Eldena, &c.; but this would involve much repetition and require considerable space. Justice could not be done to an account of the agricultural experimental stations of Germany, except by a very lengthy special report on that subject. Much could be said in praise of the work these stations are accomplishing both for the advancement of the science and the art of agriculture. This work is not confined to the investigation of the nature of soils, and the best methods of enriching them, and the nature and growth of all that the soil can be made to produce in the vegetable kingdom, but embraces also the best methods of utilizing these products for the food of man and beast. It will be seen, however, by the annexed brief account of these stations that they are of recent origin, and followed the work of the agricultural schools.

The academy of Tetschen-Liebwerd, though mach newer than many of the other schools, deserves a much more detailed account than I have been able to give. The State Agricultural College of Michigan is the only institution in the United States of the class of Hohenhein and Tetschen-Liebwerd that may be considered as highly successful. The hope of America, and to some extent of other nations, is turned towards the Cornell University for an example that will broaden and liberalize indus trial education, not only in agriculture, but in all the departments of art, trade, and science; but the leaders in that university, no less than in the Industrial University of Illinois, and in all the institutions of the various States founded, or to be founded, under the stimulus of the gov ernment grant of lands for agricultural and mechanical education, will find that the more they study the causes that have led to the success or failure of other institutions having the same or similar aims in view, the sooner they will attain the highest usefulness and prosperity.

THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OR ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURE AT POPPELSDORF.

Poppelsdorf is one mile from Bonn, on the Rhine, through beautifully shaded walks. The natural history collections of the University of Bonn occupy an old palace at Poppelsdorf, and the new chemical laboratory just completed is situated here also. This is one of the very best laboratories in Europe.

The academy at Poppelsdorf has two farms, one at Poppelsdorf of one hundred and twenty morgen, another at Annaberg of one thousand morgen. The field for experiments contains about twenty morgen. The academical farms receive no subsidies from government, but they yield a considerable amount of rent. The field set apart for experi ments, and the experimental station or branch receive an annual subsidy from government of four thousand thalers. Besides the field set apart for experiments, a smaller farm is requisite during the term of instruction. The students are not practically employed on the farms, as they are supposed to have acquired the practical part of farming before entering the academy. The academy is exclusively supported by the government, and the annual expenditures of the institution amount to twelve thousand thalers. There are fifteen instructors, viz: three in the different branches of agriculture, two in chemistry and technology, and one each in botany, physics, geology, zoology, foresty, veterinary surgery, mathematics and architecture, gardening and rearing fruit trees, national economy, and in agricultural jurisdiction. The weekly lectures of the several teachers vary from three to seven, and the entire course * In Koln a morgen is 0.7850 of an acre.

extends over two years. The course for the summer commences on the 15th of April, and lasts until the 15th of August; the winter course extends from the 15th of October to the 15th of March.

Though the students are not practically employed on the farms, prac tical courses of chemistry, botany, and physics are introduced, during which the students are employed, with the assistance of the teachers, in solving chemical, vegetable, and physiological problems; the result of these studies of natural science is of the greatest importance to the students. The teaching is carried on in the form of lectures. The whole premium payable for two years amounts to one hundred thalers, viz: seventy thalers for the first, and thirty thalers for the second year. The lowest age for admission of students is seventeen years, but the greater number of the students are of the age of twenty to twenty-five years. The number of students at the last term was ninety. The aggregate uumber of students in this academy is eleven thousand. The students are matriculated in the University of Bonn, where they enjoy the same rights as the university students. The following is the distribution of the different branches of teaching in the four terms of the biennial

course :

FIRST YEAR.-Winter term.-Introduction to agricultural studies:

I. Agricultural exercises: 1, economical basis of agricultural science; 2, the science of manure; 3, general science of animal production; 4, agricultural book-keeping; 5, agricultural literature, with particular reference to new publications; 6, rearing of fruit trees, with practical illustrations; 7, practical agricultural illustrations.

II. Forestry: 1, the use of forests, care and valuation of them, with practical illustrations; 2, the chase and fishery.

III. Natural sciences: 1, inorganic experimental chemistry; 2, analyt ical chemistry, with practical lessons in the laboratory; 3, chemistry of the soil; 4, geology and geoguosy; 5, general botany, and anatomy of plants; 6, microscopic studies; 7, anatomic and physiological view of the animal creation; 8, natural history.

