THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 327 



REPORT OF THE STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURAL 



EXAMINERS. 



By Harry S. Smith, Secretary. 



In the July number of the ^Nfonthly Bulletin a typographical error 

 v.as made in the report of this Board, making- W. D. Butler and J. J. 

 Fox eligible in Merced County, and leaving out Napa entirely. The 

 report with reference to these two counties should read as follows : 

 Aap'i County: ^[cn■cd Counti/: 



W. D. Butler. Arthur E. Beers. 



.1. .T. Fox. M. M. Madson. 



Since the report for June the following men have qualiticd in the 

 counties named : 



Lake County: Santa Cruz County: 



George A. Lyon. W. II. Volek. 



Fred G. Stokes. 



As this practically finishes the examinations for the present, some 

 statistics of the examination may prove of interest. 



Since it was decided, on receipt of the opinion from tlie Attorney 

 General on this subject, that it would be necessary to qualify new eli- 

 gibles at the expiration of the various four-year terms of the county 

 horticultural commisioners, examinations have been held in thirty-seven 

 counties. In one county, Kings, no candidates presented themselves, 

 and in another county, Lassen, no one was successful in passing the 

 examination. In both these cases a list of five "competent persons" was 

 submitted, from which the supervisors were to appoint a temporary 

 commissioner for the period of one year. Several other counties had 

 had examinations during the previous year, so that the terms of their 

 commissioners will not expire for two or three years. 



The total number of men taking the examinations is 113. The total 

 number passing is 87, a percentage of 78.7. This is an excellent show- 

 ing when we take into consideration the difficulty of the examinations 

 and the broad range of agricultural science which they must cover. 

 With a single exception all incumbents were successful in passing the 

 test. 



While there was, in certain sections, some slight criticism as to the 

 advisability of re-examination at tlie expiration of the four-year terra, 

 we believe now that the work has been completed, all will agree that it 

 has been for the best interests of horticulture in our State. It is true 

 that very few changes have been made in the personnel of the county 

 commissioners as the result of these examinations; in fact, only one 

 change is directly chargeable to this ruling, and this in a covinty where 

 the commissioner had not passed the previous examination but was 

 appointed from a list of "competent persons" submitted in lieu of an 

 eligible list. In no case did a commissioner, who had passed the 

 previous examination, fail to get the required grade, although the 

 recent examinations were much longer and much more difficult. This 

 is sufficient evidence that the incumbents have been keeping abreast of 

 the developments of practical horticulture. 



