IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)

/.

1.0

I.I

1.25

^ IM 12.2

ii£ mil 2.0

1.8

U 1111,6

V]

<^

/a

^/.

y

>^

^-^

^^"-."4?^

^?^ ^

'^

V-

%

lV

CIHM/ICMH

Microfiche

Series.

CIHM/ICIVIH
Collection de
microfiches.

Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions

Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques

1980

Technical Notes / Notes techniques

The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Physical
features of this copy which may alter any of the
images in the reproduction are checked below.

0
□

n

Coloured covers/
Couvertures de couleur

Coloured maps/

Cartes gdographiques en couleur

Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqudes

Tight binding (may cause shadows or
distortion along interior margin)/
Reliure serr6 (peut causer de I'ombre ou
de la distortion ie long de la marge
int6rieure)

L'Institut a microfilmd Ie meilleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Certains
ddfauts susceptlbles de nuire d la quality de la
reproduction sont not6s ci-dessous.

D

Coloured pages/
Pages de couleur

Coloured plates/
Planches en couleur

rri Show through/
uLi Transparence

Pages damaged/
Pages endommagdes

Th
po
of
fill

Th

CO

or
ap

Th
fil
in

M
in

u|
b(
fo

D

Additional comments/
Commentaires suppl6mentaires

Bibliographic Notes / Notes bibliographiques

D

D

Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible

Bound with other material/
Reii6 avec d'autres documents

D
D

Pagination incorrect/
Erreurs de pagination

Pages missing/
Des pages manquent

D

Cover title missing/

Le titre de couverture manque

D

Maps missing/

Des cartes gdographiques manquent

D
D

Plates missing/

Des planches manquent

Additional comments/
Commentaires suppi6mentaires

The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in keeping with the
filming contract specifications.

Las images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le
plus grand soin. compte tenu de la condition et
de la netteti de rffxemplaire film6, et en
conformit6 avec les conditions du contrat de
filmage.

The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall
contain the symbol —»> (meaning CONTINUED"),
or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever
applies.

Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la der-
nlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas:
le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole
V signifie "FIN".

The original copy was borrowed from, and
filmed with, the kind consent of the following
institution:

National Library of Canada

L'exemplaire filmi fut reproduit grAce d la
g6n6rosit6 de I'dtablissement prAteur
suivant :

BibliothAque nationale du Canada

Maps or plates too large to be entirely included
in one exposure are filmed beginning in the
upper left hand corner, left to right and top to
bottom, as many frames as required. The
following diagrams illustrate the method:

Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre
reproduites en un seul clichA sont filmAes A
partir de Tangle supArieure gauche, de gauche A
droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre
d'images nAcessaire. Le diagramme suivant
illustre la mAthode :

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

6

•■*^

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION:

A LECTURE.

DELIVf^RED

Before the Young Men's Ohxistian Association,

Oharlottetown, P. E. Island, on Thursday

Evening, January 17th, 1884,

BY

HON. DONALD FERGUSON,

PROVINCIAL SECRETARY, &c., &c.

CHARLOTTETOWN :
J. W. MITCHELL, PRINTER, EXAMINER OFFICE,

1884.

IJjii.WJ W I, I I Mll^W^^i^fllip

w

<Ktf

E. '*"

K^"

H^*

g^. _,, . .

»?>"•

Blftw.'

p.HiMb'Sfi? ^.-ft^'^

%SW-F*-^ —

^o^v^

IP

o^oy> > i^ov\

Dov\ ^aXA.

AGRrCULTURAL EDUCATION:

/

A LKCTURE,

DELIVERED

before the young men's christian association,

Charlottetown, p. E. Island, on Thursday

Evening, January 17, 1884,

BY

HON. DONALD FERGUSON,

PROVINCIAL. SECBBTABY, &c.. &0,

CHARLOTTETOWN :
J. W. MITCHELL, PRINTER, EXAMINER OFFICE.

18S4.

L'JU^f -'.'.'J.'i. : '^.'K" ';.!.!•.» .'.'.yifijiwi '.«

I

I

PREFACE.

The favor which his unpretending lecture on "Agricul-
tural Education" has received, has induced the author
to present it to the public in its present shape. His
inability, arising from the urgency of his public duties,
to comply with invitations to deliver the lecture in
different parts of the Province, has also iufluenced him
in publishing it in pamphlet form.

While he duly appreciates the complimentary notices
«f the Press, and the honor conferred on him by the
unsolicited publication of his lecture in "same of the
Provincial papers, yet, it would seem, that in one or
two particulars he has not been clearly understood.
His aim is not to pull down the Vrince of Wales
Gcllege, nor to supersede elementar v 'ion in our
common or graded schools, by agricultural studies. In
these respects the language of the lecture is, he thinks,
sufficiently explicit. The Prince of Wales College
would, in his opinion, be more useful to Prince Edward

IV.

PREFACE.

Island if a larger place were given within it to the
sciences related to agriculture. But in taking this
ground nothing could be further from his thoughts than
to cast any reflection on the professors of that insti-
tution. In our common schools instruction in the ele-
ments of agriculture could only be imparted to the
pnpils in the advanced grades — not to supersede, as
has been unfairly stated, the three R's — reading, writ-
ing and arithmetic ; but the smattering of Latin, at
present taught in these schools.

If these pages shall, in any way, promote the prac-
tical education of the class to which he belongs, the
author will feel himself amply rewarded for his trouble.

Tullochy Lot S4, February 5, 188j^

A LECTURE

OM

Agricultural Education.

BY HON. DONALD FERGUSON.

The ciuoivation of the land has always been regarded as
a highly honorable employment. It gives health to the body,
energy to the mind, and is favorable to purity of moral
character. Painting and poetry have drawn more than one
half of their inspiration from the charms of pastoral life.
From observing the fall of an apple, Sir Isaac Newton dis-
covered the great law of gravitation ; and to the wi^ men
of the east, the shepherds of Chaldea, watching their flocks
by night, the star appeared which heralded the world's
salvation. Rural populations have always proved the
stoutest and truest defenders of free institutions. Liberty,
crushed out of existence in the seats of learning and the
marts of commerce has lived on in the distant valley and
mountain fastness. The Tells and Wallaces and Hampdena
of history acquired their love of liberty from their country
life, and Cincinnatus and Washington received, in the
seclusion of farm employments, that moral and mental
training which fitted them to assume the direction of the
most momentous movements among men.