IV. Mathematical exercises: agricultural mechanics, and science of machinery.

V. Economy: science of national economy.

VI. Jurisprudence: agricultural jurisprudence.

VII. Veterinary surgery: 1, anatomy and physiology of domestic animals; 2, exterior ailments of domestic animals.

VIII. Technology: general technology.

IX. Architecture: 1, construction of agricultural buildings, and industrial undertakings; 2, lessons in drawing.

Summer term.-Introduction to agricultural studies:

1. Agricultural exercises: 1, comparative illustration of the agricul tural condition of the principal European countries, particularly of England, with particular reference to Germany; 2, culture of cereals and vegetables for feeding purposes; 3, agricultural implements and machinery; 4, rearing cattle; 5, exterior knowledge of horses; 6, culture of wine and vegetables, with practical illustrations; 7, agricultural illustrations and excursions.

II. Forestry, with practical illustrations.

III. Natural sciences: 1, organic experimental chemistry; 2, experi mental physics; 3, analytical chemistry, with practical lessons in the laboratory; 4, agricultural literature treating of chemistry; 5, agricul

tural botany and ailments of plants; 6, physiological lessons on plants; 7, natural history of invertebrate animals; 8, statistics of natural sciences; 9, botanical excursions.

IV. Mathematical sciences: practical geometry, and lessons in measuring land and leveling.

V. Economy: the policy of national economy.

VI. Jurisprudence: agrarian jurisprudence.

VII. Veterinary surgery: acute and infectious diseases of domestic animals.

VIII. Architecture: 1, knowledge of building materials, and lectures on architectural construction; 2, lessons in drawing.

SECOND YEAR.-Winter term.-Introduction to agricultural studies: I. Agricultural exercises: 1, the systems of agriculture, management of large farms, and planning; 2, tillage, drainage, and sowing the soil; 3, agricultural calculation; 4, literature of agriculture, with particular reference to the newest publications; 5, breeding of sheep and knowl edge of wool; 6, rearing of fruit trees, with practical illustration; 7, practical agricultural illustrations.

II. Forestry: 1, the use of forests, care, and valuation of them, with practical illustration; 2, the chase and fishery.

III. Natural sciences: 1, inorganic experimental chemistry; 2, experimental physics, meteorology; 3, analytical chemistry, with practical lessous in the laboratory; 4, mineralogy and geology; 5, the physiology of plants; 6, microscopic studies; 7, natural history of vertebrate animals; 8, agricultural statistics.

IV. Economy: science of national economy.

V. Jurisprudence: introduction to agricultural jurisdiction.

VI. Veterinary surgery: anatomy and physiology of domestic animals.

VII. Technology: technology of the industrial branches of agriculture.

VIII. Architecture: 1, construction of agricultural buildings and industrial undertakings; 2, road-making and water works; 3, lessons in drawing.

Summer term.-Introduction to agricultural studies:

I. Agricultural exercises: 1, valuation of farms, and calculations as to yields; 2, culture of commercial produce; 3, knowledge of the soil, and plans for improving the same; 4, management of meadows; 5, history and statistics of agriculture; 6, rearing and breeding of the smaller domestic animals; 7, medical treatment of domestic animals; 8, culture of wine and vegetables, with practical illustrations; 9, agricultural illustrations and excursions.

II. Forestry, with practical illustrations.

III. Natural sciences: 1, organic experimental chemistry; 2, experimental physics, electricity, magnetism, sound, and light; 3, chemistry of the animals; 4, analytical chemistry, with practical lessons in the laboratory; 5, literature of chemical agriculture; 6, agricultural botany and elements of plants; 7, selections from general botany, and the anatomy and physiology of plants; 8, physiological lessons on plants; 9, statistics of natural sciences; 10, botanical excursions.

IV. Mathematical sciences: practical geometry, and lessons in measuning land and leveling.

V. Economy: the policy of national economy.

VI. Jurisprudence: agricultural jurisprudence.

VII. Veterinary surgery: acute and infectious diseases of domestic animals.

VIII. Architecture: 1, knowledge of building materials, and lectures on architectural construction; 2, lessons in drawing.

AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL AT PLAGWITZ, NEAR LEIPZIG.

This school is preparatory to entering upon the agricultural course in the university of Leipzig, and embraces a term of six mouths. The following is the course of study:

History and literature of agriculture; elements of physics and chemistry, with instructions in the small laboratory; introduction to botany, with the use of the microscope; anatomy of animals, with study of horseshoeing; field measurements, leveling, and drawing of plans; bookkeeping and study of exchange; introduction to mineralogy and geog. nosy; practical demonstrations and exercises.

Students can, also, according to their time and wish, attend certain of the university lectures.

