Vol. X. No. 243. 



THE. AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



269 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



AUGUST. 

 Second Period. 



Seasonal Notes. 



During the present quarter, favourable weather will see 

 the [jlanting of limes. In this work, state what precautions 

 should be observed with reference to the preparation of holes 

 for the reception of the plants, the lifting and removal of 

 plants from the nursery, and in regard to the packing and 

 transportation of plants, in order that they may suffer as 

 small a loss as possible. Past experience has shown that the 

 planting out of limes should entail a loss of less than 2 per 

 cent, of the plants; where this is greater, it is indicated that 

 the work is not being properly carried out, in one or more par- 

 ticulars. Discuss the treatment that .should be given to the 

 unoccupied land between the plants, and state the advantages 

 of the employment of green dressings for growing on such 

 lands. The green scale and black blight are e,specially likely 

 to attack young plants which have been planted out recently, 

 but have not yet become completely established. In order 

 to deal with such attacks, the plants should be sprayed. 

 What mixtures would you suggest as being most useful for 

 the purpose? It is easy to understand that natural enemies 

 cannot be relied upon to keep the.se pests in check, under the 

 unnatural conditions that obtain through the introduction of 

 a large number of plants of the .same kind, regularly planted in 

 the same area. As the plants grow, the conditions will gradu- 

 ally approximate to those which obtain in nature, although 

 they necessarily remain artificial, to a certain extent, under the 

 surroundings that are required in the case of cultivated plants. 

 In an established plantation, the pests and their parasites 

 have already obtained a natural footing, and their incidence 

 has regular relation to the season and the extent to which each 

 form of life is being parasitized by its enemies. It is evident, 

 on the other hand, that in plantations that have just been 

 made no such regular balancing of the extent to which each 

 form of life e.xists can obtain; these forms have not yet been 

 sufficiently introduced, and time will be required for them to 

 be brought in and to exert their natural influence upon one 

 another. 



Where it is intended to plant crops on undeveloped 

 land, the character of the wild vegetatioii growing on such 

 land will often serve as a useful indication of the kind of 

 cultivation to which it is be.st suited. This cannot, however, 

 be taken as an imfailing index of the fact. In a recent 

 numter of the Agricultural Neirs (Vol. X, p. 19.3), the effect 

 of the soil in the distribution of plants was considered editor- 

 ially. It was shown that this distribution, in nature, is not 

 so much a matter of the establishment of plants in those sur- 

 roundings which they find congenial, as of the effects of com- 

 petition, whereby a plant may be found in a particular habitat 

 because it is capable of ousting nearly all other [ilants from 

 that position, or because it has been forced to take that place, 

 as being the only one left to it, if it is to flourish at all. In 

 obtaining information as to the suitable crops for a given 

 area, much more dependence is to be plaicd on the character 

 of the soil, and of the rocks on which it nsts, the depth of the 

 former, the slope of the land, and to climatic conditions, 

 including the amount of rainfall and the prcyalence of winds. 

 As is evident., in regard to the last-mentioned, the conditions 

 may be modified by the provision of wind-breaks, which are 

 often employed for the purpose of increasing the agricultural 

 utility of areas of land. 



In relation to the kinds of plants found in definite areas, 

 it does not require much ob.servation to show that the char- 

 acter of vegetation varies considera).ily, even within small 

 areas, where differences exist in regard to such matters as the 

 depth of the soil, the water-supply and the slope of the land. 

 (3a exposed hillsides, the plants that~are mo.<>t usually found 

 possess devices for preventing transpiration from becoming 

 too rapid. Among these are the reduction of the leaves to 

 spines, as in the prickly pear; the provision of a thick epider- 

 mis with few stomata, as in the Agaves; and the bearing qi 

 thick, fleshj' leaves or of small leaves covered with downy 

 hairs. In sheltered valleys, on the other hand, the plants 

 are most likely to possess large, thin leaves, presenting 

 a great area for transpiration; an e.xample of such a plant is 

 cacao. 



Questions for Candidates. 



PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 



(1) Give a description of, and name as far as you can, 

 the plants growing (a) in a moist, shady ravine; (b) on a dry, 

 wind-swept hillside. 



(2) Describe carefully methods for the cross-pollination 

 of flowers. 



(3) Write an account of the structure of a bulb, such as 

 an onion, illustrating your account by means of sketches. 



INTERMEDIATE QUESTIONS. 



(1) De.scribe a way in which a pasture may be rendered 

 free from ticks. 



(2) Explain exactly how you would distinguish between 

 a rhizome, a true stem, and a true root. 



(3) Give an account of the distribution of the plants in 

 an area of ' bush', or forest land, on which you have made 

 observations. 



FINAL QUESTIONS. 



(1) Describe broadly what happens to an ovule, after 

 fertilization has taken place. 



(2) Write an account of the differences in the conditions 

 in a plantation newly planted, and one in which the trees 

 have attained maturity, illustrating your answer by means of 

 a permanent crop with which you arc familiar. 



Economic Conditions in Hayti.—- In Hayti the en- 

 tire population is agricultural, there being no mines or indus- 

 trial undertakings of any importance. Agriculture, as practised 

 in Hayti, consists of the collection of coffee berries from trees 

 which grow wild, and the cultivation, with the aid of a sort 

 of bill-hook, of small plots of ground for the sustenance of 

 the peasant owner and his family. A certain amount Of 

 sugar-cane is grown, from which raw sugar is made, but the 

 quantity produced does not suffice for the needs of the popu- 

 lation, and the greater part of the sugar used is imported, 

 although ill the time of the French the export amounted to 

 some 170,000,000 1b. The Government estimates the popu- 

 lation at 2,500,000, but this is a mere gues.3, as no census has 

 ever been taken. The wage for unskilled labour may be put 

 at 1 gourde a day, the value of which depends on the rate of 

 exchange. In 1910 a gourde was worth about lOrf. Public 

 health in 1910 was as good as can be expected from the way 

 people live in Hayti, in open defiance of all laws of sanitation 

 and hygiene. The number of Rritish subjects in Hayti is 

 probably about 1,200, of whom about .500 are at Port-au- 

 Prince. With but two or three exceptions they are natives 

 of the West Indies, and in poor circumstances. {Diploniaiic 

 and Consular Reports, No. 4638, Annual Series.) 



