeed  the  Suiier- 
intendent  in  his  Rei>ort  for  1894  recommends 
that  they  should  be  raised.  If  this  suggestion 
be  acteil  on,  Ave  may  hope  to  see  the  net  ex- 
penditure on  the  school  still  further  decrea.sed. 
Let  us  now  refer  to  the  second  argument  put 
foi-Avard,  namely,  that  the  School  is  a 
failure.  But  Iioav  has  Mr.  Coqmaraswaniy  set 
about  ganging  the  success  or  failure  of 
the  institution  ? It  Avould  seem  from  the 
character  of  the  return  called  for,  that  the  bon. 
member  looks  upon  the  School  as  an  institution 
for  training  Agricultural  Instructors  and  nothing 
more.  It  is  true  that  the  School  Avas  started  on 
a A-ery  small  scale  at  first  and  that  Mr.  H.  W 
Green,  avIio  Avas  its  initiator,  tried  the  ex|>cri- 
•meut  of  sending  out  a few  Agricultural  Instruc- 
tors to  certain  districts.  ^VllctlIcr  this  experiment 
was  a success,  is  doubtful,  ^\'e  Iuia-c  heard  of  a fcA\ 
of  these  Instructors  doing  good  Avork  under  the  im- 
mediate supervision  of  progressive  revenue  oHicer.-, 
i'/iid  Ave  have  also  heanl  of  some  making  no  hcad- 
Avay  at  all — left  to  themselves  receiAing  no  help 
from  village  autlioi itics.  nans  funds,  nuns  labour, 
nu.nn  land,  cAcrytliing  that  is  necessary  for 
establishing  anything  like  an  agricultural  station. 
Indeed  avc  believe  that  the  attempt  to  disseni- 
miimte  agricultural  education  through  Instructors 
has  been  a half-hearted  one,  oAving  (1)  tothcAvith- 
holding  of  the  expenditure  that  must  necessarily 
be  involved  in  carrying  the  system  forAvard  Avitu 
any  ellect,  (2)  to  the  lack  of  support  from  village  and 
district  authorities,  (3)  to  the  opposition  of  conserve* 
