62 Report of Committee on Agricultural Education. 
farmer on any considerable scale would have to employ a 
clerk to keep his books for him and so forth. Now why 
should the farmer regard himself as exempt from the ordinary 
rules of business ? If a manufacturer be asked the net cost at 
the factory of the article he produces he can state it at once ; 
ask him what percentage he must add to pay the expenses of 
the counting-house and his answer is ready. But how many 
farmers can state the cost of producing a stone of beef, or the 
cost of a horse per day, or the cost per ton of the dung on the 
farm ? Why is it that they alone of all business men can 
get along without a knowledge of costs ? Surely it would 
be of the greatest service to them, and if they cannot or 
will not devote the necessary time and trouble to get at it, is 
it unreasonable to suggest that they should employ book- 
keepers ? What right has a person with say 5,000Z. in his 
business and an annual turnover running possibly into larger 
figures still, to expect to conduct his business without a clerk, 
and keep his books by memoranda on the backs of envelopes ? 
Is there any other class of men in business who would dare to 
attempt it ? Surely the question requires no argument and 
when the agriculturist begins to realise what a mine of 
information his books should be to him, he will not begrudge 
either the time or the expense which may be involved in 
keeping them, and he will find that, a new interest has been 
added to his already absorbing occupation. 
C. S. Orwin. 
Estate Office, Pan ton, Wragby. 
THE REPORT OF 
LORD REAY’S COMMITTEE ON 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION . 1 
Lord Carrington, President of the Board of Agriculture, 
on March 20, 1907, appointed a Departmental Committee 
“ to inquire as to the provision which has now been made 
for affording scientific and technical instruction in agriculture 
in England and Wales, and to report whether, in view of the 
practical results which have already been obtained, the 
existing facilities for the purpose are satisfactory and sufficient, 
and, if not, in what manner they may with advantage be 
modified or extended.” The Committee were fortunate in 
having Lord Reay as Chairman. His knowledge of educational 
problems, and his experience of the conduct of Commissions 
1 Report [Cd. 420(i] and Minutes of Evidence [Cd. 4207], Wyman & 
Sons, price 9 d. and 5*. 3 d. respectively. 
