affairs. The Government policy, so far as it has one, has been
continually opposed to paternalism and direct subsidy or ownership of
schools. Rather has her Parliament waited to be solicited to make
subventions by way of encouraging individual or local society
initiative. The flourishing agricultural schools at Cirencester and
Downton, for the instruction of the higher classes, have grown out of
private establishments, then been perpetuated by obtaining royal
charters, by which the Government became pledged to supply any lack of
income. But since 1893 the state has so far relaxed her policy as to
grant subsidies to certain colleges centrally located, which it styles
"collegiate centers," through which colleges it offers superior
instruction to the public. These colleges associate with themselves
ample farm lands for experiment grounds and dairy machinery, and equip
themselves with competent lecturers, who are also practical experts,
and who, upon invitation from agricultural societies or county
councils, go forth as lecturers upon their special subjects. Each
adjacent county makes an annual grant of £75 to the college funds, and
is privileged to nominate students to attend the college agricultural
course at a reduction of twenty-five per cent on the usual fee. In
1898-'99 the Board of Education granted to fifteen colleges and
associations in England and Wales the sum of £7,200. The colleges were
the Yorkshire College at Leeds, Durham College of Science at
Newcastle-on-Tyne, University Extension College at Reading, University
College at Nottingham, Southeastern Agricultural College at Wye, and
in Wales the University Colleges at Bangor and Aberystwith.
Besides the direct Government subsidy to higher education, the state
grants to the several counties part of the money raised from the
excise ("drink money") for educational purposes, out of which at least
£78,000 were spent by the committees in 1896-'97 in promoting
agricultural education.
Still further, Parliament puts into the hands of the Science and Art
Department large sums of money to be expended as grants-in-aid of
"technical education." The state recognizes instruction in the
principles of agriculture as instruction in elementary science, and
through this Science and Art Department's grants to primary and
secondary schools, and to teachers' colleges, it encourages
agricultural education as a technical study. In 1896-'97, 1,023 pupils
passed examination, and the respective school managements received as
grant on their account a total sum of £140,150.[24]
[Footnote 24: Appendix to Report of Science and Art Department,
1896-'97.]
In 1897 the Royal Commission on Agricultural Depression in England
made its report. Among other declarations made by the commission were
these: "We believe that it is essential for the welfare of agriculture
that there should be placed within the reach of every young farmer a
sound, general school education, including such a grounding in the
elements of sciences bearing upon agriculture--e. g., chemistry,
geology, botany, and animal physiology--as will give him an
intelligent interest in them and familiarize him in their
language."[25]
[Footnote 25: Page 152 of Report.]
They further recommend that hereafter the control of all funds for
technical agricultural education be placed with the Board of
Agriculture, and that the entire income of the Customs and Excise Act
of 1890 should be devoted to educational purposes, agriculture
receiving its adequate share. Should the first recommendation carry
for all divisions of the United Kingdom, agriculture would cease to
be one of the subjects provided for examination by the Science and Art
Department. Should the second recommendation become a law, the sum
expended by local county councils in agricultural education would be
vastly increased.
Passing from England to her colonies, let us journey toward the
sunrising. Stopping for a moment in Egypt, we note with pleasure the
existence of the newly established School of Agriculture at Gizeh,
which is under the direction of the Ministry of Public Instruction for
Egypt. Its reconstructed course of study was open to students in 1898,
and it provides for four years of study. Arabic and English are the
teaching languages, especially the latter, and allotments of land for
individual culture are made to all pupils.
Beyond the Indian Ocean lies Hindustan. Here all science study is
awaiting its development. The best cultivation of India is not behind
that of England as a matter of empiricism,[26] but the science of
cultivation is yet to be developed. Agricultural chemistry and
agricultural botany and horticulture, as related to India, have
scarcely been investigated, and text-books in the native tongues have
yet to be written. For this accomplishment all elementary instruction
in public schools must patiently wait. For an agriculturally educated
set of teachers, also, Indian youth studying in the vernacular must
patiently wait. In 1889 the home Government (Parliament) laid upon the
Indian Educational Department the duty of providing school "readers"
which should contain elementary instruction in agricultural science,
and it authorized a liberal grant-in-aid toward such schools as could
furnish pupils for passes in this subject. For those students who have
mastered the English language a few colleges exist. Saidapet, near
Madras, with about forty students in a three-years' course, including
veterinary, is a pure agricultural institution. Fourteen students
received diplomas in agriculture in March, 1897.
