prosperity of Germany's foreign trade; and thinks that the disposition shown in the United States during the last few years to introduce into the schools of the country the training of the hand as well as of the eye, if generally and intelligently carried out, can not fail to be of incalculable benefit to the country, and produce a nation of skilled workmen whose productions will raise our country to a height of industrial excellence unsurpassed by any country, and challenge the admiration of the world.

More specific still is the statement of Consular Agent Neuer, of the United States agency at Gera. After describing the Gera weaving school-essentially like the one at Crefeld, already referred to-he

says:

I commend this system of technical education as well worthy of the serious consideration of our manufacturers, as specially trained and skilled operatives must be of vast service to us. It is an important factor and closely connected with the highest interests of our laboring classes.

In this connection I draw attention to the English parliament having recently suggested the establishment of technical schools according to the German system. The advancement of German commerce in all parts of the world is generally admitted; and while cheap German labor, as well as the weighty governmental aid, may partly account for this fact, it is no less the superior schooling which opens to this country new markets. Our merchants ought to adopt the same methods to strengthen our manufacturing industries.

The Bradford correspondent of the Irish Textile Journal writes interestingly, in the July 1890 number of that periodical, concerning the Industrial Society of Mülhausen, in the province of Alsace. Under this society's supervision various technical schools have been established, chiefly for teaching all branches of the textile industries. His communication concludes as follows:

The system as carried on at Mülhausen ought to be adopted by those engaged in the various industries of this country, and every means taken to render it as efficient as possible, and the lead that we have undoubtedly had in most of the manufacturing trades up to the present would still be retained by us. There is certainly a lack of spirit amongst a majority of the employers in the British Isles in many matters which, with a little tact and outlay, would amply repay them in the long run; but, notwithstanding that such rapid strides have been made during recent years in the improvement in the conditions of labor, in the general welfare of the working population, and in the advance of technical education, there still remains much to be done in order to keep well ahead, in industrial and scientific matters, of other nations, and a leaf taken out of the book of the Technical Industrial Society of Mülhausen, and thoroughly digested by all those interested in the future of this country, would greatly tend to uphold our present supremacy in the leading industries. Those specially engaged in the making of textile goods, and in the various classes of machinery for their production, ought to take up this question with spirit.

From the report of the factory inspectors of the German empire

for the year 1887 United States Commercial Agent Smith, of Meutz, condenses into an interesting abstract some accounts of the general industrial situation in that country for Consular Report No. 103, of March 1889. In this abstract it is stated that

A school regularly intended for industrial education is known as a Gewerbeschule, that is, industrial school, and when the school is devoted to a particular line of work, or branch of industry, it is often called a Fachschule.

*

Fachschulen, that is, schools for teaching a particular line of work, do not exist all over the empire, but are met with chiefly in localities in which the branch of industry for which they are especially designed flourishes most, as, for instance, the Fachschule for small ironware and steel, at Remscheid; for casting, at Bochum; for ceramics, in the KasselWiesbaden district; for industrial art, at Carlsruhe; for watchmaking, at Furtwangen in Baden; for weaving, dyeing, etc., at Crefeld, and to a considerable extent in Saxony; for brewing and milling, at Worms; for the polygraphical industry, at Leipsic.

A large number of Fachschulen are in the Chemnitz district. In the heart of the toy making district, at Grünhainichen, there is a Fachschule for teaching drawing, painting, and modelling to young toy makers. These Fach schools are maintained either with public money or by guilds.

United States Consul Monaghan, of Mannheim, who has visited and carefully inspected the industrial school at Pforzheim, gives the results of his observations in a valuable paper published in the May number of the United States Consular Reports of 1890. It is plain that in this case, as in most cases, the school in question had a utilitarian purpose. We are not left to infer this for Consul Monaghan says:

The origin of these schools is due to the enterprise of Pforzheim's jewellers. The first steps toward its creation were taken after need for great skill in designing and a better knowledge on the part of the workmen of the laws of beauty, taste, harmony, metals, and their manipulation was felt by manufacturers desirous of holding what they had long possessed and of making new conquests in the world's markets.