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

Th« practice of farming dates back to the creation of the
world. After the sea had been divided from the dry land,
the greater light placed in the firmament to rule the day,
the leHser lights to rule the night, and the l:)rute creation
called into existence, the Almighty looked upon the face
of ail His works and observed a great want. "There was
not a man to till the ground," and so Adam was created.
We are told that Abel was a keeper of flo( s and Cain was a
tiller of the ground, and onward through ill the ages the
earth has bofai laid under tribute for the supply of food for
the human race. Of the earth, earthy, coming from dust
as well as to dust returning, the body of every animal
derives its elementary composition from the soil. Science,
in this respect, simply corroborates the teachings of revela-
tion, finding in the land, although in different combinations,
£he same constituents which form the bodies of animals.
Hence it follows that animals and their products are just as
surely and invariably drawn from the soil as roots and
cereals. •

While agriculture is the oldest and most honorable of all
the arts, while it feeds the teeming millions of the human
family, it has been the last of all the industries to receive
that recognition and assistance from science which have,
within the last two or three centuries, given a new iu^ulse
to the employments of men. And yet there is no depart-
ment of human industry wherein scientific investigation- is
more urgently required. The farmer finds himself every
day of his life surrounded by agencies of whose properties
he has no accurate knowledge. He looks at his soil, but he
can gather little more from an examination of it than an
illiterate man can glean from the pages of a book. He
looks at his grain and roots and fattened cattle, but
although he may have a well defined idea that in their pro-

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

duction he has withdrawn valuable subRtances from hiR Roil,
yet he does not know what theRe RubstanceR are, nor how to
replace them in the most economical manner. He lookR at
the plants which deck his paRtureR, but he knowR little of
their relative value, either in amtdiorating his land, or feed-
ing his stock.

•'A primrose by the river's brim,

A yellow primrose is to him,

And it is nothing more. "

When we remember that, not only does agriculture feed
the world, but that it gives employment to a large propor-
tion of its inhabitants, it will at once be admitted that a
knowledge of the departments of science on which it is
based will enable the farmer to carry hie art to the greatest
perfection, and, consequently, the world will be better fed
and the tillers of the soil better rewarded. In view, then,
of the great interest which all classes have in the success of
the venerable art, 1 have no apology to offer for asking a
city audience to turn their thoughts, for a few moments, to
the consideration of the best means of educating the farmers
of our country. To every Prince Edward Islander the sub-
ject should be one of engrossing importance. Having a soil
of wonderful fertility, and a climate well suited to the pro-
duction of roots and cereals (and without other very great
resources,) we should, with one heart and one hand, labor to
fructify and beautify the noble heritage which Qod has
given us.

The farmer needs the assistance of the State, and the
school, and the book, more than any other producer. His
life is one of unremitting toil, and the demands upon his
time and strength aie so great as to leave him but few op-
portunities of reading, and much of what is offered him to

8

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

read, regarding his own profession, is unsuited for the climate
of his country, the nature of his soil, or the circumstances
by which he is surrounded. All men are more willing to
adopt an improvement from personal observation of its bene-
fits than at the mere suggestion of an author, and here is
where farmers labor under a serious disadvantage. In some
of the other professions there are frequent opportunities of
travelling, and personally inspecting the improvements being
made by others. But such opportunities rarely occur to 'le
average farmer. Condemned, by the necessities of his calling
and through his want of means, to stay at home ; mystified
in his attempt to master a treatise on agricultural chemistry,
by his want of education and the technical terms with which
it abounds ; misled by the nonsense wliich he often meets in
the agricultural columns of some of the newspapers, and
in some so-called agricultural periodicals, the thinking but
uneducated farmer finds himself in the posHion of a man
blindfolded and handicapped, and placed within a wide but
perfect inclosure.

The thinking farmer finds himself confronted, every day
of his life, with questions which he is wholly unable to
answer. The peculiarities of soils, the causes of differences
in crops, the insects that destroy them, the diseases of his
stock, the unproductiveness of his orchard ; these and similar
thipgs attract his attention, and give rise to questions which
he cannot answer. In his mind will be found a latent feeling
that it is possible his son may be so taught as to know many
things which are beyond his own comprehensi(ui. But the
large majority of farmers do not belong to the thinking
class, at least in the sense now referred to. They see, for
instance, the productiveness of their soil becoming less every
year, through evcessive cropping ; and yet they do not adopt
an ameliorative system, although tuoy may see its beneficial

t climate
astances
illing to
ts bene-

here is
In some
lities of
ts being
r to 'le
5 calling
lystified
jmistry,
h which
aeets in
rs, and
ing but

a man
ide but

ry day

ible to

3rences

of his

similar

which

'eel ing

many

ut the

nking

le, for

every

adopt

Biicial

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. Q

effects demonstrated in their own neighborhood. They find
their dairies and cattle stalls yield them scarcely any profit ;
and yet they make no efforts to acquire new methods or
improve Uieir breeds. Men of thisclo^ will generally laugh
at the advocates of scientific f'^ .',nu. g, and are content to
continue to work by the rule ol tu - 3. Such men offer the
greatest obstacles to well-conside^ . improvement in tiieir
profession, and many of them wil lever improve until the
mortgages on their farms are foreclosed, or they pay the
debt of nature.

It must be admitted, on the very threshold of the discus-
sion of the question, that the greatest difficulties in the way
of agricultural improvement are placed there by farmers
themselves. As a class their prejudices are very strong.
To insinuate, in the presence of an average farmer, that
his land is not just as well managed as it is possible for
any man in his circumstances to manage it, or that his wife
does not make the very best butter in the world, would be
regarded as a downright insult. Because his father may
have practiced certain methods of cultivation is, to his mind,
a sufficient reason why these methods should be sacredly
followed by him. When he hears of the great sums paid
for well-bred animals, or the heavy expense incurred in
applying artificial manures to the land, he shrugs his
shoulders and concludes that the men who do these things
must have more money than brains. When he hears of
schools or colleges to train farmers, he remarks that, if
people must play at farming, they may as well do it when
they are young as at any other time. In view of the hos-
tility to innovation which prevails among farmers, the real
question to consider is, not so much what kind of an educa-
tion farmers need, as what training can they be induced to
receive, in order to fit them for their business.

lO

AGRICUITURAL EDUCATION.

i!

