382 
AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. 
Meteorology should be studied, in order to be able to anticipate 
the changes of the weather. The anatomy and physiology of 
animals are also requisite for him to teach, that the good points 
of live stock may be duly appreciated, and that we may be able 
to guard against some of the diseases which now so often thin 
our farms. And, above all, he ought to be acquainted with the 
practice of agriculture ; for, although the farmer himself will, no 
doubt, undertake to teach this department of the system, yet, 
unless the tutor also understands it, he cannot so successfully 
demonstrate the application of science to the operations of prac¬ 
tice. It may, at first, be difficult to find an assistant so amply 
qualified for the task ; but as the practice of agriculture would 
most likely be the only department in which he would be defi¬ 
cient, he could, in the course of two years, acquire that know¬ 
ledge as easily as any of the pupils. 
“ With colloquial prelections and discussions in the house, at 
stated hours, so as not to interfere with those of labour in the 
fields ; and with demonstrations in the fields, whilst the labour was 
in progress, a vast mass of useful information would, in a short 
time, be conveyed to, and acquired by, the pupils : it being pre¬ 
sumed that the pupils had already acquired, at school or college, 
the elementary principles of all these sciences, besides mathema¬ 
tics. Such a house should be situated on a large farm of not 
less than six hundred acres, on which the mixed husbandry is 
practised ; that is, the growing corn, with the breeding and rear¬ 
ing of cattle and sheep. 
“We think such establishments would be conducted much more 
satisfactorily on private speculation than under the guidance pf 
any society or public commission. Both the farmer and tutor 
would be stimulated by their own interests, and competition 
would in time sharpen that stimulus still more keenly. Let any 
farmer, who has the requisite accommodation and qualification, 
begin the experiment with adequate appliances, and he will soon 
find customers. Like a coach or a steam-boat starting on a new 
line of communication, his establishment would attract pupils; 
whereas, if he waited until the demand for such establishments 
roused him into action, he might have to wait as long as the 
waggoner had for the assistance of Hercules.” 
