ToL. V. No. 112. 



THE AGEICULTURAL NEWS. 



253 



AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. 



St. Vincent. 



The following is the general report of the 

 •examiner (Mr. F. A. Stockdale, B.A;) on the recent 

 half-yearly examination of the pupils of the St. Vincent 

 Agricultural School : — 



Only one boy took the papers set for the senior class, 

 and, on the whole, the answers we)-e satisfaotory. In Agri- 

 culture he showed that he possessed a good knowledge of 

 the pests and diseases that attack cotton in St. Vincent, 

 but the Chemistry paper seemed to indicate that the prepara- 

 tion and use of the principal insecticides and fungicides 

 -were imperfectly known. On the whole, much better results 

 would have been obtained if the facts, set down in the 

 various answers had been more carefully and thoughtfully 

 arranged. 



Twenty-one boys took the junior papers, and consider- 

 able improvement has been made by some of the boys since 

 the last examination. Twelve boys obtained over .50 per 

 cent, of the total marks. 



ilcConnie maintained his position as head of the 

 juniors, with over 70 per cent, of the total marks. The 

 work of the next five boys is very uniforni, and they occupy 

 the same order as in the last examination, with about 65 

 per cent, of the total marks. If it is thought that they are 

 sufficiently advanced, they might be pronioted to the .senior 

 class : more attention could then be given to the weakest boys 

 in the school. The work, on the whole, is fairly satisfactory, 

 and of the more important subjects Arithmetic is again 

 the best ; the working, with few exceptions, being 

 neat and clear. There is, however, a tendency to 

 cramp it into a very narrow margin and therefore the 

 results fi-eijuentiy get confused. Dictation and composition 

 produced some .satisfactory papers, but in the latter subject 

 the boys do not carefully arrange their facts, and are inclined 

 to be much too verbose. Botany and Agriculture were uniform 

 and of a fair standard, but Geography and Chemistry are 

 still weak. In Geography the drawing of maps might receive 

 continued attention, for .some of the boys are inclined to be 

 rather untidy. Further attention should be given to Chemis- 

 try, for, although slight improvement has been made .since the 

 last examination, the boys knew very little about the 

 preparation and uses of Bordeaux mixture. It might be 

 a,dvisrtble if the preparation of the more important fungicides 

 and insecticides were performed and their uses and actions 

 explained, while being used practically in the grounds 

 attached to the school. 



St. Lucia. 



Mr. Stockdale's report on the St. Liicia Agricultural 

 ■School is as follows : — 



Eight boys took the papers set for the senior class and 

 there were ten juniors. 



Of the eight seniors tke work of DuBoulay was very 

 satisfactory, for he obtained 75 per cent, of the total marks. 

 His work is inclined to be rather careless and untidy, and 

 liiany more marks would have been obtained if more style had 

 •been shown. Five of the remaining seven obtained over 50 

 per cent, of the total marks, but most of them found the 

 questions too hard for them. It is to be regretted that an 

 error was made in allowing these boys to take papers which 

 were intended for DuBoulay alone, and I should now suggest 

 that Girard, Lawrence, and Alexander continue with the 

 senior course, if it is considered that they have had sutiicient 



grounding in the elementary work, and the remaining four 

 boys confine their attention to the work prescribed for juniors. 

 Gabriel and Katty again occupy, the lowe.st position, and 

 should receive attention, so that idme. improvement may be 

 .shown in the next examination.] ^ In Agriculture, marked 

 improvement has been made, for a good elementary knowledge 

 was shown of the cacao tree, and the questions that touched 

 upon the experimental work in the tield clearly .showed that 

 the boys take an interest in their'practical work. Some of 

 the boys sent in some good answer.^ ^in Chemistry, but most of 

 them spent too much time over the first ciuestion, with the 

 result that the remainder were ^omewhat scamped. The 

 Botany, on the whole, was poor, as most of the boys 

 seemed to lack powers of observing for themselves. More 

 attention should be given to this subject and also to map- 

 drawing in Geography. The Arithmetic was the best of the 

 more important subjects, some of the boys sending in neat 

 papers with accurate results. 



Of the ten juniors only one obtained over 50 per cent. 

 Some of the papers on Botany and Agriculture were fair, but 

 the knowledge of the science subjects is rather superficial. 

 This is only to be expected when it is remembered that these 

 boys have all been at the school for less thn.n a year. The 

 Geography and Arithmetic might have been much better. In 

 the former subject, map-drawing should receive attention, and 

 in the latter the neatness of the papers should be improved. 

 In some cases the spelling of the boys is weak, but the 

 writing has improved since the last examination. 



MANUFACTURE OF BROOMS FROM 

 BROOM CORN AT ANTIGUA. 



The Antigua Standard, of July 21, reports that 

 Dr. Watts' invitation to in.spect the Experiment Station 

 at Skerrett's was well responded to by members of the 

 Agricultural and Commercial Society on July 13. The 

 following reference is made, in the report on this visit, 

 to the manufacture of brooms |'ram broom corn, and 

 the possibility of establishing a new minor incUistrj': — 



At the station Dr. Watts exhibited a number of brooms 

 made from the broom corn, which was growing there on the 

 occasion of the members' last visit. He explained that classes 

 of instruction in broom making had been arranged at the 

 Botanic Station, where an effort was made to teach young 

 men an art, which could be usefully followed in their leisure 

 hours and result in satisfactory additions to their earnings. 

 He regretted that those classes had not been taken such full 

 advantage of as he had hoped, but further classes would be 

 arranged on receipt of the names of a sutticient number of 

 persons desiring instruction. All the materials for making the 

 brooms would be supplied by the station, and instruction was 

 free. The brooms were vv'orth about 9i.l each, and one could 

 be made in less than an hour. We examined them, and except 

 perhaps in the matter of a few finishing touches of paint, etc., 

 they are quite as good as the imported American article sold 

 here, paying freight, duty, etc., at, Is. id. each. There is in 

 this a possible industry, if it can be developed and a demand 

 created ; and as Dr. 'Watts suggested, possibly one of our 

 merchants might be induced to stock them. 



Efforts are also being made in Montserrat to 

 encourage the cultivation of broom corn for the 

 manufacture of brooms. It is possible that, in addition 

 to supplying the local demand for these brooms, broom 

 corn might be profitably exported to Canada, which afc 

 present imports this material from the United States. 