Aa in nearly all other reforms, the advocate of agricul-
tural education mu8t centre his hopes on the rising genera-
tion, and we have not begun a day too 80on to teach the
children in our schools the elements of agriculture. When
the day has arrived when all our teachers are qualified to
give instruction in the elements of agriculture, and when the
boys and girls who graduate from our common schools are
taught the first principles of the profession which most of
them are destined to follow for a living, a bound will be
made in the way of progress of which we can now form but
little conception, and the publ'j school teacher will rise to
the full dignity of his calling. And the work of education
commenced in the school will go forward on the farm. The
boy who has mastered the first principles of agricultural
chemistry at school will be able to understand and appreci-
ate more advanced works with his advancing years. His
studies will go on, hand in hand with his work, and as he
finds himself able to master diflicuhies, he will acquire a
confidence in himself and a pride in his profession. What
is the reason that so large a proportion of the sc s and
daughters of farmers manifest so strong a distaste for ^their
fathers' calling? It is, I believe, because, with most of
them, they are only brought in contact with the most unin-
teresting and repulsive work of the farm. They see in farm
employment nothing but a life of drudgery before them.
Teach them that a pure bred Durham, or Jersey, or Ayr-
shire, well cared for, can be sold as readily for hundreds, or
even thousands of dollars, as a hcrub can for twenty or
thirty ; teach them that butter can be made which will sell
for fifty cents, or perhaps a dollar per pound, as easily as the
common article will bring twenty cents, and with no increase
of labor. Teach them that success in farming does not all
depend on hard work ; but that skill will as surely earn

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

I.I

its reward in agriculture as in other callings. When
our boys are thus taught, they will gladly remain at home,
not as mere " cumberers of the ground," but as skilful pro-
ducers, and then we may hope to see Prince Edward Island
take the front rank as an agricultural country, which nature
designed that it should occupy."

The object of education is two-fold — the training of intel-
lect and the giving of facilities — and the best system of
education is that which turns out in the fields of the world
the most skilful workmen, supplied with the best tools.
How far does the Public School System of Prince Edward
-Island accord with this ideal is a subject well worth con-
sidering. While it may be admitted that the curriculum of
our schools is well adapted for the training of mind, it may
well be asked if the education imparted in our higher
8c! "Is should not partake of a more practical character.

It may be replied that this instruction is eminently prac-
tical, inasmuch as it forms part of the educational training of
commercial and professional men. Such reply fully admits
the force of the objection, and as agriculturists greatly out-
num^ber all other professions put together, in like propor-
tion should the educational training of farmers preponderate
in the curricula of our higher schools. A tree is known by
its fruits, and systems of education must be judged by their
results. And here I must express uiy conviction that a
false idea of life is too often formed in our higher schools*
and their tendency is to wean young men away from the
farm. The ambition of nineteen-twentieths of the teachers,
and the atmosphere of the school, lead in other directions.
The result is that a medley of youths, whose natural place is
at the plough, or in the workshop, are pitchforked into pro.
fessions already full to overflowing, there to engage in a

; I

1 1

12

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

: I

struggle, in which, by this process of " unnatural selection,"
there is not even the satisfaction arising from being assured
of the " survival of the fittest."

But our schools are not wholly responsible for the false
idea of life which is presented to the mind of the young. A
native of the Island scarcely ever obtains a situation in the
United States of greater importance than a school trustee-
ship with us ; but our newspapers proclaim, with many
flourishes, the success of another ** Islander abroad." If a
student from the Island wins a prize in a Dominion or
American College, no matter how slight the competition or
how impractical the study, the never-failing paragrapher
heralds the achievement as a marvellous success.

Even the man at home who, with, it may be, little educa-
tion and less capital, but a superabundance of cheek, deter-
mines to make a living by reckless speculation, is compli-
mented and flattered ; while the unassuming producer, who,
by his intelligence and industry, adds to the public wealth,
is comparatively unnoticed. With such false ideals held
out before them, is it any wonder that farmers' sons resolve
to leave the Island, or go into more attractive employmejits ?
They see nothing before them on the farm but hard, monot-
onous and unappreciated work, and they want to be doctors,
or lawyers, or merchants, or anything that will keep their
bands soft and white, and secure for them a respectable
position in society.

And those who do remain at home cannot wholly repress
the unbidden sigh, as they see their schoolmates and brothers
enjoying present riches, and living lives of apparent ease.
Time will surely bring its revenges and dispel the glamour
through which such distorted views of life are now obtained.
The farmer may live to see the merchant bankrupt, the

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

13

lection,"
assured

he false
ling. A
I in the
trustee-
I many
" If a
nion or
tion or
2[rapher

educa-
, deter-
3ompli-
•, who,
i^ealth,
3 held
esolve
lents?
lonot-

ctors,

their

table

)res8
thers
ease,
nour
ned.
the

doctor without patients, and the lawyer pushed aside in his
profession by younger and more aspiring rivals. TaSre my
word for it, in the end it will bo found that the farmer, who
skilfully practices his calling, " has choocn the better part,"
and that he can most favorably compare notes with even
the most successful in the other professions.

It will be noticed that I have used the term higher educa-
tion as distinguished from mere elementary instruction, and
that I regard all higher education in our Province as virtu-
ally technical. We have no class in the Dominion of
Canada which it is desirable to train for a life of literary
leisure. At the plough, on the deck, in the workshop, in
the learned profession!^, in the halls of legislation, Canada
presents a life of earnest self-denying work, as the noblest
career for every one of her sons. The practical idea should,
therefore, permeate every lesson of the school, until master
and pupil catch the inspiration and resolve that " in the
world's broad field of battle, in the bivouac of life," they
shall not " be as dumb-driven cattle, but be heroes in the
strife."

There are many different opinions held as to the duty of
the state in regard to education. Some of these lie altogether
outside of the present subject ; others, although closely con-
nected with it, yet time will not allow me to refer to. There
are some who contend that the state should support nothing
beyond a merely elementary education ; that if education
is extended further than a mastery of reading, writing,
and arithmetic, it should be at private cost, inasmuch as
advanced education cannot be shared in by all, and its
possession is calculated to gain in the battle of life emolu-
ments which are scarcely within the reach of those whose
means limit them to elementary instruction. There are
others who admit that it is the duty of the state to encour*

'1

1'

i I

H

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

age higher education, but who believe that the placro as-
Bignetl to classics should be greatly limited, and more
attention given to industrial or practical sciences.

On the other hand, a large number of men of liberal
culture contend strongly for the utility of the classics ; but
they freely admit the necessity of modifying college curr*-
cula to meet the wants of the age in which we live.