AGRICULTURAL COURSE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG.

Agricultural lectures and associated subjects:

Study of plants, meadows, and stock-raising, and estimates of yields or returns; sheep-raising, and study of wool; care of domestic animals; associated manufactories and technology; agricultural chemistry, and practice in the large agricultural-chemical laboratory.

Lectures on accessory sciences: Inorganic and organic chemistry; mathematics, physics, and mechanics; botany; zoology, comparative anatomy, comparative osteology, and physiology of animals; mineralogy and geognosy; universal mathematical and physical geography; meteorology and astronc.y; political economy; historical science; literature, and history of literature; philosophical sciences.

The total tuition fee for the six months' course at the academy at Plagwitz is sixty thalers. For the succeeding terms at the university, or for those who enter at once upon the university agricultural course, there are fifteen thalers per term to be paid to the academy, and for the use of the laboratory special fees, according to circumstances. The payment of the fifteen thalers secures the right to the academy lectures and the lectures of the director at the university. At the university, for four hours' lectures a week, for the entire term, four and five thalers; and for two hours' lectures per week, two and three thalers for the term are charged.

HOHENHEIN ACADEMY.

This academy was the first of the separate schools visited, and is perhaps the best known of the German academies of agriculture. My visit to the institution was on the occasion of a meeting or congress of German agricultural chemists, officers of the agricultural experimental stations, and friends of agricultural chemistry generally. Nearly all parts of Germany were represented, as well as several other countries. The subjects presented at the congress, either in the form of stated papers or discussions, and their titles indicate fully the character of the meeting, and also, to a great extent, the character of German effort for the advancement of agriculture. German scholars occupy them

selves almost exclusively with the technical and strictly scientific bearings of the subject. It would be almost impossible at such a meeting to introduce any question relating to the practicability of making available to the masses the very principles evolved or discussed. Scientific facts and theories absorb the entire energy of most German scholars. The following subjects and allied questions occupied the entire attention of the meeting: Analysis of foods; ash analysis of agricultural substances; investigation on the feeding of animals; cultivation of plants in water; control of the manure trade by experimental stations; relations of food, and cost; appropriation of food, (in relation to experiments on the subject;) manuring; analysis of harvest products; soil analysis; results of experiments on feeding, vegetation, and manures.

The congress assembled August 17, at 10 a. m., in the "balconsaale" of the castle, and, after the usual preliminaries on such occasions, the reading of papers continued until 2 o'clock, the hour fixed for a public dinner. The afternoon was occupied in visiting the experimental stations, museum, &c., and the evening by a social meeting. The forenoon of the second day was occupied in reading papers and in discussions; the afternoon, by an excursion to the Necker Valley, returning to - Stuttgard in the evening. The forenoon of the third day was occupied in visiting the polytechnic schools, museums, and art academies in Stuttgard; and the afternoon, by excursions to Berg and Cronstadt.

By attending this meeting I was enabled to see all the departments of the Hohenhein academy under the very best circumstances, and to meet personally representatives from institutions in all parts of Germany; thus learning much of the spirit of the present workers in agriculture.

Hohenhein is situated on high ground, about two hours' drive from Stuttgard, the capital of the kingdom of Würtemberg. The academy buildings were erected by Duke Charles, in 1770-1780. This princely residence had fallen into comparative ruin, but was repaired by King William and appropriated to the use of the agricultural academy, which was founded in 1818. The school is located on the royal domain, and is sustained and directed by the State. It commenced with only eight students under the directorship of Baron Nepomuk Schwerz.

At the present date this institution consists of three separate schools as well as a number of extraordinary courses, such as school teachers' course, fruit-growers' course, meadow-culture course, and shepherds' course; also special courses for government officers, and a course for bee and silk-worm management.

The first of the three schools is the academy, which embraces a full course of instruction in all the branches of agriculture, including forestry, and requires two years for its completion. Students are expected to be eighteen years of age when they enter. The second is an agricul tural school for men whose practical education is the main object. They receive instruction in the lecture-room about two hours daily, morning or evening, and the entire day, with this exception, is spent in actual labor. This department is open only to residents of Würtemberg, and the number of students is limited to twenty-five. The course covers a period of three years, and students are admitted at sixteen years of age. The third is the horticultural school, to which only six students are admitted annually. They must be seventeen years of age, and are required to have served a three years' apprenticeship in gardening or in the vineyard, or to have gone through one course in the agricultural school. The student is thus expected to get a complete education, both theoretical and practical, in all that pertains to horticulture.