Voi. XIL No. 293. 



THE AQRIOULTURAL NEWS. 



237 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



JULY. 



Sf.cond Period. 



Seasonal Notes. 



There are several circumstances at the present time 

 which render it convenient for the student to direct his 

 attention to the question of judging animals by means of 

 scale points. The action for instance, which is being taken 

 in the Leeward Islands, and has already been followed in 

 Trinidad and elsewhere, to put a stop to the adulteration of 

 milk will have an indirect effect in that it will make it 

 very worth while for stock-owners to breed from selected 

 animals and obtain a maximum yield under the state of farir 

 competition brought about, and another circumstance is that 

 at this time of year, with the wet weather setting in and 

 the consequent Hush of green fodder, the animals are likely 

 to be in good condition for a critical inspection. 



With a view to encouraging selection of dairy cows the 

 following scale of points is reproduced from The Agricultural 

 S'jte-Book {\9\0 edition), by Primrose McConnell, B.Sc. 



Scale of Points foe Judging a Cow. 



PEEFECT SCORE. 



5. 



6. 



7. 



8. 



9. 

 10. 

 11. 



12. 

 13. 



14. 



1.5. 

 16. 



17. 



18. 

 19. 



20. 

 21. 

 22. 

 23. 

 24. 



26. 



GENERAL APPEARANCE. 

 Weight — — — — — — 



Form: Inclined to be wedge-shaped — — 6 

 <^)uality: Hair fine, soft; skin mell'iw loose, medium 



thickness, secretion yellow; bone clean, fine — 6 

 Condition: Lean, though vigorous appearance 



when in milk — — — — — 6 



HEAD AND NECK. 



Muzzle: Clean cut; mouth large; nostrils large — 1 



Eyes: Large, bright, full, mild — — — 1 



Face: Lean, long, quiet expression — — 1 



Forehead: Broad — — — — 1 



Ears: Medium size, yellow inside, fine texture — 1 



Horns; Fine; texture wavy — — — 1 

 Neck: Fine, medium length; throat clean; light 



dewlap — — — — — 1 



FOREQUARTERS. 



Withers: Lean, thin — — 



Shoulders: Light, oblique — 



Legs: .Straight, short; Hank fine 



BODY. 



Chest: Deep, low; girth large with full foreflank 10 

 Barrel: Ribs broad, long, wide apart; large 



stomach — — — — — 10 



Back: Lean, straight, open-jointed — — 2 



Loin: P.road — — — — — 2 



Navel. Large — — — — — 2 



HINDQUARTERS. 



Hips: Far apart, level — — — — 2 



Rump: Long, wide — — — — 2 



Pin Bones or Thurls: High, wide apart — — 1 



Tail: Long, slim; fine hair in switch — — 1 



Thighs: Thin, long — _ _ _ 4 

 Escutcheon: Spreading over thighs, extending high 



and wide; large thigh ovals — — — 2 

 Udder: Long, attached high and full behind, 

 extending far in front and full, flexible; quarters 



even and free from fleshiness — — — 20 



— 1 



2 



••> 



27. Teats: Large, evenly placed — — — 



28. Mammary veins: Large long, tortuous, branched 



with double extension; large and numerous milk 

 wells — — — — — — 



29. Legs: Straight, short; flank fine — — — 



Total 



100 



The judging of different cows of known milk capacities 

 by means of the above taljle, particularly if carried out in 

 conjunction with other students will be found both 

 instructive and interesting. 



Note the great relative importance of the chest, barrel 

 and particularly the udder points in judging milch cows 



Questions for Candidates. 

 Pkeli.mix A i;y Q u estion.s. 



(1) What are the three essential conditions for germin- 

 ation.' What methods have been tried for accelerating the 

 rate of germination? 



(2) Of what use is carbon dioxide, (a) in the soil (b) in 

 the air.' 



(1) 

 (2) 

 of feed 

 protein 



Intermediate Questions. 



Describe the process of kiln<lrying of grain. 

 How would you proceed to calculate the number 

 units in a ton of Indian corn? [Corn contains : 

 8-t per cent.; fats,* 48 per cent.; carbohydrates* 

 578 per cent.] 



Final Questions. 



(1) Prepare a statement showing the cost, in your 

 district, of producing an acre of sugar-cane. 



(2) Write a short essay (of about 400 words) on the 

 coagulation of latex, introducing the most recent views on 

 the subject. 



Colonial Agricultural College at Tunis.— 

 A short account of the agricultural college at Tunis is given 

 in the Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural Intelligence and 

 of Plant Diseases (March 191.3) and some of the information 

 presented is likely to prove of intere.st in the West Indies 

 in view of the attention which is now being given to the 

 question of tropical agricultural colleges. 



The Tunis college was founded in 1898 and since then 

 it has been attended by upwards of 300 students; of these 

 ninety-seven are engaged in farming in Tunis, and thirty-two 

 in Algeria; twenty, who have remained in the colony, have 

 taken up professions whioh are only indirectly connected 

 with agriculture; 103 have returned to France and are 

 occupied in farming; the remainder are in various parts of 

 the French tropical possessions. 



As regards the institution itself, numerous experiments 

 have been conducted there in regard to the use of new imple- 

 ments, the application of nianure.s, cotton trials, and irriga- 

 tion work Briefly expressed, the institution appears to be 

 mainly a college for the teaching of dry farming, and conse- 

 quently irrigation and various other branches of civil engineer- 

 ing form important lines of study. 



From the ,'irticle under consideration most of the 

 instruction would appear to be largely of a practical nature 

 though apparently the theoretical side is not neglected. At 

 any rate the large number of students who have taken up 

 agricultural employment would indicate that the institution 

 at least serves a useful purpose. 



* Digestible. 