The man who regards mere proficiency in Latin as the
Alpha and Omega of liberal education is now looked upon
as a literary fossil. The grand test of all human knowledge
should be its usefulness to mankind, and the application of
this test is fast bringing classical studies within proper
bounds, and ushering in the day predicted by the Reverend
Sydney Smith, when ** The puffed up pedant shall collapse
into his proper size, and the mere maker of verses and the
rememberer of words shall assume that station which is the
lot of those who go up unbidden to the upper places of the
feast."

Some of the results of the discussion of these subjects may
be found in the more prominent place now assigned to agri-
cultural chemistry and kindred subjects, in even the most
conservative of the universities; in the e.stublishment of _
large number of colleges all over the world, wholly devoted
to industrial education, and in the prescription in many
countries — and among them Prince Edward Island — of the
elements of agriculture, as a subject of study in the ad-
vanced grades of the public schools.

One of the most hopeful signs of the times in which we
live is to be found in the very general movement now
going on in different countries to place farming on a scien-
tific basis by instructing the farming population in the prin-
ciples of their profession. Chemistry has lifted the great

1 1

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

>5

place as-
iid more

f liberal
^ics; but
ge curr'-

n as the
ed upon
lowledge
ation of
» proper
everend
collapse
J-nd the
i is the
of the

its

may

'O agi'i-
'i most
t of ^

evoted
many

3f the
le ad-

3h we
now
jcien-
prin-
?reat

veil which has hitherto hidden the face of nature, and walk-
ing in the light which has thus been ushered in, the ad-
vanced farmers of England, Scotland, Germany and other
countries have inaugurated a new era in the cultivation of
the soil. Improved breeds of stock have taken the place
of scrubs. Exhausted soils have been restored by the
use of artificial fertilizers to more than virgin fertility.
Great bogs have been drained, and the •' desert and the
waste place have been made to blossom like the rose."

In considering what ipeans are best adapted for promot-
ing agricultural education in Prince Edward Island, we
inust glance at the experience of other countries, but in
doing so we must bear in mind that the economic condition
of agriculture in all European countries diflers greatly from
ours ; and that a difference, although not so great, exists
between the inral economy of Prince Edward Island and
that of other parts of the Dominion and the United States.

Methods of education, to be most useful, must not only
be made to suit the circumstances of the country, but they
must be subject to constant improvement, so as to make
them meet the ever-changing circumstances aud pursuits of
the people. Systems of education, like constitutions, are
not made, but grow ; and that people will always take the
front rank in intelligent and material progress whose educa-
tion is of the most practical nature.

In most European countries the farms are large, and the
profits of farming are divided between three classes, the pro-
prietors, the tenant-farmers, and the laborers. The first of
these are large capitalists, and as the leases are generally
short, the proprietors share in the permanent improvement of
the land. The tenant-farmers are also capitalists. In Prince
Edward Island we have only one class, which combines in
itself the proprietor, the tenant, and the laborer. The

i6

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATI 3N.

profits of farming here are enjoyed by the farmer and his
family, except when shared in to some extent by laborers.
It will at once be seen that collegiate instruction in farming,
iu ch country where it is only necessary to educate one man
for the managem'^nt of, perhaps, thousands of acres of land,
can be obtained by means which would prove wholly in-
adequate where ten, or perhaps fifty, men, rt quire to be
trained to produce the same result. The English and Scotch
farmers stand less in need of agricultural education than
any farmers in the world. Encouraged by the example of
men of wealth and education like Alderman Mechi, and
stimulated by foreign competition in their home markets,
they have been the first to adopt the practice of scientiiic
farming. The system of agriculture which has enabled tuem
to lay by money, after paying enormous rents and maintain-
ing their families, must be particularly good. In fact, it is
mainly from observation of the rules and practices of the
best English and Scotch farmers, that the Germans and
other nations have formed the science of Agronomy, or
theoretical agriculture, which is taught in their agricultural
colleges. The agricultural colleges of England are used for
the education of stewards or farm managers. In Germany,
a much larger proportion of the people are taking advant-
age of the higher education which their 153 agricultural
colleges or academies offer. While German agriculture is
now in a much less advanced state than that of Great
Britain, it is not at all improbable that the tables will be
turned before many years. What dairy colleges have done
for the dairying interest of Denmark, it is more than
probable the agricultural colleges will do for the mixed
husbandry of the German Empire. The first of the dairy
schools was started at "^ )penhagen, in 1836, and since that
time it has, on an average, granted diplomas to ten dairy-

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

«7

and his
laborers,
'arming,
ne man
of land,
olJy in-
e to be
I Scotch
>n than
nple of
tii, and
larkets,
ientiiic
d tiiem
intain-
;t, it is
of the
IS and
»y, or
iltural
ed for
many,
Ivant-
Itural
lire is

reat

lillbe

done

than

lixed

airy
that
liry-

men and nineteen dairymaids annually. Similar schools
have been formed in other parts of Denmark and northern
Europe.

These institutions have almost revolutionized the butter
trade of the world. A few years ago Denmark was com-
paratively unknown as a dairy country, but her export of
butter has reached thirty-five nu .lions of pounds in one
year, or nearly eighteen pounds per head of the population.
And what is of still greater significance, Danish butter sells
in the English market at higher prices than the best Irish
butter, hitherto regarded as the best in the world. By
their superior skill in making and curing butter, the Danes
•re able to send their product to hot countries, and have
obtained control of the Brazillian market. The system of
dairy education, which has produced such wonderful results
in Denmark, could not, however, do as much for Prince
Edward Island. In Denmark, the average number of cows
kept on a dairy farm is fully twenty times as great as in
this Island.

France, like Germany, has a system of agricultural
education. The Farm Schools of ^^j^nce were founded on
a recommendation of M. Cousin, who became Minister of
Public Instruction in 1840. The scheme embraced one of
these schools for each of the eighty-six departments into
which France is politically divided. The farm schools of
France are placed in charge of the best farmer in the depart-
ments as director, and with iim are associated instructors
in the different departments of agricultural education.
There are also three Agricultural Colleges in France, in
which a higher agricultural education is imparted. When
it is borne in mind that a system of peasant proprietorship
exists in France, the great bulk of the land being divided
into &rms of less than seven acres each, it must be evident

3

i8

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

i

that the common school, ofTers the only feasible medium
through which to educate the farmers of the country.

