Vol. XVII. No. 412. 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



4.5 



AGRICULTURAL EXAMINATIONS. 

 Preliminary Examinations. 



Six candidates presented themselves for this examina- 

 tion in November 1917; four in St. Vincent, one in Antigua, 

 and one in Barbados. Of these the one in Antigua failed to 

 .satisfy the examiners. Of the others, one of those from 

 St. Vincent and the one from Barbado.s sent in such papers 

 as entitled thoni to Vie placed in the first class. Of the 

 other three in 8t. Vincent, one obtained a second class and 

 the other two third class certificates. The two candidates 

 «ho obtained first class certificates were found by the 

 examiners to be well grounded in the majority of the 

 subjects of tLe syllabus. < )ne thing however, must be noted, 

 the apparent want of knowledge displayed by the St. Vincent 

 candidates of the value in agricultural operations of farm- 

 yard manure. This pcssibly reflects local agricultural practice 

 in some degree. 



Intermediate Examinatios.s. 



For this examination five candidates presented them- 

 selves, one in St. Vincent and four in Antigua, li'om some 

 unexplained circumstance, the report of the local examiners 

 on the result of the oral examination of the candidate in 

 St. Vincent has not been received by the Imperial Commis- 

 sioner of Agriculture. Of the four candidates in Antigua 

 one failed to satisfy the examiners, the other three obtained 

 third class certificates. These have gained their prac- 

 tical experience in agricultural matters only in work 

 connected with the Botanic and E-vperiment Stations 

 in that island. The local examiners report that the 

 candidates, as a whole, exliibiti.d some weakness in their 

 knowledge of estate practice. One of them, however, showed 

 good acquaintance with tlie practical cultivation both of cane 

 and cotton, the special .subjects selected by him for examin- 

 ation. The written papers were fairly well answered, with, 

 however, a tendency in many cases to vagueness of expres- 

 sion and slipshod grammar. 



RESULTS. 



Preliminary Examination. 



Island. 

 St. Vincent 



Name. 

 E. « ». C. Walker 

 H. F. Wall 

 C. A. Marshall 

 S. F. Leigertwood 

 K. K. C. Foster 



Barbados 



llesult. 

 1st class 

 2nd class 

 3rd class 

 3rd class 

 1 St class 



LIST OK EXA.MINEKS. 



The Imperial Department of Agriculture is indebted to 

 the tollowing agricultural officers and planters for the care 

 *nd trouble exercised in the conduct of these e.xaniinations: — 



A. E. Collens, Esq., F.C.S., Acting Superintendent of 



Agriculture for the Leeward Islands. 

 T. Jackson, E?q., Curator, I'otauic Station, .\ntigua. 

 E. S. D. Goodwin, Esq., Collins Estate, Antigua. 

 •John Boden, E.sq., Diamond Estate, Antigua. 

 W. N. Sands, Esq., F.L.S., Agricultural Superintendent, 



St. Vinoent. 

 S. C Harland, Esq., B.Sc, Assistant for Cotton 



Research, Imperial Department of Agriculture. 



The examination papers were prepared as usual at the 

 Office of the Imperial Department in Barbados, and the local 

 reports and the corrected papers examined by Sir Francis 

 Watts, K.C.M.G., the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, 

 and the Rev. C. H. Branch, B.A., .\cting Scientific .Assistant. 



Below will be found the questions set for the Prelimi- 

 nary paper. The questions set for the Intermediate 

 examination will be published in the next issue of the 



Agritulltiral Ncivs. 



Preliminary Examination. 



The preliminary examination of the Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture was held in St. Vincent, Barbados and 

 Antigua during November 1917. 



Of the thirteen questions set not more than nine were 

 to be attempted, which had to include three from Section A, 

 three from Section B, and one from Section C". The 

 remaining two questions were allowed to be selected 

 irrespective of the section. 



The following are the questions set for the written 

 paper: — 



A. TuE Soil. 



1 . Give the chief reasons for cultivating and tilling the 

 .soil. What are the objects for which (a) ploughing, and (b) 

 liarrowing are respectively employed! 



2. What methods are employed in practice to increase 

 the amount of nitrogen in the soil* 



3. What is the effect of a large proportion (a) of clay, 

 (b) of sand in a soil.' How may heavy soiU be made lighter? 



\. Explain the reasons why the application of lime to 

 soils is beneficial. 



B- The Plant. 



5. What gas do green plants give off under sunlight* 

 How can it be shown in a simple way that they do give off 

 this gas! 



6. Describe by means of labelled drawings 'h,iy, tlie 

 structure of any two of the following; (a) a cane stem, 

 (b) a lime fruit, (c) a cotton pod, i^d) a cacao pod, (e) a banani 

 fruit, (f) a green leaf, (g) any common fiower. 



7. What are the reasons why a sufficient supply of 

 water is necessary t3 plants' Describe how plants take in waipr. 



•S. Describe in detail some piece of work you have 

 done in sowing seed?, giving reasons for the various opera- 

 tions. 



C. The Animal. 



"•) Describe the structure and action of the hear: of 

 any mammal. 



10. State the functions of the blood in such a mammal. 



11. Give a general account of the digestive process of 

 a horse. 



12. Relate any oKservaiions you have made as to damage 

 done to crops by birds or vermin. 



13. Describe how a horse's age may be known by the 

 appearance of its \.<e&\. 



The New Ford Tractor. — The I'ord tractor which 

 has recently been tested with good results by the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of England, and thousands of whijh 

 have been ordered for use, has the following chief pDints; — 



The tractor has no real chassis; the radiator is fixed 

 directly to the motor which is supp'^rted by arms attached to 

 the axle. The wheel- are oi steel, and all the working parts 

 are completely closed in to protect them from dust and mud. 

 The tractor weighs less tlian a ton. The motor is a large 

 size of that used for the Ford automobile, giving 20 b.h.p. 

 with a 10 h.p. pull at the draw bar. There are three speeds 

 and a reverse. 



