Vol. XI. No. 277. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



397 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



AGRICULTURAL EXAMINATIONS. 



In the last number of the Agricultural News, the page 

 corresponding to this contained the questions set in the paper 

 on General Agricultural Science in the Intermediate Exami- 

 nation held on November 1 1 last. The questions that were asked 

 in the paper on Special Crop Subjects in that stage are now 

 given. Six of the eight questions set in each subject, only, 

 were to be attempted, and where any subject in the syllabus 

 is not mentioned, it means that it was not offered on this 

 occasion by any of the candidates. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



General. 



(1) Give a general account of a method of sugar-cane 

 cultivation wth which you have had experience. 



(2) What methods for lessening the damage from root 

 disease (Jfarasmius sp.) of sugar cane have been suggested? 



(3) State what manures you have seen used for sugar- 

 canes, and why they were employed. 



(4) What facts are in favour of the establishment of 

 cane nurseries? How would you proceed to make a nursery 

 of the kind? 



(.5) Say what you know of any methods that have been 

 suggested for the classification of sugar-canes. 



(6) Describe carefully the way in which ratoons are 

 produced from the material left in the ground after crop. 



(7) Give a list of insect pests of cane that you have 

 observed, and supply an account of the life-history of any one 

 of them. 



(8) What considerations, in your experience, govern 

 the extent to which the sugar-cane should be ratooned? 



CACAO. 



(1) Give a description of the disease called die- back of 

 cacao, and say what other parts of the plant the fungus 

 causing this disease will attack. Mention any other plants 

 affected by this fungus. 



(2) State what manures or other dressings you have 

 seen used for cacao, and describe the way in which they are 

 applied. 



(3) Describe the fermentation of cacao. 



(4) How have you seen cacao land drained, in your 

 experience? What are contour drains and what are their uses? 



(.5) Give a list of the activities on a cacao estate, in 

 order, during a complete crop season. 



(6) Supply a description of a method of drying cacao. 



(7) How is cacao grafted, and why? 



(8) Write a short account of three different species or 

 varieties of cacao that you have examined. 



LIMES. 



(1) Give the life-history of any insect pest of limes 

 that is of importance, suggesting measures for its control. 



(2) Write a careful account of the manufacture of any 

 lime product with which you have had experience. 



(3) Describe the work that has to be done in a lime 

 nursery. 



(4) In what ways is the essential oil obtained from 

 limes? Compare the values of the products yielded by the 

 different methods. 



(.5) Give details concerning the packing and marketing 

 of eiOier (a) lime juice or (b) citrate of lime. 



(6) Write a description of a method of treating the soil 

 in lime cultivation. 



(7) State what you know of any disease of limes with 

 which you have become acquainted practically. 



(8) For what is lime juice tested, and how are testa 

 carried out? 



COTTON. 



(1) Make an exammation of the sample of seed- cotton 

 provided, and express the results of the examination in the 

 form of a table. 



(2) Describe a method of control of any insect pest of 

 cotton. Give a list of the chief natural enemies of insects 

 attacking cotton. 



(3) What manurial treatment of cotton is advised, in 

 the island in which you live? 



(4) Mention the chief by-products of cotton-growing 

 and say what uses are made of them. 



(5) How should cotton lint be prepared for baling? 



(6) AVTiat precautions should be taken in storing 

 cotton seed! 



(7) Give an account of any fungus or bacterial disease 

 of cotton, stating what measures may be taken against it. 



(8) Describe the action of the type of gin used for Sea 

 Island cotton. 



COTTON IN CHINA, IN 191 1. 



The decrease in the total export of raw cotton was chiefly 

 due to the shortage of crops in the districts supplying 

 Shanghai, Xingpo and Hangchow, in all of which the heavy 

 summer rains caused much damage. The difficulty of for- 

 warding money into the interior in the last quarter of the 

 year, and the fall in prices in the United States, where 

 abundant crops were produced, were factors still further 

 operating to reduce the export from Central China, the 

 decrease in shipments from Shanghai alone amounting to 

 40 per cent. The Hankow crop was a good one, but the 

 revolution broke out before it could be brought to market. 

 In the north of China, on the other hand, the salient feature 

 of the trade of 1911 was the enormous increase in the pro- 

 duction of raw cotton, the export from Tientsin being two 

 and a half times greater than in the previous year. In many 

 parts of Chili and Shantung cotton was grown as a substitute 

 for opium, every assistance being given by the Government in 

 experimenting with American seeds, and in other ways. An 

 important reform was accomplished in Shanghai in regard to 

 the long-standing abuse of watering native cotton, the efforts 

 of an anti adulteration association formed by cotton dealers 

 there resulting in the establishment of a testing- house, by 

 which all cotton intended for export has first to be examined, 

 and is rejected if found to contain more than a certain percen- 

 tage of moisture. The anarchy prevailing during the last 

 three months of the year, however, checked the bringing in 

 of supplies to the Shanghai market and interfered with the 

 complete success of the new institution At Tientsin a similar 

 association has been formed, and negotiations are proceeding 

 for the establishment of testing-houses at the native customs 

 barriers. Efforts are also being made by the Hankow General 

 Chamber of Commerce to have a similar arrangement adopted 

 at Hankow. {Diplomatk and Consular Reports, Xo. 4979 

 Annual Series; August 1912.) 