Industrial education has received, in the United States,
a large share of attention during the last twenty years.
Under the American Constitution, as in the Dominion of
Canada, education is assigned to the States or Provincial
authorities; but in 1862 the United States Congress passed
an Act setting aside 9,600,000 acres of the Federal lands
for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, on the
basis of thirty thousand acres to each Representative in
Congress. The olxject of the grant is set forth in the
fourth section of the Act, which says that the money
obtained from the sale of these lands " shall be inviolab]|r
appropriated by each State which may take and claim the
benefit of this Act to the endowment, support, and main-
tenance of at least one college, whose leading object shall be
(without excluding other scientific and classical studies) to
teaoh such branches of learning as are related to agriculture
and the mechanical arts, in such manner as the Legislature
of the State may respectially prescribe in order to promote
the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes
in the several pursuits' and professions of life."

Thirty-seven States have taken advantage of this Act,
and there are at the present time in the United States forty-
four independent colleges or departments in universities
supported out of the proceeds of the land grant of 1862.
In 1876, or fourteen years after the passing of the Act, the
interest from investments from the «ale of lands had reached
$449,774. '

In determining the best mode of placing this princely
endowment within the reach of the people for whose benefit
it was intended, much difference of opinion arose. The
existing universities scrambled for the grant, alleging that

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

19

medium

r.

States,
' years,
nion of
[>vincial
I passed
il lands

on the
tive in
in the
money
ioIabJ|r
im the

main-
lall be
ies) to
ulture
lature
omote
lasses

Act,
forty-
sities
[862.
, the
€hed

icely
nefit
The
that

by giving courses in agriculture and mechanics they were
complying with the letter of the law. In about one-half of
the States this view prevailed, and such seats of learning
as Yale, Cornell, and Brown, opened their halls to indus-
trial studies. In the other half of the States independent
colleges were started, devoted entirely to the study of
sciences related to the farm and the workshop. The indus-
tries of each State, the prevailing views regarding education,
and the wealth of the people, have influenced the character
of the education given in these institutions. In California
and Missiouri, States abounding in mineral resources, there
are courses in mining and metalli^rgy provided in the insti-
tutions receiving national aid. In manufacturing States
the Colleges have generally lent their aid to the prevailing
interest. In the great grain-producing States of the far
west the Colleges are rarely devoted to agriculture. It
does not require skill to obtain remunerative crops from the
newly-broken prairie, and it is in the States where the soil
is more impoverished, and the rural population more dense,
that the need of scientific agriculture is most felt. While
it may be admitted that there has been much mis-direction
in the use of the national bounty towards mechanical and
agricultural education in the United P^^ates, yet it is abund-
antly manifest that great good is bein^ done in the promo-
tion of industrial education by the land grant of 1862.
Should we not, in the Dominion of Canada, profit by the
example of our wide-awake neigh l)ors ? The Local Govern-
ments of the Provinces have now more on their hands thaii
they can find money to provide for. Out of the vast areas »
of fertile landi in the Northwest the Dominion Parliament
should set aside a few millions of acres for the endowment
of higher industrial schools in all the Provinces. If this is
not attended to soon, the lands will be disposed of, and with
them will go the last chance for our children to obtain that

JIO

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

i

I

training which will enable thcin to compete with their
li(n^hl)or8 in the induHtrial profosRions.

Turning to the Dominion, the only college devoted to
agriculture is the Ontario Agricultural College, located at
Guelph. Thia institution was opened in 1874, and, as its
name implies, is devoted exclusively to teaching agriculture
and the sciences on which it is based. It is entirely sup-
ported by Government, f^he net annual expenditure in con-
nection with it being about $20,000, while the expenditure
on farm buildings and on permanent improvements had, up
to 1880, reached about $200,000. There is in this institu-
tion a course of study and a course of apprenticeship, the
students being required to work from three-and-a-half to
five hours a day, for which they are allowed from four to
ten cents per hour, according to the value of their labor.
From a statement submitted to the Agricultural Commission
of Ontario, in 1880, by Mr. Johnson, late President of the
College, we learn that three hundred and thirty students

^ had, up to that time, entered their names on the roll. Of
that number two hundred and thirty-eight had left the
institution, of whom one hundred and seventy-two were
known to be following agriculture, horticulture, or the
veterinary profession. There is a farm of five hundred and
fifty acres connected with the College, on which experimen-
tal farming is being carried on. The number of students

. vary from one hundred and thirty to two hundred. Ad-
mitting that the course of instruction at Guelph is very
practical, it would almost appear that the results are dis-
proportionate to the ouv.lay. The expenditure on capital
account up to 1880 amounted, as already stated, to $200,000,
and the annual expenditure to $20,000, which, at five per
cent., represents a capital of $400,000, while in the first six
years the college only sent out 172 students who adopted

al

tl

01

ill

tf
ill

si

t^

^

o1
is

u

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

21

th their

otod to
Jated at
^ as its
iculture
«Jy sup-
in con-
nditure
'jad, up
institu-
lip, the
fialf to
our to

labor,
lission
3f the
ideuis
Of
•t the

were

the

I and

men-

lonts

Ad-
very

dis-
5ital
f)00,

per

six
>ted

agricultural, horticultural, or veterinary employments. But
this is not a fair way of estimating the good which a school
of this kind is effecting. It may be that in the educating
influence of their example in farming, in the part which
their training enables thom to take in agricultural gather-
ings, and in their contributions to the agricultural press, the
students of Guelph are ..making a return to the Province for
the large expenditure incurred in giving them an agricul-
tural education. It must also be observed that, notwith-
standing the large outlay on the College, it is still a matter
of complaint that the equipment is defective. The library
is small, the museum is only a mere beginning, and there
is no laboratory worthy the name. Looking at \e great
wealth of the Province of Ontario, and her vast agn^^ultural
resources, it cannot be doubted that a thoroughly equipped
agricultural college will, in the end, contribute largely to
the improvement of agriculture.

From the hasty glance we have now given at the agricul-
tural colleges of other countries, it must be at once evident
that the founding of an agricultural college in this Island,
or even the establishment of an efficient department of
higher agricultural education in the Prince of Wuies College,
by local meaiw, is something altogether beyond our reach.

It is also, I think, quite plain, that owing to the smallness
of our farms, the direct advantage from the establishment
of such a college, or department of a college, would be
proportionately small. It d"^" not, however, follow that
because we cannot undertake the greatest task we are unable
to accomplish anything. We can give more ae and more
prominence to the sciences relating to agriculture in the
Prince of Wales College, so that all our teachers may in
future be qualified to pass an examination in the elements
of agriculture before obtaining a license. We can offer an

\

22

AGRICUTTURAL EDUCATION.