Still further, he notes the care exercised by German jewellers to study universal art and adapt their wares to racial tastes:

Tons of stuff are going to America. Mexico takes immense quantities; so do all the South American states. The extending and securing of these markets is due very largely to the industrial and art industrial schools. *

*

The schools are here, never to go. The sooner we get them in the United States-for get them we must if we will hold our home markets, to say nothing about foreign-the better

Finally, Consul Monaghan concludes:

The argument, if such it can truthfully be called, so often indulged in by American writers and educators, that the best of such schools can give little if anything more than theory, has here absolutely no application. The industrial schools here are the quintessence of prac ticability. The manager who wants a boy trained by a practiced, skilful workman gets him.

The teachers who morning after morning turn to the right to go into

the school building to give instructions are, every one, men who could as easily turn to the left, go down any of the city's lanes, enter any of the workshops or factories, put on aprons, and take their places by the side of the very best in stamping or finishing room.

The best argument, perhaps, for establishing them in lands where they are as yet unknown is found in their steady, rapid, and wide extension in this and neighboring countries, and in the fact that when the government, if it ever should, resolves to support them no longer, the manufacturers themselves will provide money, and generously, for, their continuance.

In continental Europe, and particularly in Germany and France there are flourishing agricultural schools of various grades.

To Prof. Thaer, who as long ago as 1810 was appointed to the chair of agriculture in the University of Berlin, is given the credit of having organized the first system of agricultural education in Germany. To him, also, is attributed the dictum, which today would be everywhere received as a self evident truth, that "agriculture can not be perfectly learned by attending lectures from the professorial chair."

Since Thaer's day there has been a wonderful development of agricultural institutions in Germany, until now no less than 13 institutes of the university rank are fully equipped for imparting instruction in the science and art of agriculture in that empire, while a multitude. of schools of lower grade are devoted to this important specialty.

As an example of the former class we may take the Agricultural High School at Berlin. The instruction here is of a purely scientific character, as, indeed, it could hardly be experimental and practical in a large city. The building occupied by the school contains an extensive museum in which agricultural implements of every description are displayed for the benefit of the students. The botanical collection. contains several thousand specimes of wood of different kinds, and over 18,000 specimens of corn, seeds, and fibres, which include samples of the various kinds of artificial feeding stuffs.

The zoological and zoötechnical collections are equally as complete, including various species of domesticated animals, and the different breeds of them which exist in Europe and other countries. Skeletons, models, photographs, and pictures form together a more complete synopsis of the animals of the farm than can probably be found in any other institution. The wool collection alone is a marvel of completeness, for not only does it contain specimens of the wool of different breeds, but also that of different flocks of each breed. It is further divided into two portions-one historical, to show the gradual development of the production of wool by means of cultivation and selection, and the other technical, to show the applicability of the various sorts of wool to the manufacture of the different kinds of fabrics, and the effect of manufacturing processes upon the varieties of the raw material. The teaching staff of this school includes many distinguished men. There are, according to the latest available report, 12 regular teachers,

19 assistant teachers and private docents, and 55 instructors of lower rank in the school. The whole number of students is given as 432, but many of these were members of the university, attending special lectures of the agricultural school. The fees for students are fixed by the minister of agriculture, and amount to about $50 a year. The gov ernment grants a subvention to the school equivalent to $45,000 annually.

The Poppelsdorf Agricultural Academy deserves mention especially on account of its course of instruction in agricultural engineering, such as does not exist elsewhere in Europe. It would conduce greatly to the usefulness and popularity of American agricultural colleges if they were to introduce a similar course of special instruction. In vast regions of the West millions of acres lie fallow and useless, which, under the hand of a competent agricultural engineer, having a thorough knowledge of mechanics and hydraulics, of drainage and of irrigation, might easily be reclaimed and made abundantly productive.

