Oetober  26,  I  89m. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
357 
EDUCATION  IN  RURAL  DISTRICTS. 
Many  dwellers  in  rural  districts  have  long  been  convinced  that 
at  least  some  of  the  subjects  taught  in  elementary  schools  are  not 
calculated  to  be  in  the  highest  degree  useful  to  the  recipients  in  after 
life.  They  are  taught  nothing  of  the  principles  and  practice  con¬ 
nected  with  the  soil  and  its  cultivation,  and  are  not  encouraged  to 
take  any  interest  in  the  industrial  pursuits  of  the  country.  That  the 
omission  of  such  teaching  has  been  a  mistake  has  become  more  and 
more  recognised  of  late  years,  but  until  recently  no  organised  effort 
has  been  made  to  effect  an  improvement.  The  existing  state  of 
things  is,  however,  not  to  be  continued  without  protest  and  the 
formulation  of  different  methods  of  procedure,  for  the  matter  is  taken 
in  hand  by  a  large  and  influential  committee,  known  as  the  “Agri¬ 
cultural  Education  Committee,”  with  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  W.  Hart 
Dyke,  Bart.,  M.P.,  as  Chairman,  and  Henry  Hobhouse,  Esq.,  M.P.,  as 
Honorary  Secretary,  the  movement  being  entirely  non-political.  The 
first  public  meeting  was  held  in  the  hall  of  the  Society  of  Arts  on 
Friday  last,-  when  some  150  gentlemen  assembled  and  passed  resolu¬ 
tions  for  enforcing  certain  views  and  requirements  on  the  attention  of 
the  Government. 
The  Chairman,  in  his  address,  said  there  were  present  a  number  of 
gentlemen  who  were  not  faddists,  but  who  for  years  had  been  carrying  on 
educational  efforts  successfully,  and  who  wished  to  secure  a  thorough 
system  of  technical  and  practical  instruction,  not  only  in  the  industria 
centres,  but  in  the  rural  districts.  An  amendment  in  the  elementary 
system  in  village  schools  was  urgently  desired.  Looking  back  over  the 
past,  while  marked  progress  had  been  made  in  education  in  commercial 
centres,  it  was  astonishing  how  little  had  been  done  in  village  schools  in 
teaching  on  those  subjects  with  which  the  children  would  be  mainly  con¬ 
nected  in  after  life.  The  Education  Department  should  form  a  new 
curriculum  dealing  with  agriculture  and  allied  subjects  which  would 
enable  the  children  to  gain  knowkdge  on,  and  thus  be  enabled  to  get  a 
better  living  from  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  A  grant  b'nould  be  made 
for  this  purpose,  and  practical  teachers  appointed  to  carry  out  the  object 
in  view.  When  he  was  at  the  Education  Department,  he  found  much 
teaching  that  was  of  a  farcical  and  unpractical  character.  A  reform  was 
much  needed  on  the  lines  indicated  in  the  Resolutions,  and  he  would 
do  all  he  could  to  assist  in  bringing  it  about. 
Sir  Henry  E.  Roscoe,  F.  K.S.,  in  moving  the  first  resolution,  “  That  in 
the  proposed  organisation  of  the  new  Board  of  Education  due  regard  shall  be  had 
to  the  interests  of  agricultural  instruction ,”  remarked  how  little  bad  been  done 
for  rural  education  in  the  past,  both  in  the  higher  and  lower  grade 
teaching,  on  subjects  bearing  on  agriculture.  There  had  been  no 
inspectors  specially  trained  or  interested  in  matters  pertaining  to  the 
land,  and  a  reorganisation  of  the  Education  Board  was  needed  for  making 
good  the  delects  of  the  teaching,  as  expressed  by  the  resolution. 
Colonel  Lockwood  in  seconding  fully  agreed  in  the  necessity  for 
a  change  in  methods  of  instruction  in  rural  schools,  but  feared  some  time 
would  elapse  before  suitable  men  could  be  found  as  instructors  on  subjects 
that  were  necessary'  to  be  taught  in  village  communities  ;  they  should, 
however,  make  a  start  at  once  and  remove  useless  subjects  from  the 
curriculum.  The  resolution  was  passed  unanimously. 
Sir  John  Dorrington,  Bart.,  M.P.,  expressed  the  opinion  that  rural 
schools  were  not  popular  because  the  parents  and  inhabitants  did  not 
appreciate  the  teaching  given.  If  this  was  made  acceptable  to  the  parents 
the  case  would  be  altered.  It  was  necessary  to  have  agricultural  teaching 
in  training  colleges.  He  moved — “  That  proper  provision  should  at  once  be 
made  at  certain  of  the  Teachers'  Training  Colleges  for  giving  \to  those  who 
desire  if]  both  theoretical  and  practical  instruction  on  subjects  bearing  on 
agriculture  and  horticulture." 
