In the second report of the commissioner (1869) special attention was directed to the question of agricultural education, and the suggestion was made that the agricultural department of the university and the veterinary college might give some instruction to the teachers at the normal school. In the following year, however, an advanced step was taken. It was noted that Dr Ryerson was in sympathy with special agricultural teaching and had himself prepared and published a text-book on agriculture. The suggestion was made that the time had arrived for a school of practical science. At the same time Ryerson had appointed the Rev. W. F. Clark, the editor of the _Canada Farmer_, to visit the Agricultural department at Washington and a few of the agricultural colleges of the United States, and to collect such practical information as would aid in commencing something of an analogous character in Ontario. It will thus be seen that the two branches of technical training--the School of Practical Science and the Agricultural College--were really twin institutions, originating, in the year 1870, in the dual department of Public Works and Agriculture. These institutions were the outcome of the correlation of city and country industries, which were under the fostering care of the Agriculture and Arts Association, as the old provincial organization was now known. The School of Practical Science, it may be noted, is now incorporated with the provincial university, and the Agricultural College is affiliated with it.