'i i

inducement to teachers already licensed, so that they can
come in for examination in this branch of education. We
can, by rigid inspection, provide that the text book on
aj^riculture already prescribed by the Board of Education is
thoroughly taught to the pupils in the advanced grades of
our schools. When we have done this, it will be found in
agriculture, as in general education, that a good elementary
instruction for the masses is, after all, far more important
than higher attainment placed only within the reach of a
few. To make great progress in this direction teachers must
all be qualified to handle an elementary text book, and the
use of it in our public schools must be made compulsory, as
has already been done in the State of Tennessee.

But although we must keep our eyes steadfastly fixed on
the schools for the dissemination of knowledge on farming,
we ought not to slight other instrumentalities already at
work advancing the same object, nor neglect efforts for their
more general adoption. The agricultural shows have prob-
ably done more within the present century to stimulate
good furming than any other agency. These shows took
their rise from what was known in England as the Holk-
ham Sheep Shearings, which were commenced over one
hundred years ago by Mr. Coke, who, as an acknowledgment
of his services to agriculture, was created Earl of Leicester.
" This annual festival," says Copeland, " will ever claim a
page in the history of British agriculture, although in its
origin, arrangement, and entire pecuniary support and
maintenance, it was strictly a private institution, yet the
unbounded public spirit and liberality of its founder gave it
a world-wide fame, and drew to its exhibitions men of
eminence in every branch of industry, and every station of
life, from the globe. Agriculturists, men of science, states-
men, philosophers, merchants, mechanics, manufacturers,

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

23

it they can
ttion. We
book on
ducation is

grades of
e found in
sleniontary

mportant
reach of a
Jhers must
, and the
ulsory, as

fixed on

fanning,
Iready at

for their
ave prob-
stimuJate
ws took
ie Holk-
ver one
edgment
ifiicester.
claim a
h in its
Tt and
yet the
gave it
men of
tion of

states-
sturera^

Ac, were indiscriminately invited to repair to the noble
domain at the appointed time (usually the beginning of
June,) where for three days they were entertained, not only
by a display of the finest animals the world could produce,
but on each day the hall was thrown open to five hundred
or six hundred guests. * ^* * Breeders of

cattle and sheep were invited to exhibit their particular
products, by which a spirit of emulation was excited, the
influence of which will 1be felt upon agriculture Co the
remotest ages. ♦ ♦ ♦ ^^ ij^q dinner given at

the close O- each day, the subjects that had occupied the
attention of the company in the morning were freely dis-
cussed. There, men of rank and eminence from all parts of
the world exchanged information on the different systems
of husbandry practiced in different countries and climates.
Men of science here began to publicly apply its principles
to the practice of husbandry, and to bring home to the mind
of the cultivator the importance of a knowledge of the
nature of the soil and the products that are raised from it.
It was at these gatherings that the embryo Davys and
Liebegs first met with that countenance and support which
inaugurated the union of practical science with agriculture,
and eventually brought forth these systems of agricultural
chemistry on which improved farming is now based. All
honor to the memory of the man who, more than any one
else, assisted in breaking down the barriers which ignoi*ance
and prejudice had reared between the cultivator and the
man of science, and who prepared the way for that union
between them, cemented on principles indestructible, be-
cause founded on truth."

The first agricultural society of which we have any
account is the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scot-
land, established in 1784. The institution of the B(Mird of

24

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

Agriculture in England followed in 1794. The Highland
Society is still in existence, and has exerted a wonderful
influence on agriculture in Scotland, and even extending to
other countries. Under its auspices premiums have been
given for discoveries in every branch of agriculture. In
1848 it took up the wo/k previously carried on by the
Agricultural Chemistry Association, and devoted special
attention to the analysis of artificial manures, and the pre-
vention, in this way, of the enormous frauds perpetrated on
farmers by the manufacture and sale of adulterated fertil-
izers. The English Board of Agriculture was dissolved in
1819, but the Smithiield Farmers' CluL was organized im-
mediately afterwards, and under its auspices new and
improved breeds of stock were introduced, and farmers were
stimulated to enquiry in their profession.

The establishment, in 1838, of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England, under the auspices of the late Prince
Albert, may be considered an important era in the history
of British Agriculture. The membership of the Society
embraces a large number of the most influential men in
England ; and by its publications, and by the great annual
show which is held under its auspices, has done an untold
amount of good in improving the stock and general hus-
bandry of England. More recently, agricultural societies
have sprung up all over the world, and the fair and cattle
show is an institution of every civilized country. Looking
at the great benefits arising from agricultural 80cieli*is, it
may well be asked why we have not such an organization in
Prince Edward Island ? There was at one time an institu-
tion of this kind in existence here, but it was allowed to
go down for want of adequate support. While it is highly
gratifying to note the good results arising from our Pro-
vincial and County Shows, as well as from the general ones,

"an

w^

mm

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION,

as

Highland
wondorful
^tending to
have been
>Hure. In
^^ by the
ed special
d the pre-
etrated on
ted fertil-
ssoJved in

^ew and
ners were

• ?',

'icultural
e Prince
e history

Society

men hi

annual
I untold
fal hus-
ocieties
1 cattle
'Ooking
J lies, it
tion in
iiftcitu-
ved to
highly
• Pro-

ones,

in which our people have recently taken so creditable a part,
it cannot be doubted that the effects might be wider and
more beneficial if we had an influential society in existence
to give direction to, and supplement the efforts of, the
Government.

Among the educating agencies now at work amongst us,
the butter and cheese factories recently started are deserv-
ing of notice. Notwithstanding our excellent pasturage,
and the facilities wc possess for good winter feeding, it is
painfully evident that we are absolutely nowhere in the
production of really first-class butter for export. Should
the article known as " shop butter " by any possible chance
escape unspoilt in the churning or washing on the farm, the

0

finishing touch is given by the storekeeper, who acts gener-
ally on the principle that abundance of salt, like the mantle
of charity, covereth a multitude of shortcomings. From
the smallness of our farms, we can scarcely hope for the
early and general adoption of scientific methods of butter
and cheese making in private dairies. The factory system
will, I believe, do for the dairying interests of Prince
Edward Island, what dairy colleges have done for Denmark.
The educated or trained hands who operate the factories,
>^'ill train their. customers how to handle their cattle and
milk, ■ so as to deliver the latter at the factory in good
condition. The butter and cheese, made in the factories of
the Island, have already earned a good reputation wherever
they have gone, and I hope the day is at hand when JPrince
Edward Island will have won the reputation of being a
large exporter of the choicest dairy products. A novel
method of dairy education has been recently tried in
Ireland by Canon Bagot, a clergyman of the Irish Church.
With a model dairy mounted on wheels, he has travelled
. through the country, stopping at the farm houses, giving

26

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

\n
k

ill

practical illustrations of scientific butter making with the
most approved appliances. The butter dealers of Cork nov
declare that they can trace Canon Bagot's missionary tour
through Ireland, by the superiority of the butter coming
from the districts visited by him. There is no reason to
doubt that this plan would be productive of much good in
this province.