Dr.  Somerville  (Agricultural  Department,  Cambridge  University), 
in  seconding  the  resolution,  said  that  while  Government  regulations 
governing  the  training  ot  teachers  should  be  modified,  yet  if  labourers 
were  to  remain  on  the  land  they  must  have  higher  remuneration 
either  in  wages  or  otherwise,  and  advised  that  gardening  and  bee¬ 
keeping  should  be  taught  and  encouraged  to  a  greater  extent  in  our 
villages. 
Dr.  Bodington  (Yorkshire  College,  Leeds)  said  he  was  not  entirely 
in  sympathy  with  the  resolution  or  much  that  had  been  said.  He  did 
not  believe  the  curriculum  in  village  schools  was  all  that  could  be  desired, 
but  reform  was  not  to  be  brought  about  by  introducing  any  of  the  formal 
sciences  and  still  less  the  book  idea  of  agriculture.  Children  should  be 
directed  to  the  observation  of  Nature  and  ought  to  be  trained  by  an 
increase  in  practical  object  lessons  by  teachers  who  were  themselves 
practical,  but  with  scientific  notions  in  their  minds.  Dr.  Bodington’s 
observations  were  loudly  cheered.  Other  gentlemen  continued  the 
discussion. 
Mr.  Martin  J.  Sutton  said  he  did  not  agree  that  the  science  of 
agriculture  should  be  taught  in  rural  elementary  schools  any  more  than 
building  should  be  taught  in  town  schools.  If  they  closed  the  country 
schools  from  the  middle  of  June  till  the  middle  of  September  he  was  sure 
no  child  would  wish  to  leave  the  country  for  the  town. 
By  the  addition  of  the  words  “  to  those  (teachers)  who  desire  it,” 
the  resolution  was  passed  by  a  majority. 
The  Right  Hon.  Sir  John  Lubbock,  Bart.,  M.P.,  remarked  in  reply 
to  Dr.  Bodington,  that  in  teaching  science  it  was  impossible  to  get  on 
except  by  object  lessons.  They  could  not  make  rural  children  chemists 
and  naturalists,  but  they  could  teach  them  elementary  scientific  facts 
which  would  be  useful.  The  provision  of  teachers  ought  not  to  be  a  very 
great  difficulty,  as  those  who  desired  could  soon  acquire  sufficient  know¬ 
ledge  for  the  purpose.  He  thought  some  subjects  should  be  given  up  in 
rural  schools  and  more  attention  devoted  to  those  which  formed  the  basis 
of  agriculture,  so  that  boys  would  he  enabled  to  benefit  by  the  technical 
education  obtained  on  the  land.  Sir  John  moved  : — That  after  a  certain 
date  to  be  named  in  next  year's  Code,  instruction  in  the  elementary  schools  in  the 
elementary  branches  of  natural  science  bearing  on  ag>  iculture  should  be  made 
compulsory  in  rural  elementary  schools,  and  that  such  instruction  should  be 
accompanied  and  illustratedby  experiments,  and  where  possib'e  be  practical  work 
onplotsof  ground  attached  to  the  schools."  Seconded  by  Mr.  A.  F.  Jeffreys 
M.P.,  and  carried  nem  con. 
The  Right  Hon.  Sir  John  Hibbert,  Iv.C.B.,  moved,  and  Mr.  T.  F. 
PLOWMAN  (Secretary  of  the  Bath  ana  West  of  England  Society)  seconded, 
in  the  absence  of  Mr.  E.  J.  HALSEY  (Chairman  of  the  Surrey  County 
Council)  the  last  resolution — “  That  county  authorities',  be  encouraged  to 
provide  experimental  and  school  farms,  and  to  contribute,  by  scholarships  and 
otherwise,  to  some  Agricultural  College  or  Department  of  the  first  rank." 
This  was  carried. 
The  character  of  the  several  speeches  which  were  made  indicated 
with  undoubted  earnestness  that  something  should  be  done  to  institute 
a  more  practical  and  uselnl  system  of  education  in  village  schools  than 
has  hitherto  obtained.  Danger  perhaps  lurks  in  a  tendency  on  the 
part  of  some  accomplished  men  to  make  it  ultra  scientific.  While  it 
is  imperative  that  all  teaching  should  rest  on  a  scientific  basis,  theie 
is  not  wanting  evidence  that  both  youths  and  young  men  who  are 
saturated  with  science  are  the  reverse  of  the  best  and  most  profitable 
land  workers.  Perhaps  some  of  our  readers  may  have  something  to 
say  on  the  important  subject  of  agri-horticultural  education  in  rural 
districts. 
