AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY —AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.
A. of the other intertropical countries of the world,
which have contributed so little to the common
civilisation of mankind. Where rains are abundant,
the ease with which a subsistence can be got
from large herbaceous plants, and trees yielding
fruit at all seasons of the year, has been justly
regarded as inimical to the progress of society. The
productiveness of the banana and the bread-fruit
tree, considering the small amount of cultiva-
tion they require, is calculated to strike natives
of colder climates with astonishment. Captain Cook
eloquently remarks: ¢Whoever has planted the
bread-fruit trees, has fulfilled his duty to his own
and succeeding generations as completely and amply
as an inhabifant of our rude clime who, throughout
his whole life, has ploughed during the rigour of
winter, reaped in the heat of summer, and not only
provided his present household with bread, but pain-
fully saved some money for his children.’
In the southern hemisphere, the extent of sea
greatly predominates over the land. The vapours
which are raised over so vast an expanse of water
flow towards the equator, and are chiefly deposited
there in copious rains. They are not diverted by
the peninsulas of South America, South Africa, or
New Holland, as they are by the continents of
America and Asia. Comparatively sterile regions are
the result. Australia and the Cape of Good Hope
are sparingly supplied with rains, so that their soil is
not very productive of grain. Cultivation languishes,
and the agriculturist devotes his attention to the
rearing of cattle and sheep. New Zealand, however,
possesses a climate having considerable resemblance
to that of England, and is favourable for the produc-
tion of grass and grain.
Under the heads of Cultivated Plants, Dairy,
Domestic Animals, Drainage, Irrigation, Imple-
ments, Manures, Soil, Rotation of Crops, Lease, &c.,
will be more pcutlculany treated the systcms and
rationale of farm-management pursued in the
British Islands.
AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY, that branch
of chemical science which treats of the composition
of soils and manures, and of the vegetable and
animal substances which it is the ol bject of agriculture
to produce. Instead of considering the subject by
itself, it will receive attention under the heads of
Drainage, Irrigation, Manures, Soils, &c.
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION, as at pre-
sent understood, is a comprehensive term, including
instruction in cheml%’nry geology, botany, zoology,
mechani g, in “short, the science as well
as the pmctzce of agriculture. However important
the branching off “of education into this special
track, it is only of late years fl at adequate attention
has been paid to it. The first agricultural school
was founded by Fellenberg at Hofwyl, in Switzer-
land, in 1806. His pupils were taken from the
poorest class of peasantry, of whom he truly
observed, that having ‘no other property than their
physical and mental faculties, they should be taught
how to use this capital to the best advantage,” by
a combination of ¢discipline, study, and manual
Iabour.” No fewer than 3000 pupils were trained in
this school, which flourished for thirty years under
the able direction of Wehrli. Since then, various
ingtitutions of the same character have sprung up
on 'the continent. In France, there are several,
supported by the state—the principal being the one
at Grignon, to which an old royal palace with its
domain of 1185 acres has been given up. In Prussia,
there is scarcely a province that does not boast its
agricultural school and model farm; and, indeed,
throug,hout Germany, as well as in lmb%n we find
educational institutions supported by the state, in
86
all of which, with some slight difference of detail,
agriculture is practically as well as theoretically
taught.
In England, there are as yet no state institutions
of this kind. In 1845, an Agricultural College was
established, by private enterprise, at Cirencester, for
the education of both resident and non-resident
pupils—the former paying from £55 to £80 per
annum, the latter, £40, and the course of instruction
extending over two years. A large farm is attached
to the school, which has acquired a high reputa-
tion, and is in every way prosperous. In Scotland,
special instruction in agriculture has taken the form
of lectures at universities, provincial associations,
&e., by which, as well as by the labours of the
Highland Society, much valuable educational know-
ledge has been disseminated. Private agricultural
instruction is also given by farmers, who board and
educate students for a stipulated sum per annum.
Many of the counties in Scotland are exceedingly
well adapted for agricultural students, as the nature
of the ground pelmlts of both sheep and ordinary
farming being practised together.
But 1t is in Ireland, where peculiar circumstances
rendered it eminently expedlunt that the most syste-
matic and successful efforts hawe been made. For
several years past, the Commissioners of National
Education have judiciously paid special attention to
agriculture. Altogether, Ireland has 166 farm-
schools, with land attached of very various extent,
ranging from 2 to 180 acres. These schools may
be divided into four classes, and present a gradual
ascent, from small to great: ls, There are 76
Workhouse National Agricultural Schools. 2d, 48
Ordinary National Agricultural Schools, where, by a
slight addition to the ordinary salary of a national
Sf‘hoolmmster the teachers are encouraged to culti-
vate school- r»zu‘dens and small hol«hnfrs, and thus to
give daily pmctx&d lessons to the children under
their care. 3d, There are 37 Model Agricultural
Schools in various parts of Ireland; 18 of them
under local management, 19 under the exclusive
management of the Board. These, whether their
scale of culture be small or extenswe, present
to the inferior schools standards of excellence and
imitation, linking the lowest of the agricultural
«,btml)hshments~—namcly, the cotter farm attached
to the Ordinary Agricultural School with, 4¢2,
the highest establishment of the kind, the Central
Model Farm at Glasnevin, Lontmmnrr 180 acres,
and cultivated by from 80 to 100 pupfls, chosen
for their merit from all the minor agricultural
schools throughout Ireland. With regard to these
minor schools, which are annually visited by two
inspectors, the reports are, with very few exceptions,
highly favourable, both as to the success of
the establishments themselves, and their influence
on the surrounding population. An Irish rector
gives it as his opinion that they tend to make
districts ¢more orderly and quiet, to diminish
drunkenness, and to keep down agrarian disturb-
ances.” Another good authority states that their
example has introduced ¢rotation of crops, and
encouraged attention to winter-feeding of stmk
and to the collection and preservation of manure.
Glasnevin Training Farm was established by the
Commissioners of National Education in 1838, and
considerably enlarged in 1849. Its professed design
is to supply young men with instruction in uh(‘
science and practice of agriculture. Two classes
are admitted to its benefits ; the first including two
divisions, both of which are gratuitously boarded,
lodged, and educated. The first division consists of
prospective land-stewards or farmers, drafted, as we
have seen, from minor institutions, undergoing an
entrance-examination, and receiving a two-years’
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