Report of Committee on Agricultural Education. 77 
knowledge of things bucolic. Better still, they might perhaps 
take its place in the administration of Agricultural Education 
in Scotland." 1 
At the present time agricultural education in England and 
Wales, so far as supported by the State, consists of (i.) the 
instruction given at the twenty institutions subsidised by the 
Board of Agriculture ; (ii.) some two or three institutions, 
notably the Swanley Horticultural College and the Worcester 
Dairy Institute, earning grants from the Board of Education ; 
and (iii.) the work, chiefly of a migratory character, which, 
until three or four years ago, was conducted by county 
councils without financial assistance from any Department 
of the State, but has recently been assisted in certain counties by 
grants from the Board of Education. There is thus a certain 
amount of overlapping between the operations of these two 
Departments ; and it will not be wondered that the Committee 
recommend that “ in the interests both of efficiency and of 
economy the respective spheres of influence of the two 
Departments should be defined.” During the last two or three 
years, indeed, five of the twenty institutions first mentioned 
have, in addition to receiving a grant-in-aid from the Board 
of Agriculture, earned grants from the Board of Education. 
The Committee carefully considered this question and the 
report contains convincing arguments in support of their 
conclusion. It will suffice here to quote the paragraph wherein 
the Committee summarise their recommendation on this 
matter. “ Since complete co-operation between the Boards of 
Agriculture and Education is essential, if the field of education 
is to be adequately covered and overlapping avoided, the 
Committee are of opinion that agricultural instruction, when 
provided by universities, university colleges, agricultural 
colleges, farm institutes, and winter schools, or by means of 
special classes or courses of lectures in agricultural and kindred 
subjects should be under the direction of the Board of Agricul- 
ture ; while all instruction in agricultural subjects forming 
part of courses of primary, secondary, or such evening schools 
as are in definite continuation of the education given in 
primary schools, should be under the Board of Education.” 
Since the publication of the Committee’s Report a memor- 
andum 2 which, not without justice, has been described as a 
“ counterblast,” has been issued by the Board of Education. 
This is not the place for a detailed criticism of this singular 
document, but it is safe to predict that its somewhat 
ostentatious dangling of the money bags of the Board 
of Education before the eyes of county councils and of 
1 Scotsman, October 15, 1908. 
2 Cd. 4271. 
