Sir John Gorst also spoke very strongly of the need
for both better elementary and better technical education in the rural districts. He thought the pupil-teachers sadly below the mark, and strongly advocated more organised effort to give them a greatly improved training. He believed that the regeneration of our agriculture really depended far more on education than on any other influence. What is wanted is a better grounding in general education, so that when the age for leaving school (which mach needs raising) arrives, the scholars shall be well beyond the danger of forgetting what they have learned ;—and next, a good technical school, in which they may learn all scientific methods for improving agriculture, and of combining to avail themselves of the best methods at the farmer's disposal. Sir John Gorst's speech seems to promise us in him not only an enlightened but a very sober and practical educational reformer.
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