Austria was a large agricultural country, but it did not have a single agricultural college, which puzzled Franz. However, after some investigation, he finally understood that at this time agriculture was not yet universally regarded as a science in the Western world.

The ancient Greeks believed that agriculture was a science, but the transmission of civilization had long been interrupted. Franz had under his command a group of "agronomists" who were studying agricultural topics, as well as a large number of skilled farmers and gardeners.

Moreover, agriculture would have a profound impact on Austria and the colonies for a long time to come, so it was imperative to establish an agricultural college.

With experts and technicians, they can conduct innovative research, but they also need someone to keep track of the records and learn from the best practices of other countries.

Franz intended to hire a group of people to compile and translate agricultural books, but this huge and important undertaking was clearly not something that ordinary people could do.

So Franz once again set his sights on the students and job seekers who had nothing to do in Vienna.

That's right, a person with a university diploma can go to an agricultural college for free, not only to study for free, but also to eat for free, and if he performs well, he can choose to become a teaching staff for a salary, and even have the opportunity to become an official.

Franz's offer was naturally very attractive, but few people signed up, and in fact agriculture was not very popular at that time, and even peasants were a derogatory term.

Only 58 students were recruited in the first phase, and more than half of them came for food. In fact, there was a surplus of university students in Vienna at that time, and the government did not have so many jobs for these guys, and they looked down on the vast majority of jobs in the world.

As a result, a large number of university students wait for employment in Vienna every year, and over time a special group is formed, and they drink coffee mixed with sawdust, but it is a matter of state to open and shut up, even more than Ferdinand I felt sorry for the country.

These people are a destabilizing factor for the country, but at the same time, they are also a precious resource, after all, college students in this era are still a rare breed.

It's just that there are not many people who are willing to put down their bodies and go to agricultural colleges to rebuild, and they are more willing to wait for the official quota issued by the state.

In fact, in addition to agricultural colleges, Franz also thought of many ways to consume these unemployed youth, such as journalists, teachers, colonial affairs officers, and low- and middle-level civilian jobs in enterprises.

Of course, the mainstream of this era is either to be an official, or to do business, to be a clerk or something, and the starting point is still too low for college students.

But the problem is that Austria has a system of giving officials, and with the physical condition of Ferdinand I, it is good to be able to hold an official ceremony once a week.

And although there are 80,000 civil servants in Austria, in fact, 80% of the positions are fixed, and even if they are replaced, they will be selected from one or several families.

Coupled with the so-called civil service grading system, it is extremely difficult for ordinary people to climb up, and the class of each official is almost fixed at the beginning.

It's not that Franz doesn't want to move, but if he does, he is the enemy of the 80% of people, and he doesn't have the strength at this time, and the time is not yet ripe.

And in Franz's view, there are non-public positions that are as important as officials, and there is no distinction between them and officials.

Historically, North Germany and France had a much earlier formal education in agriculture than the Austrians.

The first agricultural college was established in 1803 in the Duchy of Holstein under Danish control, in 1818 the Hohenheim College was established, in the same year the Bavarian Agricultural Club was founded, in 1819 the Rowell Agricultural College was established in France, and in 1836 the Alsatian Agricultural College was established

However, because Franz gathered a group of the top talents of this era, such as Liebig, etc., and developed a number of agricultural machinery by himself, Austria's agricultural technology is still far ahead in Europe.

But if the Faculty of Agriculture is not established, sooner or later this advantage will be wiped out over time. In order to maintain an advantage in the long term, it is necessary to cultivate professional personnel and conduct continuous research.

Of course, Franz still has some knowledge of later generations, and with the status of the Grand Duke of the Royal Family, he can get good things that many people can't get.

For example, the Luhua chicken and nine catties of yellow in the Qing Dynasty, the former is the best breed of laying hens in the world at this time, although there is still a gap with the artificially bred laying hens in later generations, but it is already 1.33 times the production of common laying hens in Europe at this time, with an annual egg production of 200+.

The latter is a very good breed of broiler, nine catties of yellow as the name suggests, this kind of chicken can grow to 9 catties of weight, and at this time, regardless of the common broiler weight in the East and the West is only 4-5 catties, even if it is a monster white feather chicken artificially bred in later generations, it is only about half of nine catties of yellow.

However, the growth cycle of Jiujin Huang is long, it takes 200 days to 230 days, and the meat ratio is slightly higher, but this does not prevent it from beating the European broiler breeds at this time.

In addition, Franz has to say that the breed of native chickens in Europe at this time is really terrible! There are basically two characteristics, one is to eat more, and the other is to grow slowly.

At this time, several breeds of chickens popular in Europe were typical slow products of later generations, such as the Bresse chicken, and the reason why this thing was not artificially eliminated like other breeds was that someone associated it with France.

However, this kind of chicken is a well-known aristocratic ingredient, which can be called the "hegemon" among chickens, and one meal can make people bankrupt.

The other is the famous Dujin chicken, which is small and produces less eggs, but it is better than the leather, almost no special feed, and there are few diseases.

Another feature is that the combat effectiveness is outstanding, often pecking dogs, and even can fight back and forth with peregrine falcons, is a well-known "fighting chicken", of course, when encountering golden eagles and the like, it will still be killed in seconds like other breeds of chickens.

Franz can introduce new breeds of chickens and cross them with local chickens to create the most suitable breed possible. Of course, there are some all-rounders.

For example, the three-yellow chicken, this thing is not as good as nine catties of yellow meat, the egg production is not as good as the Luhua chicken, and even the local chickens in Europe, but it has the advantage that the strength of all parties is very balanced, and it is relatively easy to feed with fewer patients.

After all, modern agriculture at this time was just beginning, and most farmers were estimated to be free-range. In addition, Franz also deeply experienced what it means to "have a million in a family, but those with hair and arms are not counted".

The first modern chicken farm in Austria, which he founded on the outskirts of Vienna and the largest chicken farm on the European continent at this time, was hit by an outbreak of chicken plague.

Franz had to dispose of millions of florin's worth of broilers and laying hens, and in fact he was at first lucky, thinking that he would solve the problem by disposing of some of them, but the matter was much more serious than he thought.

In the end, the chicken plague spread throughout the chicken farm, and even some breeders began to have a fever and coma, so Franz ordered all the chickens to be disposed of, and comprehensive disinfection (including chicken coops, personnel, and utensils) ended the tragic encounter.

However, it was soon reported that there were no chicken plagues in free-range chickens in other chicken houses and farmers, and only Franz's hybrid chickens were affected.

Only then did he realize that the virus was aimed at Asian chickens, so there was no reaction from local European chickens.

Sure enough, relying on Franz alone is still too tiring, and a large agricultural country must transform into an agricultural power, so it is imperative to establish an agricultural college.

I need a favor from book friends, if you find a typo or something, please reply to the message, and I will try to correct it in time.

(End of chapter)