July 2, 1889, the Manila School of Agriculture was Established.
The Manila school of agriculture was created by royal decree of November 29, 1887, and established at Manila, July 2, 1889.
The objects of the school were: the theoretical and practical education of skilled farmers; the education of overseers; and the promotion of agricultural development in the Philippines, by means of observation, experiment, and investigation.
The Philippine Islands, Vol. XLV
The requirements for admission into the study of scientific agriculture, candidates should be:
vouched for by a valid certificate, to be of good health, and to have studied and have passed examinations in some institution of secondary education, or other properly accredited institution.
The Philippine Islands, Vol. XLV
The school opened with 82 students, but in the following year there were only 50. Agricultural stations were established in Isabela de Luzón, Ilocos, Albay, Cebú, Iloílo, Leyte, Mindanao, and Joló. Those of Joló and Leyte were abolished by royal decrees, dated September 10, 1888, and December 7, 1891, respectively.
The curriculum was:
- First year – Elements of agriculture; mathematical problems; practical work in topography; linear and topographical drawing.
- Second year – Special methods of cultivation; elements of stockbreeding; agricultural arts; practical work in cultivation and the industries; setting up and management of machines; drawing applied to machines and to plants.
- Third year – Elements of rural economy; accounts and agricultural legislation; general practical work in cultivation, stockbreeding, and industry; drawing of plans.
The education of the overseers was carried on in the agricultural stations, which have been created for the purpose of doing technical work in analyses of earth, systems of irrigation, studies of seed, acclimatization of vegetables and animals, study and treatment of epizootic, epiphysis, etc.
The professors in the school were agricultural engineers and their assistants skilled farmers. The expenses were defrayed entirely by the government, but the direction was in the hands of the priests. The university of Santo Tomás, both of itself, and through the Ateneo Municipal, issued certificates to skilled farmers and surveyors, for which it required mathematics, physics, chemistry, natural history, agriculture, topography, and linear and topographical drawing. The government school cannot be said to have been a success, for the Filipinos, while inclined to readily adopt the professions, have never shown any marked inclination for industrial pursuits.
The Philippine Islands, Vol. XLV
Sources:
http://www.gutenberg.org. The Philippine Islands, Vol. LV
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