as

little about what ought to be the first concern of their lives-the business of land owning, a business which requires to be learnt like any other. A man of great wealth and high social position cannot, of course, be expected to become an expert in farming matters, and at the same time do the share of public work which is expected of him, but he can, at the least, depute his duties in this respect to a thoroughly qualified man, if he has no taste himself for this sort of work. It is gratifying to see that of recent years there is a growing tendency among landowners to appoint "agricultural experts their agents, and the good results of this must appear in time. It is of little use for the farmer or the labourer to become trained in their work and armed with the knowledge which would enable them to develop the resources of the land, if the man who owns the land is careless or ignorant of the proper way to manage it. It is with him that the success of agriculture and agricultural science rests he has the power, the position, and the money, and if he will but set the example those under him will soon follow. If he will not do so then the whole movement will be rendered nugatory. The proposal to found chairs of agriculture in our ancient universities, where the majority of our future landlords are educated, and to make agriculture one of the subjects for a university degree, ought to be hailed with satisfaction by everyone who has the welfare of the rural population and the success of agriculture at heart. But unfortunately those places are still dominated by the scholastic follies of the middle-ages, and the practical needs of the present age are ignored. These matters will be set right before very long, however, as far as agriculture is concerned, for public opinion in favour of such changes is gathering in force. At present there is nothing to hinder young landlords from attending

for a year or two at some of our agricultural colleges if they would only do so. If they will not do so then let them be earnestly entreated to depute their duties to some one properly qualified.

There is one point to be noted in connection with the establishment of a course of agricultural education in our old universities, and that is the fact that the men who teach the branches which would be included in an agricultural curriculum would be the most eminent in their various departments. The professors of botany, chemistry, geology, and so on in a county college, or other comparatively small establishment, cannot be of the same standing or acquirements as those in such places as Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, etc., thus bearing out the general statement that, in the present movement, County Councils, colleges, etc., are not getting the best men because they do not offer enough salary or a good enough position. It is a thousand pities that, outside of the Extension System, those in authority and who are moving in the matter, do not utilize existing institutions of importance, for in this way the maximum results would be obtained at the minimum cost.

And now we come to the greatest engine of agricultural education-practical as well as scientific-the Printing Press. This, of course, has been the great cause of progress in the world, as the means of communicating a man's knowledge to all his fellows. It was said above that the most important part of agricultural education was the gaining a knowledge of the practical part by living on a farm, but next to this come the weekly farm papers which are a record of the current life of the farm, and from which a reader learns of the progress, success or failure, of his "professional brethren." Johnson said that books were the great universities, and any

farmer who procures one of the many excellent textbooks to be had, and reads it through, will learn much that will be of value to him; but unfortunately farm work is inimical to systematic study, and therefore, the ordinary farmer can get more good from his weekly modicum served up in one or more of the farm papers, while the information is more varied. A farm paper is first and chiefly a record of practical farming-men will write there regarding what they know who would never think of attempting a book. But it is also a concise epitome of scientific information, for when anyone writes a volume on a subject, he goes into all the minute details, and spreads it out thin," in order to make up a book of a respectable size, whereas when he writes a column or two for a paper, he "boils it down," and gives the most valuable points in few words. When an old or young farmer, therefore, bethinks himself of cultivating the "farm within the ring-fence of his own skull" the first thing to do is to take in one or more of the weekly farm papers, and the books and lectures and systematic study will follow as circumstances permit.

Agricultural education, whether of the landlord, tenant, or labourer, is a very wide subject, and perhaps the headings of the other chapters in this book give the best idea of the wide range of subjects included in the term; but in its usual limitation it is restricted to a study of the sciences which bear on farm-work and management, and to which the remarks above have been chiefly confined. The last word has not yet been said on the matter, however, and most likely from the attention which has been devoted to the subject since "Technical Education" matters were taken up, we are on the eve of great and unlooked-for developments, which may satisfy farmers and carry them with the movement. But so

far agricultural education is not a matter of yesterday, being, in fact, a century old in this country, but in the above short article the main points of the subject, as they have hitherto been accepted by those who have given attention to the subject, have been set forth without prejudice to whatever new developments the future PRIMROSE MCCONNELL.

may see.

CHAPTER XL.

THOROUGH CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL.

BY GILBERT MURRAY, F.S.I.,

"The

Author of practical articles in "The Royal Agricultural Society's Journal,” Highland Society's Journal," Colman's "Cattle and Sheep of Great Britain," Morton's Handbooks, "Farm Series," Stephen's "Book of the Farm," and most of the leading periodical publications of the day; Member of the Royal Agricultural Society of England; Life Member of the Highland Society; Past President of the Midland Valuers' Association; Agricultural Examiner for the B.Sc. degree of the University of Edinburgh; Winner of many prizes for reports and for designs of Farm Homesteads and Labourers' Cottages; Winner of the £100 prize offered by The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for the best cattle truck with facilities for feeding and watering in transit; Author of numerous pamphlets on "Dairy Farming," "Agricultural Depression,” "The Shire Horse," "Agricultural Education," and many other subjects.

THE progress of science during the last decade has thrown a flood of light on the cultivation of the soil, and has rudely shaken the faith of the scientific farmer in the utility of any culture which was long held to be an important essential in the growth and development of the cultivated crops of the farm. Modern science has turned to ridicule the ancient proverb, "Plough deep whilst sluggards sleep, and you'll have corn to sell and keep." Those whose experience extend to the early days of steam tillage when deep cultivation was a craze, have long since been painfully convinced of the injury it inflicted, both in the case of strong and light lands, more particular the latter. Not only was the hungry subsoil disturbed and worked to the surface. On strong clays, it assisted drainage by hastening the perco