[Footnote 26: Dr. Voelker, in his Report on Improvement of Indian
Agriculture, made to the English Board of Agriculture in 1893,
said: "At the best, the Indian _raiyat_, or cultivator, is quite
as good as, and in some respects the superior of, the average
British farmer. It is wonderful, too, how much is known of
rotation, the system of mixed crops, and of fallowing. Certain it
is that I, at least, have never seen a more perfect picture of
careful cultivation, combined with hard labor, perseverance, and
fertility of resource, than I have seen at many of the halting
places. Such are the gardens of Máhim, the fields of Nadiad, the
center of the garden of Gujarat, in Bombay."]
Several colleges have agricultural departments, notably the Poona
College of Science in the Bombay presidency; the Baroda College; the
Maharajah's College and the Shimoga College, Mysore; the Central
College, and the Sanskrit College of Bangalore. All of these are
affiliated with the University of Bombay, and present pupils for
examination in agriculture for the degree of B. Sc. A.
In many of the English high schools of India are found agricultural
classes which give both science teaching and field practice. These
schools are at Nagpur, Nasik, Sholapur, Ahmednagar, Ahmedabad, Dhulia,
Kolapur, Surat, Belgaum, and Nadiad. The stimulus to study in these
schools is the hope of obtaining a diploma in agriculture, which would
result in employment in the Government service.
In Lucknow is a celebrated veterinary school whose graduates have been
greatly sought after. One at Bombay has become still more celebrated.
In 1897 sixty-nine students were in attendance. Graduates easily found
employment with native rajahs, and on the island of Ceylon, and at
Mozambique. Another Government veterinary school recently established
at Belgatchia, Calcutta presidency, has done good work.
The forestry school at Dehra Dun, in the Northwest Provinces, has
attained a great reputation. About seventy students attend, and the
Government charges the cost of the school, 33,000 rupees, to the
districts which send up pupils for study. India, under the British
rule, will soon come into line with educated agriculturists.
In Burmah and in Assam steps have been taken to introduce science
lessons into Government, or grant-in-aid, elementary schools by the
preparation of "readers," as in India, but no secondary or superior
schools in agriculture exist in these countries. So far as we know,
the same is true of Siam and the Malayan Archipelago and of the
Philippines.
Australia, as a federation of states, is late in its development, but
some of its states are surprisingly advanced. New Zealand has its
superior university, combining the three colleges at Auckland,
Lincoln, and Otago. Its syllabus provides for searching examinations
in agriculture to obtain the degree of B. Sc., either of these
colleges having previously granted the diploma of agriculture to
successful students. Each of these colleges has ample grants of land,
but only one--the Canterbury College at Lincoln--has yet presented
agricultural candidates. Forty-four graduates have received diplomas
previous to 1895. Instruction in elementary schools seems not yet to
have included agriculture.
In Queensland the Queensland Agricultural College was opened at Gatton
in 1897.
In South Australia is an agricultural college at Roseworthy and
another at Adelaide which has graduated several recipients of the
diploma.
In Victoria there exists a college at Dookia and another at Longerong.
There is also a school of horticulture at Richmond.
To New South Wales belongs the banner for furnishing the greatest
opportunities for agricultural education. Its university at Sydney
grants a degree of B. Sc. to students from the colleges of St. Paul,
St. John, St. Andrew, the Woman's College, and the Sydney Grammar
School. At Sydney also is the splendid Technical College, handsomely
endowed, having an agricultural department. The superior of all other
schools is the Hawksbury Agricultural College and Experimental Farm at
Richmond, established in 1891, richly endowed with land (three
thousand acres), and organized on the most approved modern models.
Science teaching is not carried so high as the university standard,
but all manner of practical work must be performed by each student.
Homeward bound, we reach Cape Colony, South Africa. Here, in 1887, the
Government inaugurated a scheme for aiding farm schools in which
elementary agriculture was taught. In 1894, out of 352 schools aided
by the Government, 202 were classed as "farmhouse schools." In higher
education there may be found (1898) the School of Agriculture and
Viticulture at Stellenbosch, and a second one at Sunset East. As both
of these schools are young, statistics concerning them are not yet
available.
Last of England's colonies we notice the Dominion of Canada on our
northern frontier. No evident progress has been made in introducing
agricultural science teaching in the primary schools of the entire
Dominion. The first step taken in the direction of agricultural
education was for the enlightenment of farmers. In 1886 Parliament
authorized the establishment of a system of experiment farms, one in
each province in Canada, viz.: one at Ottawa (to serve both Quebec and
Ontario), and one each at Nappan, in Nova Scotia; at Brandon,
Manitoba; at Indian Head, Assiniboia; at Agassiz, British Columbia;
and at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. To give these stations
greater efficiency, the Government encouraged the formation of
farmers' institutes in every electoral district for the hearing of
lectures from experts which it provided, and for discussion or
business. To each regularly organized institute of fifty members a
grant of £10 is annually made.