The educating power of the newspaper Press is, no doubt,
very great, and its assistance, in disseminating information
regarding farming interests, is freely and cheerfully ren-
dered. The great want of agricultural education is,
however, quite as often and keenly felt by the intelligent
editor as by the intelligent farmer. A theoretical and prac-
tical acquaintance with the principles of agriculture, would
enable an editor to rise to the full stature of his position as
a public educator in an agricultural country like Prince
Edward Island. Besides the power which it would give
him to write original articles, bearing on our own methods
of farming, it would enable him to use the scissors with
better effect than is often done. Mark Twain, as an
agricultural editor, strongly advising tKe farmers to pick
their turnips from the trees w:th their hands, as the fruit
is often injured by being knocked down with a stick, is a
very good caricature of the flippant confidence with which
persons, wholly ignorant of farming, will undertake to
write upon it. The prejudice existing among farmers
against "book farming," is often strengthened by reading
agricultural items in our papers containing advice wholly
unsuited to our soil, climate, and staple crops.

The publication of a really first-class paper, devoted to
the discussion of agricultural questions from a Prince
Edward Island standpoint, would do great good, but it is
useless to talk of this. Our constituency is too small to sup- •

%

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

27

port a periodical of that kind, and we should, therefore, make
the bef* possible use of the facilities really within our reach.

If farmers' clubs were generally instituted, at the meet-
ings of which, the most intelligent and practical farmers
would read papers on questions affecting our husbandry, a
spirit of enquiry would be stimulated, and the newspapers
would gladly publish any part of the proceedings of these
meetings which might possess sufficient merit. But at the
base of all agricultural improvements, must lie the instruc-
tion of the common school. When the work, now beginning
to be done in the schoolroom, shall come to bear fruit, there
will not be wanting intelligent farmers to discuss the most
intricate questions relating to agriculture, nor newspaper
editors to lead the way in the paths of higher investigation.

The agricultural history of Prince Edward Island natur-
ally divides itself into three periods. In the first place
there is the period of settlement coming down to 1860.
During this period, improvement was not very rapid, yet
considering the difficulties of clearing the land, the .barriers
to progress in our geographical separation frcftn the
mainland, and the injurious land system by which the
settlers' energies were shackled, it must be admitted that
fairly satisfactory progress was made. Roads were laid out,
schools opened, and churches erected. The wants of the
faf mer were few, .and the means, of supplying them limited
in proportion. The neighbor kaleeing with neighbor, of
a winter evening, enjoying a friendly chat before the fire of
blazing logs ; the young men and maidens combining the
stumping and spinning frolics in the summer, and the
thickening frolic in the early winter, constituted the social
enjoyment of the people. A ready cash market for oats
had not yet presented itself to tempt the farmer to exhaust
his land. Part of the energy, which, at a later period, was

28

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

directed to raising oats to meet a foreign demand, wl,s then
applied to the cultivation of wheat, and the farmer^had no
difficulty in raising his own bread from a soil still abound-
ing in the elements of original fertility. Science in farming
did not count for much in those days. Strong arms to fell
the forest, swing the scythe, and ply the flail, were the
requisites for success on a farm.

The second period extended from 1850 to 1874, and may
be called the period of growth. It was ushered in by the
concession of Responsible Government to the Island, which
was followed by the adoption of a practical system of
common education. The establishment of Reciprocity with
the United States, the waging of the Russian and
American wars, and the construction of the Prince Edward
Island Railway caused a great demand for our staple pro-
ducts, arousing the industrial life of our people. This was
a period of unprecedented growth, but it was a growth at
the expense of vital force, because, under the stimulus of an
active demand, the farmers sowed their lands to oats, year
after year, without making a suitable return to the soil, to
keep up i fertility.

The third period, extending from 1874 to the present
time, may be called the period of consolidation. For some
years previous to this, the farmers began to see the folly of
raising oats, year after year, without adequate manure.
After a hard winter's subsistence on straw, cattle were
wont to leave the stables mere walking skeletons, to eke
out a summer's existence on fields yielding little but sorrel
and natural grass. It was at this juncture, that attention
was directed to the deposits of mussel and oyster shells in
the beds of our bays and rivers, and means were devised to
bring this fertilizing substance to the surface, and make it
available for manure. The presence of this valuable

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

29

fertilizer at our very doors, rich in the elements of which
our soil is most deficient, illustrates in a striking manner,
the care with which Providence bestows its blessings. The
great benefits, arising from the application of mussel mud
to the land, are evident to-day all over trince Edward
Island. These benefits, however, would be much greater,
had it been in the power of the farmers to obtain analysis
of their soils, and of the different qualities of mud in their
vicinity. They would then have used that which was most
suitable for their soils, and they would have been guided as
to the proper quantities to apply under different circum-
stances. As it is, the application of carbonate of lime in
the form of mussel mud, has transformed our formerly dry
and unproductive pastures into a closely set sward of the
sweetest and most nutritious grasses, arid by increasing
almost ten-fold the bulk of our hay crop, it has made our
province a first-class stock and dairy country.

We should not, however, allow ourselves to be carried
away by present favorable results. There never was a time
when our farmers needed scientific guidance in feeding
their land, more than they do to-day. While lime, in all
its forms, is to some extent a food for plants, yet its most
important action is in decomposing organic matter already
in the soil, and making it available as plant food. It there-
fore follows that the continual use of lime will, through
time, thoroughly exhaust the soil unless organic matter is
supplied in some other form. If the growing of oats for
export was bad farming before the application of mussel
mud was commenced, it is downright madness now, when
the lime in the mud has made the land, generous almost to
a fault, ready to part with all the organic matter which it
contains. The old adage is strictly true, —

"The use of lime without manure,
Will make the farm and farmer poor. "

30

AGklCULTURAL EDUCATION.

