A'oL. I. No. 17. 



THE AGUICULTURAL NEWS. 



269 



EDUCATIONAL. 



School Gardens at Trinidad. 

 The following account of the ett'oits made m 

 Triniihid to enconmge a practical interest in plant.s by 

 means of School gardens is taken fronr the Annual 

 Report for 1901-02 of the Inspector of Schools for the 

 Colony : — 



Of the 82 schools in oi>eration on March 31, 1902, 67 

 had taken up Practical Agiicultnrc jirevions to tliat date, 

 and out of the SO schools examined, :50, or 37-5 per cent., 

 presented this subject, the results being in my oiiinion 

 .satisfactory for the first year. 



In some schools, notably Mayaro Government, and New 

 Grand, E.C., to which the award of ' Very Good ' was given, 

 the subject had been treated in a systematic and intelligent 

 manner, whilst at other schools, notably -Hard l!argani. 

 North Trace, New Grant and Princes Town Government, 

 oth. Company, 6th. Company and Neckchuddy lioad E.G. 

 the work deserves great credit. 



My chief object has been to impress upon the teachers 

 that a school garden is not for the puri)Ose of merely growing 

 vegetables, but to be c\iltivated in such a manner as to 

 inrpress uiion tlie children by means of experiments the 

 benefits to be derived from true Agriculture. 1 have also 

 reconnnended teachers to try antl induce the parents of 

 children to come and see the results for themsehes which 

 will do more, 1 think, than anything else, to make tlieni 

 believe in the lieriefits to be derived from the proper training of 

 this most imiiortant subject, and cau.se its more rapid spread 

 and adoption amongst the labouring part of the connnuni;y ; 

 and this I am glad to say has already commenced, as some 

 of the parents of the children attending 5th. Compan.v, 6tli. 

 Company, and Neckchuddy Itoad E.G. Schools, have been 

 to the teachers a.skiug for information as to the methods 

 used to grow the fine vegetables obtained at these schools. 

 The chief faults in the school gardens are: — 



(1) Overcrowding, and nuxing of different plants, 

 which renders ' rotation of crops" iniiiossiblc. 



(2) Planting only with a view to get as much as 

 possible out of the land, without any regard to exhaustion of 

 the .soil, and without experiments. 



(3) Insufficient use of green manure. 



(4) Want of compost heajis. 



(T)) Insufficient nudching during the drying season. 

 In order to remedy these mistakes, I am advising the 

 teachers : — 



(1) To set aside a plot for each kind of vegetable, and 

 plant at regular distances. 



(2) To set aside a portion of each plot for experiments. 



(3) To bury in each plot as much as they can of the 

 plant refuse. 



(4) To form compost heaps of any surplus vegetable 

 refuse, weeds antl grass. 



{T)) Always to mulch as far as possiljle in tlic dry 

 sea.son. 



I have been careful to inform teachers that it is not the 

 look of the garden on the day of examination for which the 

 awaril is given, but for the general work during the year. 



On the whole I may say that, 1 think the outlook for 



practical agriculture in this district is very prondsing, and »f 

 an instructor could visit the different .schools two or three 

 times a year, and t<rke practical work, as well as give 

 lectures, the results would be nuvrked, as I have no doubt 

 that after a time, some of the more intelligent adults would 

 also attend sometimes, more especially if the subjects of the 

 lectures were known beforehand. 



I am .''orry to .sav that, the parents of pujiils attenduig 

 i;us.sillac G.M.I. ScluKil have refused to allow their chddren 

 to work in the school garden, and have threatene.l to take 

 tliem away if they are compelled to do .so. In consciuence 

 practical agriculture has ceased to be taught at this school. 



SCIENCE NOTES. 



Disintegration of Corals. 



Dr. .1. E. Duerden, A.ll.G.S., formerly Curator of Hie 

 Museum of the Institute of Jamaica, contril>utes to the 

 llHlUtin of the Aiaeriam M im- urn of X at it nil lliftonj, A ol. 

 XV , pp., :?23-32, an interesting pai>er entitled ' IJornig Algae 

 as agents in the disintegration of Corals.' Since 18.'j4 it 

 has lieen known that the hard, calcareous parts of corals are 

 often penetrated in all directions by tubules, due to the 

 "rowth of filamentous plants. On di.ssolving a inece of 

 coral so attacked, in acid, a Huffy mas.s remanis consisting 

 mainly of algae, in a living active condition. The.se coral 

 borinu- ah'ae'^the author regards as playing 'an important 

 if not^the most important part in the disintegration of coral 

 iiias.ses.' 



New Method of Treating Starch. 



The Hotaiilcal (/a:,'tle for -Inly 1!)02, records that 'asit 

 result of a series of experiments begun at Clemson College m 

 1901, and brought to a succes.sfid completion in the labora^ 

 torie-s of the New York Botanical Garden, Dr. Alex. P. 

 \n<lerson has developed a method by which, with the 

 application of heat to starch grains and to air-dry starch in 

 many form.s, the granules or particles are expanded many 

 times their original fliinension.s, being fraeturetl into 

 innumerable fragments <luring the proce.s.s. As a result of 

 this treatment a grain of rice is expai;ded to eight or more 

 times its original volume, while still retaining its original 

 form Other cereals exhibit similar behaviour, llie process 

 is applicable to nearly all starchy seeds and starchy subsUn- 

 ces I'leatly increasing their nutritive axadability. the 

 products obtained are plea.sant to the taste, and the process 

 may. be varied to produce a great variety of tlav,mrs with 

 •uiv "iven cereal. Fuitlicrmore, the material prepared in this 

 manner is absolutely sterilized and may be preserved or 

 stored for long periods. The approval the products have 

 met from food and chemical experts suggests that the proces.* 

 may prove of great economic and commercial value. 



' Ether ' and ' Nitrogen-free ' Extracts. 



'Ether extract' is an expression commonly used ia 

 ,rivin.r the results of analyses of food stuffs, etc. It denotes 

 the imUei-ial taken uu by ether from the substance after the 

 water has been remo"ved, and for all general purposes may l)e 



taken as 'fat.' . . 



\nother term frc.piently met with is 'Nitrogen-tree 

 extract ' Under this head are included starch, sugar, gums, 

 etc The proportion of nitrogen-free extract is very 

 important in all feeding .stufiFs, especially corn, meals, etc. 



