Vol. IX. No. 224. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



381 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



AGRICULTURAL EXAMINATIONS. 



The results of the recent Preliminary Examinations held 

 in connexion with the Courses of Heading of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, in Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, 

 Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and St. Lucia, appear on 

 another page of this issue of the Agricultural Neivs. It will 

 be well to give consideration to the questions that were set, 

 at all the centres save one, in the written part of the 

 examination. 



The number of questions in this part was thirteen; 

 of these not more than nine were to be attempted by the 

 candidates. The questions were as follows:— (1) Give an 

 outline of the ways in which green plants are dependent 

 upon gases in the atmosphere. (2) Describe broadly the 

 composition of the chief kinds of soil, showing how their 

 physical properties depend upon the proportions of their 

 principal constituents. (3) Write a description, with dia- 

 grams, of the germination of the seed of one kind of plant 

 belonging to each of the following classes : (a) a garden crop; 

 (b) a general crop; (c) a permanent crop. (4) Describe any 

 form of cultivator with which you are acquainted, stating in 

 what connexions it may be used more particularly. (5) What 

 are the chief precautions required in keeping farmyard manure, 

 and why are they necessary I Give an account of any artiKcial 

 manure that is employed for the purpose of .supplying nitrogen. 

 (0) Why is the grafting of plants often practised ? Write 

 a description, with sketches, of any kind of grafting with 

 which you are familiar. (7) Compare the aerial stem of the 

 sugar-cane with that of a dicotyledon, such as cotton. (8) Give 

 a description of the (lower of a dicotyledon, stating the uses 

 of its dirterent parts. (9) What methods of cultivation are 

 employed in connexion with the principal crop in the district 

 in which you live ? What are the u.ses of cultivation to the 

 plants for which it is i)ractised ( (10) Describe either (a) the 

 skeleton of the horse, or (b) the digestive system of the cow, 

 showing how the one you deal with is suited to the work that 

 is required of it. (11) E.xplain five of the following terms : 

 (a) humu.s, (b) subsoiling, (c) exalbuminous seed, (d) legum- 

 inous plants, (e) cross-pollination, (f) green dressing, (g) chloro- 

 phyll, (h) cambium layer, (k) hilum, (1) muscle, giving 

 examples where this is feasible. (12) Describe, using dia- 

 grams, the way in which the blood is sent to every part of 

 the body of an ordinary, warm-blooded animal. (13) Fruits 

 are classified in various ways. What different kinds of fruits 

 do you know of ? Give examples. 



The questions that were answered liest, from a general 

 point of view, were numbers 1, 2, 8, 9, the first part of 10, 

 and 11. A few very good answers were obtained, however, 

 to questions .5, 6 and 7. The way of dealing with the remainder, 

 namely, numbers 3, 4, 12 and 13, was bad, on the part of 

 nearly all the candidates. It is not possible to furnish an 

 adequate answer to questions 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 without 

 the use of diagrams, or sketches. This was recognized by 

 several of the candidates, in relation to the questions that they 

 attempted, and some drawings that were creditable for the pur- 

 pose were furnished by them. Other candidates attempted 

 the.se questions without the aid of drawings, thus giving them- 

 selves the greatest trouble in providing answers, which were 

 only insufficient in the end. 



In dealing with question 1, it was noticeable that most 

 of the candidates understood that the answer was required to 

 have relation to the nitrogen in the air, as well as to the 

 oxygen and carbon dioxide, and useful references were made, 



in the first connexion, to the work of the organisms living in 

 symbiosis with leguminous plants, as well as to that of nitro- 

 gen-fixing organisms in the soil. The facts required for ques- 

 tion 2 were fairly well known, in most cases, but they were 

 expressed in a bookish way, and if any attempt was made to 

 show how the physical properties of soils depend on the propor- 

 tions of their principal constituents, ifwas generally feeble. 

 In no case was question 3 done well; with other questions, 

 it shows the necessity for a greater grasp, on the part of candi- 

 dates, of theimportance of makingtheir own ob.servations. Some 

 fair attempts at question 4 were received; it was understood, 

 however, that this would not be widely answered. Some of 

 the most thorough answers were those to question -5, especially 

 in regard to the first part of it. Most of the candidates who 

 attempted number 6 realized the necessity for the presentation 

 of drawings, which were executed in a useful manner, in many 

 cases. The ways of treatment of questions 7 and 8 should 

 have been very similar. These, again, showed that candidates 

 are very prone to take facts for granted, instead of constantly 

 verifying them by their own observations. Fair answers were 

 obtained to question 9. Nearly all the attempts of question 

 10 were disappointing; whereas every candidate should have 

 been able to supply a .satisfactory answer. The ground ranged 

 over in question 1 1 gave candidates a good choice among the 

 subjects that had been l>rought to their notice. No .satis- 

 factory answers to questions 12 and 13 were received. The 

 attention of candidates is drawn respectively, in connexion 

 with these, to Fream's Elements of Agriculture (seventh 

 edition, 1910), pp. 359, 360, and to AV«r« Teac/iim (second 

 edition, 1908), p. 230. 



It was reported, from one centre, that the time given for 

 answering the questions was too short. As a matter of fact, 

 ample time was given for this. It is only where candidates, 

 in.stead of an.swering concisely the question proposed, proceed 

 to give a quantity of information about subjects with which 

 it does not deal, that sufficient time does not seem to be 

 allowed. There .should be no doubt, once for all, that mark.s 

 cannot be given for matter that is not required. 



As has been indicated, a .special paper had to be given in 

 one case— that of St. Kitts -on account of the difference in 

 date of the examination. The questions asked in this are 

 presented below, for the information of candidates. 



(1) What conditions are necessary for the germination of 

 seeds! How would you show that these are necessary? (2) How 

 do leaves help to feed the plant! (3) What is meant by the 

 retentive power of a soil, and how is the possession of this 

 property by soils important to the agriculturist? (4) Give an 

 account of three crops that are used as green dressings, stating 

 how they are employed for the purpose. (.5) Write a descrip- 

 tion of any form of plough that you have seen in use. 

 (6) Describe the operation of budding, and state why it is 

 useful. (7) Write a short account of each of the manures 

 that are employed for giving pho.sphorus to the soil. (8) Dis- 

 cuss the different uses of roots to plants, illustrating your 

 an.swer I)y means of examples. (9) Why is the soil cultivated? 

 Describe any method of cultivation with which you are fami- 

 liar. (10) Explain five of the following terras: (a) cotyledon, 

 (b) nodule organism, (c) parasite, (d) capillarity, (e) organic 

 manure, (f) digestion, (g) leaf-bud, (h) medullary rays, (k) 

 tuber, (1) loam. (11) Describe any flower, showing how its 

 different parts are suited to the particular work that is 

 required of them. (12) Compare the digestive .systems of the 

 horse and the cow, stating the uses of the various parts 

 through which the food pa.sses. (13) Describe, with the use 

 of diagrams, the heart of a warm-blooded animal, and 

 indicate how it performs its work of forcing the blood into 

 the arteries. 