BIRMINGHAM  GARDENERS’  ASSOCIATION. 
At  a  well-attended  meeting  of  the  members  on  the  evening  of  the 
16th  inst.,  Mr.  W.  B.  Child,  Acocks  Green,  Birmingham,  opened  a 
discussion  on  the  herbaceous  Aster  or  Michaelmas  Daisy,  and  in  which 
Messrs.  W.  B.  Latham  (the  Chairman)  W.  Spinks  and  ^Jumes  Deans 
took  part.  Mr.  Child  gave  an  interesting  and  instructive  description  of 
the  numerous  varieties  extant,  and  of  their  cultivation,  recommending  a 
position  sheltered  from  the  direct  north-east  winds,  and  planting  them  in 
variety  in  large  clumps,  so  as  to  afford  as  much  diversity'  of  colouration 
and  prolongation  of  bloom  as  possible,  supplying  plenty  of  manure,  and  a 
more  frequent  transplanting  than  is  usually  given  them  in  gardens.  He 
also  advocated  the  introduction  of  the  best  varieties  among  the 
Rhododendrons,  as  well  as  in  beds  or  in  front  of  shrubbery  borders. 
An  animated  discussion  arose  between  Messrs.  Child  and  Spinks 
respecting  the  identity  of  the  former’s  so-called  Aster  ericoides,  and  of 
which  he  had  procured  plants  from  several  reliable  sources,  it  having  a 
strictly  fastigiate  habit  similar  to  one  of  the  Ericas,  and  a  profusion  of 
pure  white  flowers,  Mr.  Spinks  believing  it  to  be  grandiflorus,  and  asserting 
that  the  true  ericoides  has  a  semipendulous  habit,  and  with  not  such  a 
profusion  of  expanded  blossoms.  Eventually  the  matter  was  left  over 
for  further  arbitration. 
Mr.  Child’s  offer  of  a  first  prize  for  twelve  bunches  of  Michaelmas 
Daisies  in  not  less  than  six  varieties  was  awarded  to  Mr,  Steele,  of  Lady- 
wood,  an  amateur  grower  and  the  only  exhibitor.  Mr.  J.  Deans 
(representing  Messrs.  John  Pope  &  Sons)  brought  a  large  and  highly 
interesting  collection  of  cut  examples  of  autumn  tinted  leaves,  comprising 
upwards  of  thirty  species  and  varieties  of  hardy  trees,  shrubs  and  other 
plants,  also  examples  of  the  American  Baldwin  Apple  rather  small,  but 
highly  coloured,  gathered  from  an  imported  young  tree,  and  upon  all 
of  which  exhibits  be  afforded  interesting  remarks. 
Mr.  W.  Gardiner  also  contributed  a  few  examples,  and  among  which 
was  a  highly  coloured  leaved  branchlet  of  the  Tulip  Tree  (Liriodendron 
tulipifera)  with  its  peculiar,  truncated  and  four-lobed  foliage.  Mr.  W. 
Hirons,  gardener  to  George  Jackson,  Esq.,  The  Grange,  Moseley,  brought 
a  dozen  distinct  and  beautiful  varieties  of  Michaelmas  Daisies,  not  for 
competition,  and  Mr.  Geo.  Stacey  a  small  collection  of  Apples. 
Asparagus  deflexus. — The  pretty  decumbent  habit  of  this  species 
renders  it  very  useful  for  hanging  baskets  in  the  fernery.  Lar^e 
plants  with  long  shoots  are  especially  handsome  in  the  spring,  when 
there  are  usually  some  shoots  growing  erect,  and  others  pendant.  Even 
small  seedlings  show  this  habit  almost  at  once,  and  this  is  a  very  good 
way  of  increasing  the  stock.  The  seeds  may  be  placed  singly--  i.e.,  the 
berries — in  small  pots,  and  the  several  young  plants  may  grow  away 
together,  making  a  well-furnished  plant  directly.  The  culture  is 
simplicity  itself,  nothing  being  necessary  beyond  ordinary  warm  green¬ 
house  treatment,  and  repotting  as  often  as  necessary.  When  basketing 
place  a  little  rough  moss  about  the  wires,  which  the  roots  soon  get  hold 
of  and  keep  in  place.  For  permanent  baskets  of  large  size  it  is  best  to 
put  a  few  pieces  of  charcoal  or  crocks  in  the  soil,  this  keeping  it  open  and 
sweet.  A.  deflexus  should  not  be  given  too  rich  a  compost,  but  when 
well  established  feeding  with  chemical  or  liquid  manure  may  be  practised, 
always  noting  that  the  roots  should  be  moist  at  the  time.  A  moist 
atmosphere  at  all  times  is  essential. — B. 
