The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-01-25
farm aud Garden.
Agricultural Education.
Ply HENRY REYNOLDS, NJ. D.


the limits of his own Uranium There
is more truth than fiction in this casual
remark of the great novelist. The best
and most successful farmers to-day are
those who have trained their minds to
grasp the problems of farm management
and direct the hands in the tillage of the
soil The mind may not have been
trained for the business of the farm in
the schools but the training had to be
gone through with, even though it came
not till the hard school of experience
was entered. Every mans experience il
a school for him. How profitable it may
prove depends largely upon himself. One
man may learn wisdom from an expert
ence which, to another, would only bring
confusion and Encouragement. There are
some men-geniuses we sometimes call
them-who will triumph over all obsta-
Giles and achieve success in whatever pc
sition they are placed. Such men will
succeed in farming or anything else which
they undertake, whether they are aided
by the experience of others or depend
upon their own experience for knowledge.
Ordinary men, however, need to have the
benefit of the experience and knowledge
obtained by others who have preceded
them. This is as true in regard to farm
ers as to other men. A farmer will sue
coed much better and avoid many mis-
takes, if he has the advantage of the ex-
perience and knowledge of others. The
more of this knowledge the farmer can
possess, the better it will be for him
Not only does he need to know what the
best farmers have learned by experience
but he also needs to know what has been
made known by chemistry botany, and
zoology bearing upon agriculture. Where
is the young farmer to acquire all this
needful knowledge? Certainly he can
not, or, at least, would not, be likely to
learn it in attending to the practical rou-
tine duties of the farm. Agricultural
schools are needed to impart this neces-
sary information to qualify the farmer
for the successful pursuit of his calling.
1t may be urged that we have success
full farmers who have received only a
common school education 1t is true
that we have such farmers, yet who will
say that their success has been as great
as it would have been had they received
thorough training in those branches Of
knowledge and science bearing upon ag-
riculture? Those men who have succeed
ed In spite of deficient preparation for
their work, would have attained a still
greater degree of success had they had
the advantage of early instruction in the
principles of the science of agriculture.
The improvement of agriculture in this
country is not advancing so rapidly as it
would if we had large number of we'll
educated farmers engaged in promoting
its interests. This need is being felt in
England as we'll as in the United States.
European countries are far ahead of the
United States in the matter of agricul-
tural education. The necessity for i'm
proved cultivation of the soil is more
pressingly felt in the old countries of
Europe, where the population is dense
and the soil has been under cultivation
for hundreds Of years, than it is in our
country, where the soil is new and there
is a vast extent Of new territory to be oc-
cupied
France has three grades of agricultural
schools-namely, farm schools, depart
ment schools, and the National Agricul-
tural Institute The farm schools origi-
mated as private institutions in 1880 and
were not adopted by the State until 1913.
Their object is to furnish examples of
good tillage to the farmers of the district,
and to instruct young men, so that they
will be capable of intelligently cultivat-
ing the soil and directing farm labor,
whether for themselves or for others.
The farms vary in size from two hundred
to two thousand acres, and all have gar
dens, nurseries, and orchards attached
The pupils are required to be sixteen
years Of age and to pass an examination
on the subjects of the primary school.
There are from twenty-five to forty pupils
in each school The Government pays
the board of the pupils and allows a
small sum for clothing each year. The
department schools are the next grade
higher than the farm schools and instruc-
ton is given in mathematics, physical
and natural sciences, and the science OF
agriculture. The National Agricultural
Institute gives a course of instruction last
ing two years In Wurtemberg, Ger
many, there are agricultural improve
ment schools, which are open every win
ter in the rural districts, and large num-
bers Of farmers attend them Ireland has
a regular system Of agricultural educa-
ton. All the elementary Government
schools are obliged to use an agricultural
textbook. This insures elementary in
struction in agriculture to all the chill
dren who attend the public schools