APPENDIX IV.

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES. I.-Development of the Activities of the Ministry of Agriculture in regard to Agricultural Education.

The Ministry's interest in Agricultural Education dates from the passing of the Board of Agriculture Act, 1889, and the development of the work falls, broadly speaking, into three periods: (1) 1889 to 1912; (2) 1912 to 1919; (3) 1919 to the present day.

1889 to 1912.

The Board of Agriculture Act, 1889, e npowered the Board to aid and inspect Agricultural Education. The provision made for this branch of education at the time was very meagre, and the Parliamentary grants placed at the Board's disposal were small, amounting in 1889 to 1,630. (for England and Wales), and gradually increasing to about 12,300l.* in 1909. From the first the Board's object in expending its funds was mainly to assist in the development of a number of institutions providing what is known as Higher Agricultural Education. This policy was adopted mainly because "lower" forms of Agricultural Education were being dealt with, to a greater or lesser extent, by local authorities with the aid of the Residue Grant set aside for purposes of technical instruction under the Local Taxation Act of 1890. That Act was followed by another, under which Technical Instruction Committees were set up in the various counties, and in progressive counties (whose Committees decided to use the "whisky money " for providing education rather than for saving the rates) schemes of Agricultural Education gradually came into existence. In the year 1899-1900 the total expenditure of local authorities on agricultural education in England and Wales amounted to 77,000l.

With the passing of the Education Act of 1902 the Technical Instruction Committees were superseded by Education Committees, and the Residue Grant was made available for purposes of Higher Education generally, thus diminishing the amount available for local Agricultural Education. The Board of Education were the Department responsible for supervising this local education, and Parliamentary grants from the Board were made in aid of agricultural education provided by local authorities. During the three-year period, 1907-10, the average sum spent by English counties on Agricultural Education was 74,000l., of which 12,000l. came from Parliamentary Grants, 29,500l. from the Residue Grant, and 32,500l. from the rates.

The report in 1908 of the Departmental Committee on Agricultural Education, presided over by Lord Reay, marks an epoch in the history of the development of Agricultural Education in this country. That Committee recommended that State aid of Agricultural Education should be largely increased, and the immediate result was an increase in the Board's vote for Agricultural Education. The further provision of funds on a large scale was made possible by the Development and Road Improvements Fund Act, 1909, and in consequence of the Development Fund set aside under that Act, it was possible to carry into effect some of the recommendations of the Reay Committee, on which the existing system of Agricultural Education may be said to be founded. At first the Board of Education was responsible for the administration of all forms of Agricultural Education, other than the Higher Education provided at Agricultural Colleges, etc. Later this arrangement was found to be impracticable and

This money went in grants to Agricultural Colleges. In 1911, following the report of the Reay Committee, the Board's grants to Colleges were increased to 18,840. They remained practically at this figure until after the war, when block grants to Colleges aggregating 46,500l. were sanctioned under the reconstruction proposals referred to later.

by a Concordat signed in 1912 responsibility for the supervision of all forms of Agricultural Education intended for persons above the age of 16 or 17 was placed on the Board of Agriculture, and has since rested with that Department. Before passing to the second period it may be mentioned that questions affecting the payment of grants by the respective Departments in aid of Agricultural Education were referred, in cases of difficulty, to an Inter-Departmental Committee composed of representatives of the Board of Agriculture and the Board of Education. This procedure is still followed.

As an instance of the total expenditure on Agricultural Education at this period, it may be stated that in the financial year 1911-12 the total expenditure of local authorities in England and Wales was 80,3621. Grants from the Board of Education amounted to 7,5791. and by the Board of Agriculture to 2,8401.

1912 to 1919.

Grants from the Development Fund were not actually sanctioned until after the Board of Agriculture had become responsible for Agricultural Education under the terms of the Concordat referred to above. New regulations, known as the Farm Institute Regulations, were laid down, and came into operation for the first time in the financial year 1913-14. As the Develpoment Fund was for the purpose of aiding new work, it was not possible to use it for assisting work already carried on by local authorities, but in order not to penalise too severely counties which had been progressive in establishing schemes, at the expense of counties which had hitherto done little or nothing, the rates of grant under the Farm Institute Regulations varied from 50 to 75 per cent. of new expenditure, the particular percentage for each county being based on the total expenditure on Agricultural Education by that county in previous years. In addition, capital grants at the rate of 75 per cent. were payable in aid of the erection of Farm Institutes.

