Miscellaneous.

Western Star, Issue 374, 21 August 1880, Page 8 (Supplement)

Miscellaneous.

COLLEGIATE AGRICULTURAL EDUCATIONS

An American ag {cultural journal recently commenced an article on the subject of agricultural education by asking the question, “ Do Agricultural Colleges make Farmer !” It has often been asserted fcfeat they do not, and that, on the contrary, x college course tends rather to turn the graduate from than towards the farm when his studies are finished. ' That there is much truth in this will be admitted by all who have enjoyed opportunities of observing the results of a course of training at agricultural colleges generally. .In the old country the students are rarely sons of. farmers, but are from families whose heads jape engaged in trades or professions, whence a necessity arises for sending the sons a way from home if agriculture he the chosen walk of life. We think we shall be within the mark in assuming that by far the greater number of. those who have graduated at English institutions of the kind in question have done so with the intention of becoming land stewards or farm bailiffs to the large landed proprietors o r the country, or of any other country on the globe. The means of these young men ass usually too scanty to permit them to engage in farming on a scale that would satisfy them after their college experience. As a rule, their life at college has not kept them close enough to the business they are assumed to be learning. The dispositidn, to indulge in pastimes when not absolutely' In study is encouraged by contact with large numbers who are similarly disengaged for the greater part of their time, and whc have no fixed place to fill in the economical management of the farm. The fact of the majority of English college farm stndents becoming managers for others is, so far, satisfactory. There is constant demand for good men of that class in England, but the demand is not unlimited. In Australia, on the contrary, there is decidedly not yet any considerable demand for men who have received a scientific training in agriculture to manage agricultural affairs for men of capital. In New Zealand also this remark applies with equal force. It appears to us that in American experiences we shall...be likely to find more ; that will be of service to us than in investigating the results of training at such institutions as, say, the college of Cirencester, England. Some statistics of the results of American collegiate training (we cannot 'say how'they are arrived at) are said to show generally that only 1J per cent, of , graduates have turned to farming after leaving - college. This statement, was made by the president of Michigan Agricultural College, which appears to be managed in a different style from any other, The great fault of agricultural collegiate education irk America appears to have" been that it wanted almost wholly, the practical element. At the Michigan institution it has, on the contrary, been the design “to create a bias towards, and not away from , the farm; to make the whole atmosphere of the place one of respect for all kinds of work, and a feeling of fellowship with farmers. To this end manual labor is in T sisted on from all, if we can speak of insisting on what students offer in excess of our requirements. To this end there is no furnishing of easier or more tasteful work to the seniors than is given to other students. The habit of work and taste for it is kept up to the end. To this same end the labor system and the instructions are planned to match each other, so that to the labor is given some of the dignity of scientific work,, and to the scientific instruction labor serves as a kind of labor rated practical instruction.!’ The result of this system appears to have been good • in place of the H per cent, going to farming as from other colleges, 38 per cent., or not qounting those not living, and those who are still students, 42 par cent., have gone into some branch of farming ; several have adopted fruit-growing, others the nursery trade as their chief of only business. This college, then, has been sending men with good education back to work upon farms!’ Scattered as thev will . he, they cannot fail to influence largely in the long run the agriculture of their country, if they themselves exemplify in their systems of husbandry the scientific training they have been subject to at college. ’ln noticing lately the intention- to take pupils at the Experimental Farm at l ashel, and whilst attaching the utmost importance to the practical training in husbandry which it proposed that the pupils undergo, we expressed a hope that due £ provision would also be made for a scientific trahu Ing Experimental agriculture should be an important part of the education of farmers at the present’ day, and the conr duct of such , experiments, cannot he enjtrusted with safety to any except a man versed in science—one whose training has enabled him to weigh well the conditions under which alone any useful— i.e,, re!liable—results can be obtained, (’rude experiments are not only of no value ; they Sire positively mischievous, because they - t simply mislead. Whilst, therefore, a

thorough training in practical husbandry must be regarded as'of the first moment in making farmers of the.rising generation, a fair measure of attention should be given also to the sciences that are the handmaids of agriculture. For these reasons also we welcome the appearance of the prospectus of the Canterbury College in New Zealand, from which we learn that practical and scientific training will go hand in hand at that institution. Thus: “The farm will be conducted on economic principles. The students will be required to take part in the regular daily work of the farm,: to acquire a practical, knowledge of ploughing and every other farm-work, the use of implements and machinery, the management of stock, and the making of. cheqse ,and butter. Students,will also receive practical instruction in agricultural chemistry in the laboratory. Land: surveying and. levelling, will be undertaken at suitable times for practice in the use of instruments, and in measuring land, harvest and and other piece-vyork, and for taking levels for drainage purposes. ” Lectures and in-, struction will be given in agriculture, chemistry; biology, geology and physical geography, veterinary medicine and surgery, mathematics, surveying, and book-keeping. For the present there is accommodation for only 14 resident students; in addition to those who may obtain scholarships, of which five are now offered for competition, one tenable for three years, two for two years,- and two for one year. These are, open to candidates between the ages of 15 and 19 from all Darts of New Zealand, and they entitle the holders to board, lodging, and instruction at the School: of Agriculture, as it is termed, are required to pass,or to have passed examination in the fifth standard of education.under the Act 1877. The tuition fees are .nine guineas a year ; board and lodging, LSO a year, which, item is,considerably higher than at the Cashel farm. It will be remembered that the directorship of the* Canterbury college was conferred on Mr W. E. Ivey, who was formerly an officer of the Agricultural department of Victoria. The non-resident student element is one for which we have not observed that any provision, has been made at Cashel. At the Canterbury college, such students can attend lectures and receive instruction in practical farm-work by conforming: to the regulations and paying the fee of nine guineas per annum. The farm, we note, consists of 500 acres of land, comprising various qualities from rich swamp to com- : paratively thin light uplands.—Austra-’, lasian. • .... ■ . -’ 1