86 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
January  24,  1901. 
Where  We  Fall  Short. 
We  were  asked  the  other  day  a  question  relating  to  agricultural 
certificates — i  e.,  vouchers  of  pr  ficiency,  and  we  were  a  little  puzzlt  d 
as  to  our  re  ly.  Rather  a  curious  admi-sion  to  make  in  the  fi  st 
agricultural  country  of  the  world.  Of  course  it  is  easy  enough  to  give 
a  list  (a  very  short  one)  of  the  agricultural  colleges  and  schools,  but 
that  is  not  exactly  what  is  needed.  These  places  of  education  are 
more  for  the  “classe-i”  than  the  “masses.”  They  demand  somewhat 
heavy  fees  and  protracted  terms,  and  do  not  catch  the  man  who  really 
needs  their  help  mod. 
There  is  an  old  law  about  supply  and  demand,  and  when  the 
demand  is  steady  and  continuous  the  supply  always  comes  from 
somewhere,  often  from  the  mo.-t  unexpected  places.  Well,  we  take 
it  there  has  been  up  to  now  no  great  demand  for  agricultural  traini  g — 
that  is,  systematic  training,  or  we  think  facilities  would  have  been 
given. 
There  has  been  a  very  general  feeling  among  ns  who  guide  the 
plough,  or  cause  it  to  be  guided,  that  we  know  more  of  our  business 
than  anyone  could  possibly  teach  us.  In  fact,  we  have  been  a  bit 
puffed  up  with  pride,  and  as  long  as  things  went  well  we  were 
perfectly  content.  But  a  bad  day  dawned;  we  could  not  make  ends 
meet,  we  could  not  make  Wheat  growing  pay,  dairy  work  was  at  a 
discount,  and  the  value  of  stock  an  unknown  quantity.  Foreign 
competition  crowded  us  out  of  our  own  markets,  and  we  were  sadly 
nonplussed. 
In  our  old  system  there  had  been  many  a  weak  spot,  little 
leakages  not  noticed  in  fur  weather,  but  proving  of  danger  under  a 
stormy  sky.  We  had  to  meet  the  times  by  new  methods,  and  we 
were  some  of  us  stupid  about?  grasping  the  new  ideas  ;  but  unless  we 
do  get  hold,  we  stand  little  chance  of  seeing  our  own  again. 
Now  let  us  see  what  provision  is  made  by  State  or  otherwise  for 
the  furtheiance  of  agricultural  education  in  Great  Britain.  We  do 
not  say  Ireland,  for  in  this  partic  dar  she  is  before  us.  First,  we 
have  a  Minister  of  Agriculture;  well,  what  are  we  to  say  about  him  ? 
A  worthy  man,  no  doubt,  and  we  hope  he  will  do  his  duty  ;  but  he 
has,  if  we  mistake  not,  to  learn  it  first,  and  when  that  lesson  is  acquired 
this  Ministry  may  he  out  of  office.  Then  we  have  some  good 
agricultural  coll  ges,  well  staffed,  well  equipped,  for  the  gentlemen 
commoners  of  Engiind.  Tnen  two  or  three,  where  the  terms  are  not 
quite  so  prohibitive,  aud  where  work  is  well  done. 
Some  of  the  county  councils  are  doing  good  work  in  this  respect 
by  the  establishment  ef  county  farms,  dairy  institutes,  and  the  like, 
and  the  colleges  at  Newcastle,  Leeds,  and  Reading  ;  but,  alas  !  most  ol 
the  agricultural  counties  are  still  as'eep,  and  need  a  great  awakening. 
“  Gallant  little  Wales ”  has  done  well  for  its  size,  and  there  are  also 
agricultural  schools  at  Aspatria  and  Dauutsey  ;  also.  Lady  Warwick 
has  an  agricultural  training  school  on  her  estate  in  E-sex.  But  like 
Philip  of  old,  we  are  constrained  to  say,  “What  are  these  among  8" 
many?”  We  have  not  referred  to  those  students  who  have  success¬ 
fully  passed  their  ex  imination  in  agriculture  from  training  colleges, 
and  from  science  classes.  We  will  just  give  the  figures  without 
comment. 