As a means of co-ordinating college and county education, and linking it up with the experimental and research work which was being aided from other sources, Advisory Councils were at this time established in each of the provinces into which the country had been divided for purposes of Agricultural Education. (Normally, the province consists of a number of counties grouped round a central higher institution known as the 'Provincial College," to which the associated counties make grants.) The functions of these Councils were purely advisory, and as all executive action remained a matter for the separate local authorities, the influence of the Councils was not great. They have now ceased to exist, and the necessary co-ordination of work in the different provincial areas is secured by periodical conferences of the chief officers concerned, convened by the Provincial College.

In the financial year, 1914-15, when the new development monies were first distributed to any extent, the total net expenditure in England and Wales on County Agricultural Education was approximately 87,000l. Instead, however, of this expenditure increasing in subsequent years it shows a gradual decline up to 1919, owing to the setback to Agricultural Education due to the war. In the latter year the total expenditure was 70,000l.

1919 to the present day.

After the Armistice the position regarding Agricultural Education was immediately taken up with the Cabinet. The Agricultural Policy Sub-Committee of the Reconstruction Committee, presided over by Lord Selborne, reporting in 1918, had recommended that the whole charge for agricultural education in England and Wales should be borne by the Imperial Exchequer. For various reasons the Ministry was unable to support this recommendation, but proposals for State assistance of Agricultural Education on a more liberal scale than had

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previously existed were submitted to the Government, and after negotiation a total expenditure for this purpose not exceeding 2,000,000l., to be spread over five years, was authorised. The complicated system of aid to local education authorities hitherto in existence (which had regard to various considerations, such as expenditure from the whisky money, agricultural population, etc.) was superseded by revised regulations, which empowered the Ministry to refund to local authorities two-thirds of their net expenditure on Agricultural Education. (In the case of agricultural organisers and horticultural superintendents the Ministry's grant in aid of their salaries and expenses is 80 per cent.) Capital grants in respect of the establishment of Farm Institutes, which had hitherto been made from the Development Fund, were transferred to the Ministry's vote, the rate of aid remaining at 75 per cent. Thus the Ministry was able, by means of this simpler and more liberal scheme of aid, and by reason of the fact that consultation with the Development Commissioners on the subject of new Farm Institutes was no longer necessary, to organise an immediate extension of local Agricultural Education. This is reflected by the fact that the net maintenance expenditure of local authorities on this service has increased from 70,000l. in the financial year 1919 to 250,000l. (estimated) in the financial year 1922-23.

A change in the local administration of Agricultural Education was brought about by the passing of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Act, 1919. This Act established Agricultural Committees for each county, and empowered County Councils, if they so wished, to transfer responsibility for Agricultural Education from the Education Committee to the Agricultural Committee. In twenty-three counties this transfer has taken place and Agricultural Education is now administered by the County Agricultural Committee.

The Cabinet instruction of 1920 prohibiting expenditure on new schemes seemed likely to result in a serious set-back to the efforts which had up to then been made by the Ministry to induce local authorities to organise comprehensive schemes of Agricultural Education. It was necessary for the Ministry, instead of encouraging expansion, to prohibit it, and, in fact, to secure, wherever possible, a reduction in existing expenditure. This position was, however, relieved by the Corn Production Acts (Repeal) Act, 1921, under which a fund amounting to 850,000l. was set aside for purposes of Agricultural Education and Research in England and Wales. The expenditure of this fund is to be spread over a period of five years, dating from 1st April, 1922. It has been possible to authorise new building schemes at several Agricultural Colleges, and to enable local education authorities to fill gaps in their present systems of Agricultural Education. The success of the Ministry's endeavour depends, however, on the co-operation of local authorities, and in the majority of counties the anxiety to relieve rates is so great that new developments in the immediate future are unlikely.

One important extension of the work in Agricultural Education, made possible by the provision of the Corn Repeal Fund, may be referred to. The Ministry is now administering a scheme for the award of scholarships for the sons and daughters of agricultural workers. The scholarships are divided into three classes:

Class I. Tenable at a University Department of Agriculture and

covering a degree course;

Class II. Tenable at an Agricultural College and covering a diploma

course;

Class III. Tenable at a Farm Institute or a short course at an

Agricultural College.