In Nova Scotia five primary and secondary schools are reported as
giving agricultural instruction to two hundred pupils. Some of these
schools have farms or gardens. The Provincial School of Agriculture at
Truro is making a good beginning. In its last class three students
were granted teachers' diplomas, seven received farmers' diplomas, and
eighteen took farmers' certificates. Three hundred and fifty students
have pursued its course of studies. There is also a horticultural
school at Annapolis Valley.
Another horticultural school exists at Wolfville, Nova Scotia, under
the control of a committee of the Fruit-Growers' Association. Students
take a thorough course of two years' duration. The Legislatures of New
Brunswick and of Prince Edward Island grant bonuses of fifty dollars
to each young man of their provinces who will take a course at this
school.
Fine creamery plants are found at various points, and several
provinces sustain each a "traveling dairy," which systematically
visits accessible centers and gives demonstration lectures to farmers'
families.
The crowning agricultural educational institution for the entire
Dominion is the college at Guelph, Ontario. It combines instruction in
veterinary science, horticulture, bee and poultry keeping, dairying,
and the experimental farm. The course continues for three years. Two
years confers the "associate diploma," and three years' study, with
successful examination in the syllabus of the Toronto University,
secures the degree of B. Sc. A. Success attends all these educational
efforts and marks this colonial empire as among the ranks representing
true progress.
Mexico and the countries of South America next claim our notice. In
the first-named country, as early as the year 1850 provision was made
at the old college of San Gregorio for instruction in agriculture in
five different courses. But in 1854 the Government came into
possession of the disused convent of San Jacinto, Agosta. Here a
national school was organized, combining the two departments of
agriculture and veterinary science. It was opened February 22, 1854,
and designated the National School of Agriculture and Veterinary
Science. Its courses of study are up to the best standards. Three
years are necessary to complete the agricultural course and receive
the title of Superintendent of Rural Estates, and four years' study
must be given to secure that of Ingeniero Agronomo. The course was
readjusted in 1893. During the five years past 169 graduates have
received the former and 68 the latter degrees. The management consists
of 48 persons, whose salaries annually cost the Government 96,424
Mexican dollars. Ample grounds and buildings are provided to make this
institution a matter for national pride.
Besides this college, a farm school exists in one of the federal
districts, costing annually $17,564, and another at the colony of
Porfirio Diaz, costing the state $14,708. Mexico is also moving to
introduce agriculture as a subject for primary instruction in public
schools.
In Uruguay exist fine schools for teaching agriculture and viticulture
which are of recent organization. At Montevideo the Government has
created a Department of Live Stock and Agriculture, subject to the
Home Ministry. The budget of 1897 provides for organizing and
sustaining agricultural schools and experiment farms to the extent of
$28,222, with an additional allowance of $90,000 for experiments on
farms, installation of plants, furniture, instruments, etc.
Chili is coming to the front in her educational efforts. In the city
of Concepción exists a Practical School of Agriculture. Others are
found at Santiago, at Talca, San Fernando, Elqui, and Salamanca. The
school at Santiago receives an annual subvention of $40,000, and that
at Concepción the sum of $23,000. Attached to the latter are agronomic
stations for soil analysis and oversight of irrigation systems of the
state. The Sociedad Nacional de Agricultur at Santiago receives an
annual grant of $20,000, which it distributes at agricultural shows
and for the support of the zoölogical garden. At Quintan Normal is
also an Institute Agricola of high grade for agricultural engineers
and agronomics, or for furnishing a simple certificate in agriculture.
Other countries of South America possess education facilities, but we
are not supplied with details concerning them.
Our closing glance must be directed to the far Orient. Japan, the
newest of kingdoms, has a model brace of institutions for superior
education in agriculture. When Japan awoke to the new ideas, to which
for ages she was oblivious, her keenest statesmen grasped the thought
that her agricultural people needed new light and intellectual
quickening along the lines which so vitally affected their daily
subsistence. She took the United States into her confidence. She
imported for a season our Commissioner of Agriculture (General
Capron), in 1871-'72, as "Adviser to the Colonial Office at Hokaido,"
who, after visiting Japan, advised the Government to organize at once
an agricultural college at Sapporo, and still another at Tokio. This
advice was cordially received and speedily adopted. American scholars
of the highest wisdom and experience were imported to inaugurate the
work. The college was inaugurated by Colonel W. S. Clark, LL. D.,
President of Amherst Agricultural College, in August, 1876, with
twenty-four students. Its new location was Sapporo, and its new name
was the Sapporo Agricultural College. The Government dealt liberally
in grants of land, but these ample acres have since been mostly
confiscated, leaving only sufficient for educational purposes. Few can
estimate the wonderful uplift which has come to Japan through this
efficient school. In 1893 it had sent out from its agricultural
course 123 graduates; from the engineering, 4; military, 42; and from
the practical department, 114.