■  Number  of  Students  Examined  in  Agriculture. 
Year.  In  Training  Colleges.  In  Science,  Classes. 
1893 
.  612  . 
6046 
1894 
.  626  . 
4095 
1895 
.  311  . 
3024 
1896 
.  78  . 
2318 
1897 
.  10  . 
1853 
1898 
.  19  ...  /. 
975 
Out  of  th>se  176  failed  to  pass.  We  said  we  would  make  no 
comment,  but  we  are  constrained  to  ask  one  question  :  Did  the 
students  come  to  the  conclusion  that  a  diploma  was  of  no  practical 
value, or  were  they  idle?  We  cannot  answer  it,  but  we  do  not  believe 
it  was  totally  idleness.  What  we  do  think  is  that  the  instruction  was 
inefficient. 
It  is  imp’ssible  to  teach  agriculture  from  a  book  alone  ;  there  must 
be  practical  and  prolonged  acquaintance  with  the  soil  and  with  the 
stock,  and  we  doubt. if  an  average  lifetime  is  long  enough  for  the 
study.  We  have  made  great  progress  with  matters  educational.  We 
are  now  far  beyond  the  three  R’s,  but  for  all  that  we  have  grasped  in 
many  instances  the  shadow  rather  than  the  substa'  ce.  We  teach  our 
rural  children  any  earthly  subject  rather  than  that  by  which  their 
parents  earn  their  daily  bread.  Tney  will  tell  you  glibly  the  rivers 
and  mo  m  ains  of  Central  Asia,  but  they  would  be  fairly  cornered  if 
asked  lor  a  list  of  indigenous  weeds,  with  their  hurtful  properties. 
They  will  draw  from  models,  and  square  the  circle,  but  they  could  not 
for  their  very  life  ascertain  the  extent  of  the  cow  pasture.  Their 
powers  of  observation  have  not  been  trained.  They  will  1  ok  at  the 
corner  of  the  morning  paper  for  the  weather  forecast  iustead  of  being, 
like  their  grandfathers,”  full  of  weather  lore  themselves. 
The  main  idea  of  the  village  lad  seems  to  be  to  get  away  from  the 
v  llage  by  fair  means  or  foul.  He  is  not  to  blame  ;  it  is  the  system 
of  e  location,  which  has  entirely  omitted  the  work  of  giving  him 
something  of  a  technical  training.  We  are  counted  a  rich  country, 
and  yet  our  public  grants  of  money  in  aid  of  agricultural  education 
are  simply  as  a  drop  in  the  ocean  compared  with  he  grants  of  other 
and  more  far-seeing  nations.  We  read  of  little  Denmark,  with  its 
population  of  only  2,160,0C0,  spending  £108,000  in  promoting 
agriculture  in  1896.  Fifty  years  agu  this  industry  was  on  the  verge 
of  bankruptcy  ;  now  it  is  in  a  prosperously  h  althy  condition,  and 
supplies  over  45  per  cent,  of  our  total  butter  imports.  We  suppose  we 
here  in  England  have  not  reached  the  bottom  yet  ;  a  few  more  of  us 
have  to  be  totally  ruined.  The  long  lane  has  not  come  to  tne  turning 
p  int,  and  then — and  not  till  then — are  we  going  to  seek  remedial 
measures. 
