Sound Elementary Teaching.

The nature of the teaching is more or less elementary from a scientific standpoint, but, from what I gathered, sound and thorough as far as it goes. For instance, it is not attempted to cover the whole field of agricultural chemistry in the course of teaching provided. But the scientific principles which govern the fertilisation of the soil are explained. The three or four important elements in plant nutrition, and the nature and effect in relation to these of the manures the farmer buys and applies to the land, are made plain to the learner. He is thus made to realise the practical value of the analysis which the vendor of artificial manures is bound to supply with his invoice, and in other ways—such as the botanical and other reasons for the rotation system of cropping—he is taught to perceive the commercial value of scientific Knowledge in farming. Each lad is connected for a fortnight at a time with each department of work, such as the dairy, the agricultural, the horticultural, the sheep-farming, or any other branch of farming work carried on at the farm, and after a time he can specialise on any particular branch to which he wishes to devote special attention.