for sheep and pigs, potato-raisers and one-man-power cream
separators. In 1888, at Nottingham, hay and straw presses for
steam-power, horse-power and hand-power were the subjects of
competition. In 1889, at Windsor, prizes were awarded
for a fruit and vegetable evaporator, a paring and coring
machine, a dairy thermometer, parcel post butter-boxes to
carry different weights. and a vessel to contain preserved
butter. In 1890, at Plymouth, competitions took place
of light portable engines (a) using solid fuel, (b)
using liquid or gaseous fuel, grist mills for use on a
farm, disintegrators, and cider-making plant for use on a
farm. In 1891, at Doncaster, special prizes were given
for combined portable threshing and finishing machines, and
cream separators (hand and power). In 1892, at Warwick,
the competitions related to ploughs--single furrow (a) for
light land, (b) for strong land, (c) for press drill and
broad-cast sowing; two-furrow; three-furrow; digging (a)
for light land, (b) for heavy land; and one-way ploughs. In
1893, at Chester, self-binding harvesters and sheep-shearing
machines (power) were the appliances respectively in
competition. In 1894, at Cambridge, the awards were for fixed
and portable oil engines, potato-spraying and tree-spraying
machines, sheep-dipping apparatus and churns. In 1895, at
Darlington, the competitions were confined to hay-making
machines and clover-making machines. In 1896, at Leicester,
prizes were awarded after trial to potato-planting machines,
potato-raising machines and butter-drying machines. In 1897,
at Manchester, special awards were made for fruit baskets and
milk-testers. In 1898, at Birmingham, a prize of L. 100 was
given for a self-moving vehicle for light loads, L. 100 and
L. 50 for self-moving vehicles for heavy loads, and L. 10 for
safety feeder to chaff-cutter, in accordance with the
Chaff-cutting Machines (Accidents) Act 1897. In 1899, at
Maidstone, special prizes were offered for machines for washing
hops with liquid insecticides, cream separators (power and
hand), machines for the evaporation of fruit and vegetables,
and packages for the carriage of (a) soft fruit, (b) hard
fruit. In 1900, at York, the competitions were concerned
with horse-power cultivators, self-moving steam diggers,
milking machines and sheep-shearing machines (power and
hand). In 1901, at Cardiff, competition was invited in portable
oil engines, agricultural locomotive oil engines and small
ice-making plant suitable for a dairy. In the years 1903 and
1904 petrol motors adapted for ploughing and other agricultural
operations formed a prominent feature of the exhibits.
The progress of steam cultivation has not justified the hopes
that were once entertained in the United Kingdom concerning
this method of working implements in the field. It was about
the year 1870 that its advantages first came into prominent
notice. At that time, owing to labour disputes, the supply of
hands was short and horses were dear. The wet seasons that set
in at the end of the 'seventies led to so much hindrance in the
work on the land that the aid of steam was further called for,
and it seemed probable that there would be a lessened demand
for horse power. It was found, however, that the steam work
was done with less care than had been bestowed upon the horse
tillage, and the result was that steam came to be regarded as
an auxiliary to horse labour rather than as a substitute for
it. In this capacity it is capable of rendering most valuable
assistance, for it can be utilized in moving extensive areas
of land in a very short time. Accordingly, when a few days
occur early in the season favourable to the working of the
land, much of it can be got into a forward condition, whilst
horses are set free for the lighter operations. The crops
can then be sown in due time, which in wet years, and with
the usual teams of horses kept on a farm, is not always
practicable. Much advantage arises from the steam working of
bastard fallows in summer, and after harvest a considerable
amount of autumn cultivation can be done by steam power,
thus materially lightening the work in the succeeding
spring. On farms of moderate size it is usual to hire steam
tackle as required, the outlay involved in the purchase of
a set being justifiable only in the case of estates or of
very big farms where, when not engaged in ploughing, or in
cultivating, or in other work upon the land, the steam-engine
may be employed in threshing, chaff-cutting, sawing and many
similar operations which require power. The labour question
again became acute in the early years of the 20th century,
when, owing to the scarcity of hands and the high rate of
wages, self-binding harvesters were resorted to in England
for the in-gathering of the corn crops to a greater extent
than ever before. For the same reason potato-planting and
potato-lifting machines were also in greater requisition.
Agricultural Population and Wages.
The last half of the 19th century witnessed a remarkable
diminution of the British rural population. The decrease
has assumed serious proportions since 1871, as before that
date the supply of rural labour exceeded the demand. A
large number of agricultural labourers were thus only in
partial employment, and their withdrawal from the land
was of minor importance as compared with the shrinkage in
the number of those permanently employed. The following
tables indicate the extent of rural depopulation:--
Number of ``Persons Engaged in Agriculture'' in the United
Kingdom, 1851-1901.
1851. 1861. 1871. 1881. 1891. 1901.
3,453,500 3,080,500 2,744,000 2,573,900 2,394,500 2,262,600
The number of ``agricultural labourers and shepherds, which affords
a more precise index, declined in a still more marked degree.
