A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



)Lir,'> • "v 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. "^lip^N* 



OF THE 



Vol. XI. No. 265. 



BARBADOS, JUNE 22, 1912. 



Friob Id, 



CONTENTS. 



Agricultural Matters in 

 St. Vincent 



CandeliUu Wax 



Coco-nut Kxpliiitatioii in 

 British (iuiiina 



Coco-nut (irowing in An- 

 tigua anil Barliuila ... 



CottonNotes : — 



The Biitish Cotton 



Growing Assoeiatiim 



The Governnient Cotton 



Ginnerj-, Grenatla ... 



West Indian Cotton ... 



Department News 



Di'ulile Cnco-nut Palm ... 



Fungus Notes : — 



flummosis of Prunus 

 and Citrus 



Cierman .\gricultural In- 

 stitute at Amani ... 



Germination uf Old Seeds 



Gleanings 



Grenada Land Settlement 

 Scheme 



Insect Notes : — 



Silk Fish Lines 



The Yelli.w Fever Mos- 

 i|uito 



Manihipfs. Information 

 Concernini; 



Page. 



. 2f'7 

 . 199 



201 



19(1 



198 



198 

 108 

 195 

 19ti 



206 



197 



197 

 204 



200 



202 



202 



199 



Fags. 



Market Reports 208 



Notes and Comments ... 200 

 Oil, Source of a Useful ... 201 

 Panama Canal Zone. -Agri- 

 cultural Possibilities 



of 203 



Para Ruhber Seeds, Vital- 

 ity of 207 



Public it ions of the Ini- 

 jierial Dejiartment of 

 Agricidture 200 



Reading Courses and Ex- 

 aminations in Practi- 

 cal Agriculture 193 



Rattans (uRotang.s 202 



Sleejiing Sickiies-s Bureau, 



Future of 201 



Students' Comer 205 



Sugar Industry: — 



Borde.iux iVIixture in 



Cane-Planting 195 



Wax from the Sugar- 

 Cane 195 



Sugar Yields in Reunion 205 



Vanilla. Introduction into 

 Reunion and Mau- 

 ritius 190 



Water, Method of Obtain- 

 ing Pure 200 



Reading Courses and Examinations 

 in Practical Agriculture. 



^HE present time gives a convenient oppor- 

 tunity for reviewing the progress that has 



[been made in regard to the Reading Courses 

 and Examinations iiL Practical Agriculture conducted 

 by the Imperial Department of Agriculture, and 

 for indicating the way in which the work connected 



with these is to be continued. The examina- 

 tions are now held annually by the Department, 

 and it is intended again to follow, this year, the 

 plan adopted of holding them in October and Novem- 

 ber. This brings it about that candidates will 

 now find it expedient to make their reading follow 

 a definite plan, so that they may be prepared in time; 

 and where assistance is given in the shape of meetings 

 for instruction and discussion, steps will have to be 

 taken to establish communication among candidates and 

 to organize the work so that it will follow a precise 

 scheme. 



The number of examinations held in all the stages 

 up to the present has been nine — four in the Prelimkir 

 ary, three in the Intermediate and two in the Final 

 Stage. In the Preliminary Stage fifty-eight candi- 

 dates have been examined and forty-three have passed; 

 in the Intermediate the similar figures are twenty- 

 eight and twenty-one, and in the Final Stage eleven 

 and seven. It follows that the total number of 

 candidates examined so far in all the stages is 

 ninety-seven, and of these seventy-one, or seventy- 

 three per cent., have passed. A consideration 

 of the proportions of the results falling in the 

 different classes shows that, especially on the 

 occasion of the last examination, the number in 

 the higher classes was comparatively low. This 

 is a matter for regret, and points to a lack of 

 thoroughness in the work of most of the can- 

 didates. There is an evident need for a greater 

 attempt to go deeply into the subjects that are pre- 

 scribed tor study, and to obtain something more than 

 a moderate knowledge such as may be calculated as 

 being sufficient to enable its possessor to pass the 

 examination in the lowest class. 



