68 



these posts at the end of a fixed time in order to make room 

 for others. 



A scheme of reading courses followed by examinations has 

 been successfully instituted by the 'imperial Department of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies, and followed with modi- 

 fications independently in some colonies; the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture scheme makes it a condition for 

 examination that the candidate (except the preliminary) is 

 practically engaged in agricultural work in the subjects (crops) 

 in which he is examined; mere book work will not suffice to 

 gain admission even to examination. The examinations are 

 divided into three grades, Preliminary, Intermediate, and 

 Final, with three classes in each grade. The grades are 

 intended to correspond with the three vocational grades of 

 West Indian planting life : Beginner, Overseer (or Book- 

 keeper), and Manager. 



The establishment of tropical agricultural colleges is 

 advocated and their scope and functions indicated. Stress is 

 laid on the point that consideration must be given to the life- 

 work ultimately to be undertaken by the student in framing 

 his college course, that regard must be had to the working- 

 farmer or planter, who requires only moderate training in 

 sciences, but who must be afforded means of studying and 

 practising agriculture as an art: hence for this class of student 

 an agricultural college must either possess, or be associated 

 with, a considerable area of land whereon the agricultural 

 operations common to the district are carried out on a com- 

 mercial scale. Regard must also be paid to the training of 

 the scientific experts who look forward to being ultimately 

 engaged in specialized work connected with agriculture, as 

 advisors on special subjects, e.g., chemical, entomological, 

 mycological, etc., and not as working farmers or planters. 

 These students require different provision from the former, 

 and are not to be confused with them as sometimes would 

 appear to be the case. 



For adequate teaching and for the advancement of know- 

 ledge it is very desirable that an agricultural college should be 

 associated with something in the nature of an institute for 

 agricultural research; it would be well if the Institute for 

 research could be regarded as the main affair and the teach- 

 ing be grouped around it. 



From what is stated it follows that agricultural colleges 

 cannot well be established and maintained by small communi- 

 ties; they imply a large, well-trained, and well-equipped pro- 

 fessional staff and a large number of students to justify the 

 existence of such a staff. In the case of a tropical agricultural 