We  intend  to  give  in  a  future  paper  a  little  account  of  the  work 
done  in  Canada.  It  will  perhaps  prove  an  “eye  opener”  to  some  of 
us.  Tcese  young  countries  are  m  ire  active  and  energetic  than  the 
M  therland  ;  at  any  rate,  they  do  not  allow  a  chief  industry  to  stand 
very  neatly  on  the  brink  of  ruin.  They  are  systematic  and  business¬ 
like,  and  therefore  thrive. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
A  thaw,  three  very  sharp  frosty  nights,  and  now  again  another 
thaw  with  a  southerly  wind  and  rain  ;  such  has  been  the  weither  of  the 
past  week.  During  the  first  thaw  sheepfolds  were  in  a  terrible  state, 
as  i  here  was  no  rain  to  settle  the  mud.  All  the  sheep  had  to  be  taken 
on  grass  ;  since  then  they  have  been  back  on  Turnips,  and  now  it  is 
grass  attain.  Fortunately  there  is  a  nice  bite,  but  we  would  rather 
keep  it  until  the  ewes  have  lambed.  A  few  of  the  largest  of  the 
Turnips  are  rotting,  but  as  a  rule  they  are  faiilv  sound.  So  far  we  have 
seen  no  sheep  on  Swedes;  how  different  from  last  year,  when  many 
farmers  had  almost  finished  them  by  February  1st. 
A  good  deal  of  manure  has  been  got  out,  but  to-day  both  roads  and 
fields  are  in  a  dreadful  mess,  and  will  be  made  worse  by  continued 
carting.  It,  seems  we  are  not  to  have  any  continued  frost,  so  we  must 
manage  without  it.  Therefore  we  must  hope  for  drying  winds  as  the 
days  lengthen  and  the  sun  gains  power.  There  is  a  c  msiderable 
brtadth  of  bare  land  behind  the  sheep  waiting  for  the  plough,  but  it 
must  wait,  for  the  land  must  be  ploughed  when  dry. 
However  this  dirty  winter  may  have  suited  farmers,  that  most 
industrious  of  animals  the  mole  seems  to  have  thriven,  for  we  have  seen 
to-day  a  grasB  field  almost  covered  with  mole  hills.  Our  opinion  as  to 
miles  is  contrary  to  that  of  most  farmers,  as  we  think  they  are  most 
useful  animals,  especially  on  grass  laud  that  is  not  easy  to  drain. 
Certainly  the  hills  require  attention  as  to  spreading,  but  a  man  with  a 
shovel  will  soon  spread  a  large  quantity  which  have  baea  freshly 
thrown  up;  the  grass  greatly  benefits  by  the  mulching  of  fresh  soil, 
and  thediainage  is  cheaply  performed  at  the  cost  of  this  spreading. 
The  only  crop  which  is  inj  ired  much  by  m  ties  is  the  young  Clover 
plant  growing  amongst  corn,  and  it  is  only  in  and  around  such 
fields  that  we  should  restrict  the  movements  of  these  useful  little 
auimals. 
As  we  forecasted  not  long  since,  store  pigs  are  becoming  very  scarce 
and  dear,  and  it  is  little  can  be  got  for  £1.  What  a  gold  mine  that  sow 
would  be  now  which  a  friend  of  ours  sold  to  a  clergyman,  and  which 
bred  him  111  pigs  during  an  extended  life  !  But  there  is  something  in 
the  atmosphere  around  a  vicarage  which  is  of  great  assistance  to  the 
multiplication  table. 
Wiieat  is  showing  signs  of  wireworm,  and  opportunities  for  rolling 
must  be  watched  for.  It  may  be  some  time  yet,  we  fear. 
Xand  a  Halfpenny  an  Acre. — The  new  Land  Bill  for  Victoria, 
which  has  been  broujht  in  with  the  object  of  meeting  the  demand  for 
more  liberal  provision  for  the  requirements  of  those  anxious  to  settle 
on  the  land,  provides  that  grazing  areas  not  exceeding  1920  acres  may 
be  taken  up  for  twenty-one  years,  at  a  rental  of  halfpenny  per  acre. 
Allotments  of  960  acres  are  puiohaseable  under  the  same  measure  at 
5s.  an  acre,  the  payment  extending  over  a  term  of  twenty  or  forty  years. 