At Halle there is an agricultural institute of high rank, having an average attendance of 300 students. Connected with this institute is an experimental farm of 100 acres, and botanical and zoological gardens. In the zoological garden is kept a variety of farm animals which serve as living specimens to illustrate the lectures given by the professors. The course of instruction extends over two years; and the entire cost of living and tuition at this institute does not exceed $200 per annum for each pupil.

Of the intermediate agricultural schools (Landwirthschaftsschulen) in Germany there is an indefinite number. In Prussia there are 16 with more than 1,100 pupils. These schools receive a subsidy from the state and take rank with American high schools-the classics being displaced in part by agricultural instruction, and modern languages substituted for Greek in the curricula.

Dr. Michelsen, director of the school at Hildesheim, is of the opinion that the instruction given to the small farmers of that district has enabled them to grow successfully the sugar beet, the culture of which requires great care and intelligence.

The Ackerbauschule of Germany is a farm school of lower grade. In Prussia there are said to be 32 of these schools, some of which are connected with the intermediate schools, while others are boarding schools established on an independent basis. The farm schools, like most good institutions in Europe, are maintained largely by state aid, though local authorities contribute also to their support.

In Badersleben one of these farm schools is established on an old convent farm of 500 acres, with accommodation for 70 pupils. Boys between 14 and 17 years of age are admitted to the school. The course of study occupies two years. Here, on a 2-acre school garden, the pupils are taught the proper rotation of crops and the best methods of

cultivating the common agricultural staples. The expense of tuition, board, etc., is about $100 a year per pupil.

The time of the students is mostly devoted to general or special study, only just enough of practical work being undertaken to enable them to become acquainted with all the operations of agriculture. On leaving the school most of the students become foremen of their fathers' or neighbors' farms, and thus share with others the advantages of the instruction they have received.

Another powerful agency for the diffusion of a knowledge of agriculture, and for stimulating an interest in its pursuit, is often brought into requisition in Germany; this is the travelling lectureship. Through this means practical farmers are taught the latest scientific discoveries and the best modes of utilizing them.

Before dismissing the subject of agricultural instruction in Germany we wish to refer briefly to the special schools, which have for their object the thorough preparation of their pupils for some single branch. of work more or less directly connected with agriculture.

Of this class are the dairy schools, such as that at Gross Himstedt. There, on a farm of 150 acres, 35 or 40 milch cows are kept, and dairying in all its branches is efficiently taught to young women, who pay what seems the merely nominal fee of $90 apiece per year for board, lodging, and instruction.

In this school the morning hours are set apart for service in the dairy; but in the afternoon the pupils are taught writing, arithmetic, history, geography, and receive lessons in sewing and cooking.

Economical management of a dairy is demonstrated to be possible at this school, since one pig is kept for each cow on the farm, and is fattened on whey and buttermilk. Six oxen and 150 sheep are also fattened annually. The cows are kept in stalls all the year round; but they have plenty of green food-in early spring green rye, and later, green grass and clover.

Provision is made for the instruction of only six pupils at one time in this school; and the only feature which differentiates the school from similar dairying establishments in England is the instruction here given in common branches of education. But this collateral teaching is of considerable importance to the class of pupils in attendance.

Technological schools of forestry, of drainage and irrigation, etc., are numerous in Germany. Among the most useful of these are the shoeing schools.

One such school established at Grimmen a few years ago by Herr Koch, royal veterinary surgeon of the Greifswald district, has been of great service in lessening hoof diseases and lameness caused by faulty shoeing. Herr Koch, the founder of the school, insists that a shoer of horses should have a thorough knowledge of the anatomy and physi ology of animals' legs, and especially of the horse's hoof or great toe. The museums of various kinds which are connected with the agri