126 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



April 



1905. 



EDUCATIONAL 



Barbados. 



The following is an extract from the Annual 

 Report of the Inspector of Schools in Barbados for the 

 year 1904: — 



The Tropioxl Btmltrs and Mature Teachiwj are now 

 read in almost every boys' school and also in a few girls' 

 .school.?. Questions on the text are set to the ujiper classes 

 on the day of examination and the teachers are required to 

 give object-lessons in the presence of the examiner. The 

 number of passes gained in this subject by standards from 

 III to YII amounted, in -Jl boys' and 3 girls' schools, to 820. 

 In .some of the school.s, attention is given to the cultivation of 

 plants in pots, boxes, tubs, etc. The show of cabbages, 

 par.sley, English peas, etc., in the school childrens' section of 

 the exhibition at Diin.scombe in January of this year was 

 evidence of the progress that has been made in this respect. 

 In a very few instances it has heen possible to establish 

 a small school garden, and from these, also, the vegetables 

 were a te.stimony that the training of the hand in practical 

 ■work is not neglected in our sy.stem. Good Intent, 

 St. Matthew's, Holy Innocents', Southborough, and Mount 

 Tabor .schools were the princii)al prize-winners this year. 



It is not easy to obtain land around the schools for 

 gardens, nor are funds available for the purchase of agii- 

 cultural tools, etc. The limited legislative grant is hardly 

 sufiieient to supply the necessary reading books, slates, and 

 other apparatus which are the first requisites in an elementary 

 school. Again, many of our teachers are not resident at 

 their schools, and to cultivate plants in a school garden, 

 ■where no responsible person is on the spot, would in such 

 cases offer further temptation to idlers who are already too 

 much given to praedial larceny. 



Agricultural Instructors in Trinidad. 



The annual report on the Trinidad Botanical 

 Department for the year ended March 31, 1904, 

 contained the following remarks on agricultural 

 instruction which are reproduced from the current 

 is^weoi the Bullet in of Miitccllaneiiax I nfiyrmatlon : — 



The share taken by this Department in agricultural 

 education consi.sts in supplying two trained men, under the 

 title of Agricultural Instiuetors, who are detailed to vi.sit 

 every district in the island for the purjwse of (1st.) affording 

 theoretical and practical agricultural instruction in schools, 

 (2nd.) holding public meetings for the discussion of 

 agricultural topics, (3rd.) visiting the lands of the people to 

 afford practical instruction in tillage, pruning, and other 

 operations, and (4th.) holding lectures in public places at 

 which agricultural oi>erations can be discussed and advice 

 afforded to all inquirers. This work has been very popular, 

 and the demand for the services of the Instructors has 

 been such that it has been found impossible to meet all 

 requisitions with the number of otiicers already ajipointed, 

 and the limited provision allowed as a start. For the coming 

 year increased provision for travelling has been made, so as 

 to allow the Instructors to make more fre(juent visits to each 

 district. As the effort is quite new to the Department, it was 



found impossible to arrange the work of the Instructors in 

 any regular or systematic manner, but it is hoped that in 

 the conung year it will be possible to provide for more 

 frequent visits to each district. A demand has been made in 

 more than one place for resident Instructors. With the 

 present staff, this has been found impossible and could only 

 be carried out by the appointment of more officers. 



One hundred and three schools were examined, and 

 hints on proper formation and management of school gardens 

 were given. 



Three courses of lectures in agriculture were given at 

 the Government Training School in Port-of-Spain, and one 

 course at the Xaiiarima Training School, San Fernando. The 

 second course at the former school was attendeil by eight 

 students from the Roman Catholic Training School in 

 Port-of-Spain. 



School Gardens in St. Lucia. 



We extract the following from tin; 



1 OH')' of 



Sf. Lucia : — 



Mr. G. T. Cumberbatch, who has been examining the 

 primary schools, having consented to adjudge the prizes 

 oft'ered by the Agricultural Society for the best school garden, 

 recommended that the £.5 voted with this object by the 

 Society should be divided in the following proportions : — 



To the Castries Anglican .Juvenile School £2 10s. 



To the Saltibus R.C. Mixed Combined 1 10s. 



To the Vieu.xfort E.G. Boys 1 



Rut, he added, if the Society saw its way to increasing 

 its vote, three prizes of greater value should be awarded to 

 the three schools in the proportion suggested. 



The Society awarded prizes of £.j, £4, and £3 

 respectively, to the three schools, comforinably with the 

 suggestion of Mr. Cumberbatch, whose willing .service in this 

 connexion is very highly appreciated. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture will 

 probably proceed on May 22 next to Tobago, to meet 

 his Excellency Sir Henry M. Jackson, K.C.M.G., who 

 will then be on a visit to that island. 



The Secretary of State for the Colonies has 

 appointed Mr. William Robson, formerly of the Royal 

 Gardens, Kew, to be Curator of the Experiment 

 Stations at ilontserrat from April II last. Mr. Robson 

 holds certificates for Theoretical and Practical 

 Chemistry (Board of Education) and for Land 

 Surveying (County Council Examination). 



Abnorn-ial Growth of Corypha elata. liefer- 



ence was made in the Agiicullural Xavs (Vol. If, p. 77) to 

 the unusual behaviour of a plant of Cori/ptui t/nto growing 

 in the Botanic Gardens in Briti.sh Guiana. In a recent issue 

 of the Aiyiifi/, Mr. Waby writes that this tree was cut down 

 on April ."5, and an opportunity was thus given for making 

 further observations as to this abnormalitj*. Inste^id of 

 producing a flowering panicle, this tree started into fresh 

 growth at the l>eginning of 190.S, producing at the top, as 

 it were, a young plant about the size of one six or seven 

 years old, with no sign whatever of the panicle. In the 

 following July flowers appeared. It was found that the 

 fruit of this plant weighed 1,100 ft. and contained over 

 .51,000 seeds. 