I

II

I)":

There are other sul:)8tanceH, such as phosphates, potash,
and ammonia, which neither inussel mud nor ordinary
manure can supply to the land in sufficicmt quantities to
maintain fertility, and which it must V>e necessary to apply
in the form of commercial fertilizers. To do this effectually
and with profit is the great agricultural problem of the near
future. It was thought, until a short time ago, that a
farmer might submit a sample of his soil to a chemist, who
could, by a simple analysis, determine what its elementary
constituents were, and who could give, in the form of a
prescription, a list of the substances required to produce
from it the best crops. If this were so, the common farmer
needs education in his profession no more than every man
requires to be a physician. But the chemist cannot, by
analynis alone, arrive at full and positive conclusions as to
the fertility of soils. He can, it is true, resolve them into
their elements, and ascertain the proportions of each which
they contain ; but he cannot distinguish, by analysis,
betweeif substane;js which are active, and those which are
dormant in the ground. The land may contain all the
elements in abundance which are necessary to ensure fer-
tility, but these substances may not be in a condition to be
used "as plant food, and the soil may be * comparatively
barren. The intelligent farmer, who has studied agricul-
tural chemistry, having obtained an analysis of his soil, can
conduct experiments in the use of fertilizers, whjch will
lead to sure and positive conclusions. The investigations
and experiments, made by M. Georges Ville on the exper-
imental agricultural farm at Vincennes, in France, have
thrown a flood of light on this subject. The chemist in his
laboratory cannot finally settle agricultural problems. It
is only when the man of science and the practical farmer
work hand in hand, or better still, when theory and practice
are united in the .same individual, that the best results are

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

31

^

obtained. Without education, the farmer cannot accurately
conduct necessary experiments, nor protect himself against
fraud in purchasing commercial manures.

To understand the distinct or relative functions performed
by the «oil and the atmosphere in the growing of crops, and
to be able to apply to the work of the farm, with dis-
crimination, the lessons of chemistry under varying circum-
stances and different soils, demand a training of mind, and
a power of observation as great as the requirements of the
learned professions.

The decline ©f wooden shipbuilding all over the world,
and the consequent loss of cheap facilities for the trans-
mission of bulky products to the European markets, have
brought our people face to face with the question : In what
market, and what form, are we to find sale for the products
of our soil? The answer which every intelligent nian has
given to this enquiry, cannot be better expressed than in
the heading, adopted by the Honorable Daniel Davies, to
some excellent letters to the press, some two or three years
ago — " We must improve the qvuliiy of our exports.^^ Instead
of sending away large quantities of roots and cereals with
little intrinsic value, it is our interest to increase their value
by skilful manipulation, giving our countrymen the benefit
of the employment arising from the process, and leaving, as
far as practicable, the manurial properties on the farm. In
this way, we are now, far more than formerly, turning oats,
potatoes, and hay, into horses, cattle, starch, butter, cheese,
and eggs. In this matter, we are moving in the line of
true progress, but we are not moving fast enough, and our
people require to be taught that the transition which is now
going on is a most wholesome and beneficial one. They
must be educated, to u^^^rstand that the people, who con-
tinue mere exporters of the raw products of agriculture,

32

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

will ever remain hewers of wood and drawers of water to
their more skilful and intelligent rivals. "We must improve
the quality of our exports," but to do so effectually, we
must first improve, and make more practical, the educa-
tion of our people.

The markets of the world are becoming more fastidious
every day. It is not merely necessary that articles of food
should be of good quality, but they must be put up in an
attractive manner. The form of the package, its conven-
.icnce as regards size, and above all, its perfect cleanliness,
are important considerations in giving value to all the
different articles of human food. To stud^ the markets.of
the world and know how to meet their wants, to be
acquainted with the advancement made in agricultural
productions in other countries, and to be able to appreciate
and adopt important improvements, require knowledge and
intellectual training. The times are changing, and we must
keep pace with the change. The watchword of agricultural
progress must be "Educate!" "Educate!" In the world's
markets, we have to meet the productions of the vast
praries of the West and Northwest, yielding good crops for
many years without manure, or the expense of clearing the
land. We have to compete with the cheap labor of
Europe, operated by large capital, and directed, to a great
extent, by men of practical education. We cannot appro-
priate the prairies of the West, nor do we want them. We
cannot apply the capital to the cultivation of the land which
farmers of other countries do, but we can, if we go in
earnest to work, vie with them, and excel them in the skill
which we may bring to bear on the practice of our leading
industry.

The farming of to-day, like net^rly every other business,
stands more in need of mental training, than that of the

<

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

33

past. Machinery has changed the routine of farm work.
When the grain was sowed with the hand, reaped with the
scythe, and threshed with the flail, muscle was more import-
ant than brains, but the seeder, the reaper, and threshing
machine, require skill to guide them. The extended
application of machinery is, I believe, destined in all the
industries, to supersede the unskilled labor of man. The
day is evidently fast approaching, when all kinds of work,
which require little besides strength for their execution,
will be done by machinery. Man's part, in the industries
of the future, will be more in the inventing and working of
labor-saving machinery, than in manual labor. How im-
portant, then, that we should endeavor to save our children
from being among the last of the civilized sons of Adam to
suffer the full penalty of earning their bread by the sweat
of their brow.

I

The extraordinary facilities now possessed by man for
quickly transmitting to gi*eat distances the products of the
earth, and the general competition thus induced, demand
the exercise of the greatest possible intelligence by the pro-
ducing classes. It is not very long since a local market
absolutely belonged to the local producer. The want of
crop reports made it impossible to anticipate a scarcity, and
when it did occur, the time and expense required to draw a
supply from outside were almost equivalent to prohibition.
These things are all changed. While the yellow grain is
still bending before the reaper, the statistician has, with the
aid of electricity, measured the crops of the world. While
agricultural science has made two grains of wheat to grow
where only one was grown before, the triumph of mechani.
cal science and commercial enterprise has been to bring
those grains within the reach of the hungry. Steam has
annihilated space, and the markets of the world have be-

34

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

come the common property of all producerH. In these
markets, the best products only will be wanted, the fittest will
survive. In our small way, wo are competitors in the
world's market, and who are the people with whom we have
to compete? The trained dairymen, the scientific farmers,
and the intelligent stock raisers of Britain, Germany, Den-
mark, the United States, and the sister Provinces of the
Dominion. If we are to hold our own in this competition,
we must educate our producers, otherwise we will be in the
position of a mob, armed with bows and arrows, venturing
to engage a disciplined army supplied with repeating rifles.

If'

so