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hooks on agriculture used in their schools, and give them a more intelligent grasp thereof. There were three sessions in the year, arranged for periods best suited to the convenience of the schools. The teachers were boarded at the establishment, and their travelling expenses were paid by the Commissioners. The numbers attending were : First session, 6 ; second session, 4 ; third session, 20. There can be no room for doubt as to the benefits to be derived by teachers from attendance at these special agricultural sessions. The course of instruction is made practical in its character. The working of the farms, cultivation of crops, and stock management are fully explained, whilst plain gardening, vegetable cultivation, and the propagation and growth of flowers are illustrated. The management of the dairy, poultry, and bees is also prominently dealt with. In fine, every effort is made to bring before the teachers such instruction in agricultural economy as, if properly availed of, should be most useful in providing a class of practical instructors for the country. Handicraft Teaching. —During the year 1888 it has been arranged by the Commissioners to have in operation at Glasnevin an efficient system of useful workshop practice suited to the class of young men who come here as students. I expect this will be a very serviceable branch of instruction at the institution. During late years there has been considerable discussion as to the teaching of what is now known as handicraft. It appears to me that considerable misapprehension exists in the minds of the public as to the nature and effects of such teaching. In an agricultural country, where the labour of the hands is a necessity, the more expert and dexterous labourer is always the more valuable. Everything, then, that tends to promote deftness or handiness should be encouraged. It has been objected against the teaching of handicraft that skilled artisans only should be encouraged, and that a man who has not "served his time " to artisanship —the mere " handy man " —can never be a good workman. But, whilst the teaching of handicraft does not aim at making artisans, it aims at promoting that manual dexterity which is the necessary preliminary condition of becoming skilled workers. In this country at the present time the necessity for industrial training of the people is evident to every observer. The Irish people when trained as artisans are equal to those of other countries; but lack of opportunity of acquiring handiness at home has retarded their progress in those industries that require skill, and has contributed to bring upon them the reproach of slovenliness and unthrift in the eyes of visitors. Familiarity with the use of tools begets constructiveness, which in its turn promotes industrious habits. A boy who has access to carpenters' tools will acquire a desire to use them. When he finds be can make something useful he will set about it. Each stroke of the hammer or cut with the chisel is followed by increased handiness, and with the attainment of skill there grows a pleasure in work, so that in time the handy youth develops into the intelligent workman. The teaching of handicraft can never take the place of apprenticeship. It will, however, shorten the period necessary for apprenticeship, and it will provide opportunity much needed for creating a taste for industry on the part of our young people. The introduction of the teaching of workshop practice at Glasnevin is intended to be of a character suited to the agricultural classes. It will be in the direction of teaching the principles of construction as applied to the machinery and implements of the farm, the buildings of the farm, and horse-shoeing. Workshops have been provided in which the pupils will have practice under the teaching of a skilled carpenter and skilled blacksmith. They will each week have opportunities for working in wood and iron, shoeing of horses, and repairs to farm implements. Every effort will be made to give them the opportunity of acquiring such knowledge of the artisans' work required on a farm or an estate as will make them useful to themselves or others. The Farm. It may be well to describe here the farm of the Albert Agricultural Institution, and the work carried on in its different departments. The lands attached amount to 178 acres 3 roods 24 perches statute, at a total rental of £723, being at the rate of £4 os. 9fd. per acre. They are divided into— 1. A large farm of about a hundred and forty acres, which is managed upon such a system as will exhibit to the pupils methods which may be properly applied to extensive farming in the country. The grain crops grown are wheat, oats, and barley. A rotation of cropping is followed suitable to the soil, and for the production of crops and other produce to suit the markets of Dublin. In 1887 the cropping was as follows: 8J acres wheat, yield per statute acre 240 stones; 12 acres oats, 210 stones per acre ; 8J acres barley, 240 stones per acre; 8J acres potatoes, 7 tons per acre; 4 acres turnips, 26 tons per acre; 13f acres mangels, 27 tons per acre; 2 acres cabbages, 20 tons per acre ; 16J acres Italian and perennial rye grass, one year ; 63 acres permanent pasture. The stock kept upon this farm usually consists of dairy cows, a few young cattle, sheep, and pigs. The average stock kept during the year was—horses, 4; milch cows, 31; heifers, one and two years old, 4; sheep, 43; pigs, 32; poultry, 100. The valuation of stock, crops, and implements at commencement of financial year was £2,175 Bs. 3d. The rent of the farm is £555 13s. lOd. From the proximity of the farm to Dublin the production of milk for sale in the city is a main feature in the management. The cows when unprofitable for the dairy are fattened and sold. A few calves are reared for the instruction of the pupils, but the cows are mainly replaced by purchases at country fairs. The wheat and barley grown on this farm are of high-class quality, the produce always realising full market prices. The oat crop is consumed by the stock on the farm. Potatoes of excellent quality are grown for sale. All the other crops are consumed on the farm. A flock of ewes of the improved Leicester breed is kept, and crossed with a Shropshire or Hampshire Down ram. The lambs are all sold fat. The ewes are fattened and sold as soon as possible after weaning time. A stock of pigs of the large York breed is on the farm. The produce is

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