Vol. XIII. No. 317. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



205 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



AGRICULTURAL EXAMINATIONS. 



In view of the approaching annual examinations of the 

 Imperial Department, which are held in October and Novem- 

 ber, registered students should now be devoting steady atten- 

 tion to their reading and estate observations. These courses, 

 which are essentially designed for overseers, cover three years' 

 study. The first year's work includes general agricultural 

 science, but students who have pa.ssed the Cambridge 

 Local in Agricultural Science or equivalent examinations 

 are exempted. In the second year, the work includes 

 special study of insect pests and fungus diseases of the 

 special crops with which the candidate is concerned, and 

 the cultivation and general estate practice on which the 

 production of these special crops depends. For the third 

 year the work should be of a more general nature, and the 

 reading should be wide, since the final examination is intended 

 to test the candidate's ability as an estate manager and not 

 merely to determine the extent of his knowledge of isolated 

 facts and acquaintance with practical operations, although 

 this is the aim of the second year or intermediate examination. 



A guide to the literature that .should be studied in con- 

 nexion with these courses is presented in the form of a Cir- 

 cular which can be obtained from the local Agricultural 

 Officers. Most of this literature is inexpensive and easily 

 obtained, since much of it is published by the Imperial 

 Department in Barbados and some of it is furnished to 

 students registered free of charge. 



It is scarcely necessary to dwell upon the benefit which 

 may be derived from serious study along the lines suggested 

 above. The educational value is considerable, whilst from 

 a purely utilitarian standpoint much vahie is to be placed on 

 the work — a fact amply demonstrated by the recognition 

 which successful candidates have in the past received from 

 their employers. Moreover, apart from the improved scien- 

 tific equipment — which must ensure better and more efficient 

 work in everyday life — the success achieved by voluntary 

 application is in itself a useful index of personal keenness. 



2. Write an account of the so-called minor industries 

 in the West Indies, and indicate, in the case of those you are 

 in touch with personally, what might be done to stimulate 

 their development. 



For several issues the questions usually set for the three 

 courses of study have been omitted. With a view to the 

 stimulation of increased attention the .system of questions is 

 now revived. 



Questions for Oandidates. 



PRELIMINARY QUE.STIONS. 



1. Give an account of any animal pest of cotton that is 

 not an insect. 



2. What is nitrification? What different kinds of soil 

 treatment increase the rate of this process! 



INTERMEDIATE QUESTIONS. 



1. What would you do to protect seedling limes from 

 drought! Explain carefully the effect which the treatment has. 



2. Give an account of the various trees commonly 

 employed for wind-break purpose.s on cacao and lime planta- 

 tions. What are the various economic advantages and 

 disadvantages of the trees? 



FINAL QUESTIONS. 



1. Describe in detail the preparation for shipment, 

 under co-operative conditions, of either (a) onions or (b) 

 cotton. 



NOTES ON AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERA- 

 TION AND SMALL HOLDINGS. 



In view of the important position occupied by Land 

 Settlement Schemes in several of the West Indian Colonies, 

 these notes on agricultural organization in Great Britain 

 (abstracted from the Journal of the Board of Agriculture, 

 May 1914) should be of some local interest. 



According to the reference quoted, the total quantity of 

 land acquired for small holdings under the British Small 

 Holding Act up to December 31, 1913, was 182,022 acres, 

 125,971 acres having been purchased for £4,126,421 and 

 56,051 acres leased for rents of £68,291 a year. It appears 

 that the Act has resulted in the provision of small holdings 

 for 17,005 applicants in six years. During this time appli- 

 cations for land have been made to the County Councils by 

 43,245 individuals and eighty-nine Associations, and a total 

 quantity applied for amounts to 723,497 acres. Of the 

 individual applicants, 25,567 were provisionally approved as 

 suitable, and 17,005 of them have obtained holdings. The 

 proportion of applicants who express any desire to purchase 

 holdings shows no signs of increasing, the percentage remain- 

 ing at less than 2 per cent, of the applicants who express any 

 definite preference in the matter. The number of applicants 

 in 1913 who had been described as agricultural labourers 

 were 988, which is nearly 24 per cent, of the total number. 

 This is a smaller proportion than was the case in previous 

 years, but the classification is necessarily not very exact, and 

 the figures can only be regarded as an approximate estimate. 

 In the majority of cases, an agricultural labourer in regular 

 work has neither the time nor the capital to cultivate a small 

 holding, and the needs of men of thi.s class are more suitably 

 met by the provision of small allotments, which they can 

 cultivate in their spare time. The majority of the applicants 

 for small holdings are either men who have small quantities 

 of land already and want more, or men who have some 

 business of their own which does not occupy the whole of 

 their time. 



The arerage price of land purchased by County Councils 

 in the six years was £32 12s. 5d. per acre, and the average 

 rent of the land leased was £1 4s. 



Within the last two years (namely 1912 and 1913) the 

 amount of land annually acquired has shown a reduction 

 having been 36,358 in 1911, 33,493 in 1912, and 24,493 in 

 1913, though the largest quantity of land, 39,472, was 

 acquired in 1909. The decline appears to be due mainly to 

 the fact that in the earlier years the Councils were occupied 

 in acquiring land for those applicants whose needs were most 

 easily satisfied, and that at the present time these are left 

 with all the difficult cases. At present the Councils have to 

 deal principally with the application of men whose require- 

 ments can only be satisfied by the acquisition of land in close 

 proximity to their present homes. 



The Board of Agriculture has made enquiries as to 

 whether the rent charged for the Small Holdings established 

 under the Act have been paid punctually, and, with few 

 exceptions, the replies received have been in the affirmative. 