In all cases the awards cover all expenditure, both maintenance and tuition, of the scholars. Approximately the number of awards per annum are 10 Class I., 10 Class II., and 100 Class III. scholarships. This scheme, under which the son or daughter of an agricultural labourer, provided he or she possess the necessary educational qualifications, may be enabled

to take advantage of the highest form of training in agriculture which the country can offer, marks a new era in the history of Agricultural Education.

The following table shows the development of expenditure on Agricul tural Education since the creation of the Board of Agriculture :DEVELOPMENT OF (MAINTENANCE) EXPENDITURE ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES, BOTH BY THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AND BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

Note. The figures for the earlier years are submitted with reserve; they are not necessarily exact records of expenditure, but they show the trend of expenditure development during that period.

* The Board of Agriculture was constituted in 1889. † From 1912-13 the Department of Agriculture has been wholly responsible for aiding Agricultural Education.

Before 1919 the expenditure of local authorities on Agricultural Education shown in Column 6 came from two sources-viz., Residue Grant ("Whiskey (Continued on next page.)

II.-Scheme of Agricultural Education.

Broadly the aim of the Ministry of Agriculture is to provide in all parts of the country access to three types of education, at colleges (including University Departments of Agriculture), farm institutes and local classes or lectures. The colleges, of which twelve* are in being in England and two in Wales, give a two or three years' course of instruction for men who intend to become occupiers or managers of large farms, land agents, teachers, experts or officials. The Farm Institutes, of which it is hoped one will eventually be attached to each county, or group of counties, are intended for the instruction of smaller farmers, bailiffs, etc., who cannot leave the farm for the whole of a year, but can take short courses of instruction in the winter months. Lastly, the local courses aim at bringing instruction to workers upon the land by means of evening or day classes, lectures, demonstrations, or manual instruction classes in the various skilled operations on a farm.

A.-The Agricultural Colleges and University Departments of Agriculture.

Under the scheme of the Ministry it is contemplated that the country should be divided into provinces for all matters connected with agricultural education, and that in each province one agricultural college should exist as the intelligence centre for work in that area. Two of the provinces contemplated by the Ministry's scheme remain without a college-the province embracing Lancashire and Cheshire, and that which embraces the counties of Gloucester, Hereford, Somerset, Wilts and Worcester, of which Bristol is the University centre for advisory work, but does not provide agricultural education. The re-opening of Cirencester provides a College in this area but this College has no official relations with the local authorities.

The education generally provided by an agricultural college or University Department of Agriculture consists essentially in a continued course of instruction covering two or three years. It is intended for young men who have received a good general education at a secondary school which they leave at the age of 17 or so, and should provide that thorough training in the principles upon which farming is based which is necessary to the men who are to become the future leaders of the profession.

In most cases the agricultural colleges are, if not departments of one or other of the Universities, associated with such Universities, and the students can in consequence proceed, by means of the agricultural course, to a degree in the University. This University connection does not at present exist at the Harper Adams College, the Midland Agricultural College at Sutton Bonington, the University College of Reading, or the

(Continued from preceding page.)

Money") and rates. After 1919 the expenditure of local authorities on Agricul tural Education may be regarded as being met entirely out of rates, seeing that since that date the whole of the "Whiskey Money " received by local authorities has been considered as part of the 50 per cent. grant in aid of educational expenditure (other than Agricultural Education aided by the Ministry) payable under Section 44 of the Education Act, 1918.

(a) During the years prior to 1912-13 certain forms of agricultural instruction were aided by the Board of Education (and its predecessors) as part of technical instruction in general. Separate returns of grants relating to Agricultural Education were apparently obtained only for the years 1907-8, 1910-11 and

1911-12.

(b) Returns of expenditure by local authorities were not obtained for these years.

(c) Expenditure by local authorities after deducting grants received from the Department of Agriculture, but not those paid by the Department of Education. For the latter no figures are available.

(d) Net expenditure by local authorities after deducting grants received by them from the Central Government.

* Including Swanley Horticultural College for Women and the Royal Veterinary College.