386 



THE AGRICaLTURAL NEWS. 



December 11, 1909. 



agricultural importance in the different colonies will 

 also be a frequent feature in this column.' 



It was evident that thi.s was the limit of the 

 extent to which the Department cduld put forth 

 efforts for the direct assistance ol the students. Cir- 

 cumstances do not admit of the preparation by it of 

 manuscript articles on special subject.*, the correction 

 of test papers, or the provision of model answers to 

 questions. The suggestion was therefore made that 

 students should find, at the various centres in the 

 different colonics, persons who wo\dd give them assist- 

 ance in reading and in answering questions. It was 

 also recommended that, in any case, students residing 

 in a particular district should meet together for the 

 purpose of comparing views and experiences of agri- 

 cultural matters, and of affording mutual aid. 



As the scheme was new, and as there seemed to 

 be a need of assistance at its commencement, the 

 Officers of the local Department of Agriculture in some 

 of the iislands organized .series of meetings, for the 

 benefit of students, at which the proceedings were of 

 the nature of discussions of agricvdtural subjects, 

 rather than of formal lectures on them. At the same 

 time, students were encouraged to attempt the ques- 

 tions appearing in the Agricultural N>'ivs, and were 

 provided with model answers to those in which the 

 greatest weakness was shown. Much good and useful 

 work has been done in this way by Officers of the 

 Department, assisted willingly by others who .ire 

 interested in agricultural matters, but, although 

 this voluntary aid has been accepted with gratitude, 

 it is hoped that students, while exercising their 

 claim to obtain help in connexion with any particu- 

 lar agricultural subject from the Officers in the place 

 where they reside, will realize the desirability of 

 arranging their own lines of definite study. 



The first preliminary examination was held in Antigua 

 and St.Kitts,onFcbruary 1.5 and 13, respectively, of this 

 year. Altogether, fourteen candidates presented them- 

 selves, and, of these, nine were successful in passing 

 the examination (see Agricultimd iVcuw, Vol. VIII, 

 p. 90). The figures, similarly, for the second prelimi- 

 nary examination, held in Antigua, Barbados, Domin- 

 ica, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and St. Vincent on 

 October 11, 1909, were twenty and fifteen. (Agj-ieid- 

 tural Neivs,Yo\. VIII, p. ;?41.) The series of Inter- 

 mediate Examinations was initiated by one which was 

 held during the first few days of last month. Candi- 

 dates were presented at five centres — Antigua 

 Barbados, Grenada, St. Kitts and St. Lucia; the total 

 number was eleven. The results, with the exception 



of those from St. Lucia, where the oral examination 

 has not yet bfen held, are given on page ."iSl of the 

 current \olunie of the A</rieultaral Neifs. 



From the information that has just been given, 

 it is manifest that an increasing interest in the scheme 

 is being taken, and that it has shown itself to be 

 useful and valuable. Many of the papers sent up bv 

 the candidates at the examinations are of a very 

 encouraging nature, and show that, in their case at 

 least, there was only needed the inducement that has 

 been given by the Department for them to put them- 

 selves in the way of gaining an orderly and methodi- 

 cal view of the ideas and principles underlying their 

 work. 



The essentially practical nature which has been 

 given to the intermediate examination arises from the 

 desire to make it a useful index of the efficiency of 

 the candidate in the position which he holds, whether 

 on an estate or under an agricultural department. This 

 would not have been possible to such an extent as is 

 the case if the examiners had been none other than 

 the (Officers of the Department. It has been made so 

 by the willing co-operatian and aid of some of the 

 planters themselves in the different islands, who have 

 consented to act as examiners and have given the 

 examination a value which is derived from the fact 

 of their practical experience. In this way, a useful 

 check to any tendency to a too academic treatment 

 of the scheme has been provided, and the sympathy of 

 the planter has been gained in an effectual manner. 



As has been shown already, the interest in the 

 scheme has (piickly increased, so that from a prelimi- 

 nary examination that was held in two islands, only, 

 progress has been made to one which has included 

 most of those which are of importance in the Lesser 

 Antilles; and yet, only two of these examinations have 

 been held. There are indications that the same, or 

 a similar, scheme will be adopted in some of the 

 larger islands in the West Indies, and this fact should 

 help to enrourage those who have already been 

 brought into intimate connexion with it to continue 

 their efforts. One of the strongest arguments on its 

 behalf for the planter, should be that it is a means of 

 adding to the efKciency of the intermediary that he 

 employs to act between himself and the labour of 

 which he makes use. On the part of those who are 

 responsible for its organization, it seems, certainly, 

 w^orthy of continuation, and their past experience has 

 been useful in suggesting several future mollifications 

 which will bring it into still closer correspondence 

 with the needs that it is designed to serve. 