1851. 1861. 1871. 1881. 1891. 1901.
1,110,311 1,098,261 923,332 830,452 756,557 609,105
The decrease in the demand for labour is attributable
chiefly to the reduction of the cultivated area and the
laying down to pasture of land once under the plough, and
to the increasing use of agricultural machinery. It may
however, be noticed that the period was marked by a steady
increase of the cash wages of the farm labourer, as indicated
by the following table from the Report on the Earnings of
Agricultural labourers issued by the Board of Trade in 1905.
Average Weekly Cash Wages of Ordinary Agricultural
Labourers Employed on Certain Farms in England and Wales.
England and Wales, Eastern counties,
Year. 69 Farms. 12 Farms.
s. d. s. d.
1850 9 3 1/2 8 8
1855 10 11 1/2 11 5
1860 10 11 10 8
1865 11 3 10 5
1870 11 10 1/2 11 1 1/2
1875 13 7 12 11 1/2
1880 13 2 1/2 12 1
1885 13 1 11 5
1890 13 0 1/2 11 0 1/2
1895 13 2 1/2 11 0
1900 14 5 1/2 13 1 1/2
1903 14 7 13 2 1/2
(See also ALLOTMENTS AND SMALL HOLDINGS.)
Agricultural Education.
In Great Britain agricultural education as a whole lacks
the scope and co-ordination which it has in some continental
countries. Centres at which higher agricultural education
is given are, however, numerous. The chief are:--
The Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester
Aspatria Agricultural College, Carlisle.
Tamworth Agricultural College.
*Agricultural and Horticultural College, Uckfield, Sussex.
*Agricultural and Horticultural College, Holme Chapel, Cheshire.
*Midland Agricultural and Dairy College, Kingston, Derby.
*Harper-Adams Agricultural College, Newport, Salop.
*Lancashire County School, Harris Institute, Preston.
*University College of North Wales, Bangor.
*University of Leeds.
*Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
*Cambridge University.
*University College, Reading.
*South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye.
*University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.
*Agricultural Institute, Ridgmont (Bedfordshire County Council).
*Essex County Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford.
In the year 1904-1905 L. 10,600 was devoted by the Board of
Agriculture to agricultural instruction and experiments. Of
this sum the greater part was divided amongst the institutions
marked with an asterisk in the above list. The first three
named are private establishments. The county councils also
expend sums varying at their own discretion on instruction in
dairy-work, poultry-keeping, farriery and veterinary science,
horticulture, agricultural experiments, agricultural lectures
at various centres, scholarships at, and grants to, agricintural
colleges and schools; the whole amount in 1904-1905 reaching
L. 87,472.12 The sum spent by individual counties varies
considerably. In 1904-1905 Lancashire (L. 8510), Kent (L. 5922) and
Cheshire (L. 4310) spent most in this direction. In some
instances colleges are supported entirely by one county, as
is the Holmes Chapel College, Cheshire; in others a college
is supported by several affiliated counties, as in the case
of the agricultural department of the University College,
Reading, which acts in connexion with the counties of Berks,
Oxon, Hants and Buckingham. The organization and supply of
county agricultural instruction is often carried out through the
medium of the institution to which the county is affiliated.
In Scotland higher agricultural instruction is given at:-
Edinburgh and East of Scotland Agricultural College.
Edinburgh University, Agriculture Department.
West of Scotland Agricultural College, Glasgow.
Aberdeen and North of Scotland Agricultural College.
University of St. Andrews.
A typical course at one of the higher colleges lasts for two
years and includes instruction under the heads of soils and
manure, crops and pasture, live stock, foods and feeding,
dairy work, farm and estate management and farm bookkeeping,
surveying, agricultural buildings and machinery, agricultural
chemistry, agricultural botany, veterinary science and agricultural
entomology. Experimental farms are attached to the colleges.
The facilities for intermediate are far inferior to those for
higher agricultural education. Schools for farmers' sons and
daughters, and others, answering to the ecoles pratiques
d'agriculture (see FRANCE), are few, the principal being
the Dauntsey Agricultural School, Wiltshire, the Hampshire
Farm School, Basing, and the Farm School at Newton Rigg,
Penrith, Cumberland, maintained by the county councils of
Cumberland and Westmorland. Occasionally grammar schools
have agricultural sides, and in evening continuation schools
agricultural classes are sometimes held. Both elementary
day schools and continuation schools are in many cases
provided with gardens in which horticultmal teaching is given.
In Ireland agricultural education is under the supervision of
the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for
Ireland, founded in 1899. Higher education is given at the
Royal College of Science, Dublin; the Albert Agricultural
College, Glasnevin; and the Munster Institute, Cork, for female
students, where dairying and poultry-keeping are prominent
subjects. Winter classes for boys over sixteen years of
age are held at centres in some counties, and there are
winter schools of agriculture at Downpatrick, Monaghan
