Vol. Vir. Xo. 15-t. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



91 



AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. 



Ill December last the pupils of the Dominica, 

 St. Lucia, and St. Vincent As;riculturai Schools under- 

 went the Tisual half-yearly examination by Mr. F. A. 

 Stockdale, B,A., F.L S. Below are 'given tiie general 

 reports of the examiner on the work done at the 

 respective schools : — 



lMi.MINI('.\. 



Twelve pupHs sat for the examination. Eleven were 

 juniors and one was a new boy. 



Of the more important subjects, Arithmetic came out 

 best, but the working out of the various Questions was not as 

 clearly given as could be wished for. Attention should be 

 given to this point, and careful supervision over the whole 

 cla.ss is necessary. The answers submitted in the .-Acience 

 subjects were very uniform, and showed that the [luiiils had 

 a fair elenietary knowledge of the principles of agricultural 

 science Some slight improvement has been made in these 

 subjects since the lasc examination, and it is satisfactory to 

 note that few careless blunders were noticeable in the present 

 examination. There is, however, still room for improvement 

 in all the suljjocts. Geography has improved slightly, but 

 some of the papers were poor. Extra time might [irofitably 

 be given to this subject during the coming lialf-year. The 

 Composition and Dictation were fair. Some slight advance 

 has been made in grammatical construction. The writing and 

 neatness of the whole class were generally satisfactory. 



The new boy sent in some promising answers. His 

 Arithemetic was good. 



ST. LUCIA. 



Seven pupils took the papers set for the senior class, ten 

 those for the junior, and there were two new boys. Papers 

 from three candidates for admission into the scliool were also 

 submitted. 



Tlie work of the senior class was fairly satisfactory. 

 Some improvement has been made in ^Agriculture and in 

 Chemistry. The Botany is only fair, while Geography is 

 particularly weak. These last two subjects should receive 

 careful attention for they have been rather weak for some 

 time. Geography, although special attention was called to it 

 in the last examination, has shown no improvement. Extra 

 time might profitably be given to this subject. 



The junior class, as a whole, is fair. ^ Agriculture is still 

 rather weak, particularly with some of the lower boys. 

 Chemistry has improved considerably sinde the last examina- 

 tion but Botany should receive further attention. Geography 

 was very poor. Arithmetic has maintained the improvement 

 shown at the last examination, but greater neatness could 

 have been wished for. Composition and Dictation have shown 

 some slight imijrovement. i 



The new boys' papers were fair, their Arithmetic being 

 quite promising. 



The papers sent in by the candidates were very interest- 

 ing, as they may, I suppose, be taken as good examples of the 

 raw material sent to the school. The best of the three could 

 only obtain 29 per cent, of the total marks for Agriculture, 

 Arithmetic, Geography, Composition, and Dictation. 



ST. VINCENT. I 



Five boys took the papers .set for the senior class, twelve 

 those set for the junior class, and there were four new boys. 



The science subjects are, on the -whole, satisfactory. 

 The improvement shown in the last examination in Agriculture 

 and Botany has been maintained ; many /of the answers sent 

 in were of a high standard. It is satisfactory to note, also, 



that considerable improvement has been made in Chemistry, 

 a subject that had been rather weak at the two last examina- 

 tions. Attention should, however, continue to be given to 

 this subject in order that -the improvement made may be 

 maintained, and that the few pupils that are still weak may 

 be given careful instruction^ Arithmetic is fairly good, but 

 it is not .quite so satisfactory as in the last examination. 

 !Many careless blunders wer&^ made. 



Of the less important, subjects, the Composition and 

 Dictation papers were generally satisfactory, but Geography is 

 still weak. In the last report it was mentioned that Geography 

 should receive careful attention, and I would now suggest that 

 extra time .should be given to this subject, as improvement 

 will be looked for at the next examination. 



cassava r(wts and starch 

 Manufacture. 



A ]yAm]jh\et (BiiUct ill J^^o. liiC of the Bureau of 

 Chemistry) has been issued by the U.S. DepartmenD of 

 Agriculture dealing with the properties and uses of 

 cassava. 



Apart from fooil purposes one of the chief uses of cas.sava 

 is in the manufacture of st.u'ch. It will be remembered that 

 cassava starch manufacture has been on trial in Jamaica for 

 .some time past {Ai/rindtiira/ yeios, Vol. V, jj. 4-10), and 

 it is now being produced at three centres. This starch is of 

 con.siderable value, and if well made, commands a price of 

 from £15 to £16 on the English market. In the trials 

 carried out at Hope Gardens to ascertain the starch-yielding 

 values of different cassavas, a return of 4- tons of starch per 

 acre was obtained, after twelve months' growth, from the best 

 varieties. 



Since cassava tubers deteriorate rapidly ou being harvest- 

 ed, it is advisable, when intended for starch manufacture, 

 that they should be grown as near the mill as possible. The 

 grower who lives in close proximity to the factory is there- 

 fore at an advantage as comiiared with the grower who lives 

 at a distance. Some practical method of treatment of the 

 roots which would do away with the necessity of immediate 

 utilization would confer a great benefit upon cassava culti- 

 vators, and experiments of this kind undertaken by the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, are described in the pamphlet. 



Briefly, these experiineiits consisted of grinding the 

 tubers to a fine meal and drying in the sun. The cassava 

 meal so prepared is reported to have kept for eight months 

 without signs of deterioration. This means that the product 

 can be stored and marketed to much better advantage, while 

 owing to the great decrease in weight (about 50 per cent.), as 

 the result of moisture evaporation on drying, the co.st of 

 transport is reduced by one-half. 



The mill used in grinding the roots Mas of very simple 

 construction, and cost couq)lete no more than §10. Such 

 a machine would therefore be within the reach of growers 

 producing cassava on only a small scale. It ground 1 ton of 

 tubers in one and a half hour.s. 



The drying trays used in exjiosing the ground cassava to 

 the sun, in order to e\'aporate the moisture, consisted of 

 a wooden framework with a calnvas bottom. They were 5 feet 

 long liy il feet broad, and \vere made very cheaply. The 

 cassava meal was occasionally stirred in the process of drying. 



Should the cassava starch industry of Jamaica develop, 

 as it shows every promise of doing, the above method of 

 pn-eparatiiin and jn'eservation might be worthy of adoption 

 by growers in certain jiarts. In the West Indies it would be 

 possible to completely dry and bag the ca.ssava meal on the 

 .same day as the roots were ground. 



