364 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Dec. 
AGRICULTURAL S€SSOOL§, 
Although much has been said and written on the sub¬ 
ject of agricultural schools, we presume a vague idea 
only prevails in the minds of many, in regard to the 
proper system on which such institutions should be ba¬ 
sed, or what courses of study and instruction should be 
there pursued, in order to confer practical benefits on 
the pupils. Too much weight and importance appears. 
to have been given to the inculcation of abstract theo¬ 
ries, which, however correct in themselves, could not 
be used by the student in a profitable manner, without 
a thorough acquaintance with the manipulations in 
which their applications were involved. Perhaps the 
ill-success which has attended several attempts to estab¬ 
lish schools of this kind in this country, is in a greater 
degree attributable to the want of a proper combina¬ 
tion of science with practice,” than any other cause. 
We are informed that similar failures attended the first 
efforts of this kind in Europe. Even in Germany and 
Prussia, where the practical utility of such institutions 
is now almost universally acknowledged, they could not 
be made to succeed till the system of instruction was 
made to comprehend a thorough knowledge of all facts 
and operations on which the profit or loss of farming 
Attention to the subject, by able and practical minds, 
soon ascertained the root of the evil and devised the re- 
"medy. “ They found,” says one familiar with the 
course of agricultural education in Germany, that “ it 
was the. practical knowledge which had been wanting, 
to enable the farmer to construct an effective machine 
which increased its speed in proportion as the oil of 
science was added. Thus it was proved that neither 
science nor the thorough understanding of any single 
branch of agriculture (as breeding cattle or raising a 
fine crop) was enough to insure the ultimate object in 
view. For this, was required the knowledge of every 
branch, separately as well as collectively, the know¬ 
ledge of calculating and securing combined results; 
how to estimate the cost of manure, and howto employ 
it to the highest advantage; to calculate the amount 
of cattle, the food necessary to produce the required 
quantity of manure for the rotation adopted; and a 
number of like practical questions, which must be un¬ 
derstood by all those who wish to till the land with pro¬ 
fit. A completer science showed that farming was 
more intricate than was first supposed; that it requires 
a regular study like all other pursuits, and this led to 
the Idea of establishing proper agricultural schools, 
wherein all the sciences which bear upon agriculture, 
and a^ the practical branches separately and in con¬ 
nection with others; in a word, the economy of farm¬ 
ing should be taught.” 
There are now several such agricultural schools in 
various parts of Germany. The young men there edu¬ 
cated, are employed as professors for other schools, as 
directors for large estates, or they carry on farming for 
themselves; and in all these relations, the practical ad¬ 
vantages of their education and training has been evin¬ 
ced. 
Mr. Fleischmann, to whom we are indebted for the 
remarks we have quoted above, informs us that in some 
of the German states, pupils of the various schools are 
publicly examined under the direction of societies con¬ 
sisting of owners and superintendents of estates—the ob¬ 
ject being to ascertain the qualifications of the young 
men for the successful management ot farms. Mr. F. 
attended one of these examinations, at which six'een pu¬ 
pils, of from 16 to 23 years of age from various schools, 
■were present. He has given in the Report of the Com. 
of Patents, for 1847, the following account of the exa¬ 
mination. If the pupils could answer, properly, all 
the questions here given, their knowledge of the details 
of husbandry must have been very perfect. 
After the necessary preliminaries, the pupils-were re¬ 
quired to answer a number of questions in writing; af¬ 
ter which they were taken to an estate called Rosenthal 
(Rosendale) near Breslau. In the yard, the pupils 
were shown a wagon , which was marked on thirty-six 
parts; a plow, on thirty-five parts; a hacken (a kind of 
plow or cultivator ) in five; a harrow on six parts, ma¬ 
king eighty-two separate parts. Each pupil had to put 
dow r n on paper the name of each part, as they were 
marked, to show whether he was acquainted with all the 
parts of the implements. After that, they had to show 
their skill in taking apart and putting together imple¬ 
ments, and in case of breakage, to mention the most 
efficient way of repairing, &c. A sheep was then 
brought forward, and they were required to set down on 
paper, the answers to the following questions: 
1. Is this sheep healthy, and why ? 
2. How old is this sheep ? 
3. How is this age called in the shepherd language? 
Each one was next required to catch a sheep himself 
and examine it, whether it had the foot rot, and describe 
what are the signs of the foot rot. They had also to 
point out upon a sheep the places where the worst woo! 
grows and on which place the best: To point out the 
places where the faults of wool are most liable to be 
inherited- 
Several head of cattle were now brought before them 
and the following questions propounded: 
1. How much milk can a cow of this breed give, 
when fed with grass or other green fodder—how T long 
since she had a calf? 
2. How many pounds of fodder does a cow of this 
breed require per day, during the summer ? 
3. How much during winter, and the cost ? 
4. How many calves has this cow had ? 
5. How old is this cow* ? 
6. What breed, and why do you say so ? 
7. How much will she weigh ? 
They are then called upon to estimate the probable 
amount of meat and fat, by examining the animal in the 
customary way of butchers. After that they were ex¬ 
amined upon horses: the horses were first examined 
by the pupils, and the following questions required to be 
answered: 
1. What are the peculiar qualities of this horse as a 
plow horse? 
2. Which of these qualities are requisite for a good 
plow horse, and which are not ? 
3. How old is this horse ? 
4. Several places were pointed out to the pupils, and 
they were asked what kind of disease affects this part 
and that part ? 
5. What are the names of the different parts of the 
hoof, and where are tkose parts ? 
The pupils were now conducted to the barns, where 
they had to show their skill in making straw bands, in 
cleaning grain, &c., in sowing grain, &c. 
After this, the pupils were taken to the fields, first 
to one of a light soil, and afterwards to one of a heavy 
soil, and the following questions were put to them be¬ 
fore a fresh parcel of soil just dug up: 
1. What is the name of this kind of soil? 
2. What are the names of the principal parts of 
which this soil is composed ? 
3. What is the name of the subsoil ? 
4. Is the subsoil retentive or not ? 