In 1874 an agricultural department was added to the Imperial
University at Tokio, the original location of the Sapporo College. An
exhaustive syllabus in the Department of Agriculture provides
examination for many profound students of this science, and admits
them to the highest university degree. Four courses are open in the
university--viz., agriculture, agricultural chemistry, forestry, and
veterinary medicine. In 1895 there were 261 students of agriculture in
the university.
From this extended though by no means exhaustive review of the status
of scientific instruction in agriculture throughout the world, it is
evident that all the progressive nations have caught the inspiration
which attaches to this branch of education, and are swinging into line
in their efforts to adopt it. Old ideals are rapidly giving place to
the new. Educators are forced to admit that mental culture is as
possible under the study of science as by the protracted study of
languages and literature; that such study aids vastly more than the
latter in the training which prepares men for the active duties of
life; and that if the development of husbandry as a pursuit does not
keep pace on an intelligent basis with every other technical pursuit,
national greatness and permanence will never be achieved.
EASTERN OYSTER CULTURE IN OREGON.
BY F. L. WASHBURN, A. M.,
STATE BIOLOGIST AND PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON.
During the past two years the United States Fish Commission, with
characteristic enterprise, has been carrying on experiments in the
propagation of Eastern oysters in the bays of the Oregon coast. Work
of a similar nature is now being undertaken in the State of
Washington.
[Illustration: "OYSTER CITY," YAQUINA BAY, OREGON.]
As the result of an application through official sources, re-enforced
possibly by the results of a biological survey made by this department
during the preceding summer, twenty-two barrels of Eastern oysters
were, on November 7, 1896, deposited on a portion of Oysterville Flat,
so called, in Yaquina Bay, Oregon, seven miles and a half from the
ocean. The oystermen of that section have agreed to abstain from
tonging for native oysters upon the portion of the flat thus reserved
until sufficient time has elapsed to justify an opinion as to the
result of the experiment. These introduced oysters were of two
varieties--the long, slender East Rivers and the more oval,
fan-shaped, and ribbed Princess Bays. Their journey of twelve days
across the continent, in sugar barrels, from New York to San Francisco
and thence to Oregon without water did not cause the mortality one
might expect, for in strewing them over the bed from the scows of the
oystermen very few dead individuals were observed--certainly not one
half of one per cent.
[Illustration: AN EXPERIMENTAL SPAWNING FLOAT.]
This alien oyster has much to contend with here. It was realized that
the cold and salt water rushing in from the Pacific--colder and salter
by far than in their Atlantic home at the same time--if it did not
entirely prevent spawning would at least make the survival of the
young embryos a matter of doubt; yet it was hoped that perhaps, after
a number of years, the oysters might become acclimated, as it were,
and their spawn, inheriting their parents' acquired hardiness, we
might present to the people of the State a new form of Oregon product
in the shape of Eastern oysters hatched and grown in the waters of
this bay. Notwithstanding the fecundity of this oyster, a female
producing in the vicinity of sixty million eggs at a spawning, it must
be remembered that even under the most favorable conditions in its own
home, where the water has in summer a fairly constant temperature of
over 70° F. and a salinity of 1.012 on an average, but a very small
proportion of this multitude survive. How much more unlikely is its
survival in the waters of Yaquina Bay, Oregon, where the writer has
seen the water change from a temperature of 70° F. and a saltness of
1.012 to a temperature of 55° and a salinity of 1.022 within six
hours! It was to save the young embryos from exposure to these and
kindred dangers that I, as a volunteer employee of the United States
Fish Commission during the summers of 1897 and 1898, among other
things resorted to the artificial fertilization of the eggs in a
temporary laboratory, carrying the delicate embryos to the swimming
stage and dumping them by thousands into the bay. Given some clean
crocks, a microscope, dissecting instruments, tumblers, rubber tubing,
thermometers, and instruments to test the saltness of the water, and
innumerable embryos can be cared for without much trouble. The
process, as practiced by Brooks, Ryder, Nelson, and others in America,
is too well known to need repeating here. Its efficacy is well
established, and, in spite of the incredulity of the oystermen, who
wished to see the oysters spawn "spontaneous," as they expressed it,
an incredulity amounting almost to opposition, the writer has
persevered in this work for two seasons and intends to continue it the
coming summer.
[Illustration: 1, native oyster spat on clam shell; 2, same on inside
of oyster shell; 3, 4, 5, native spat (_Ostrea lurida_) on Eastern
oyster shells; 6, showing size and appearance of native spat one or
two months old.]