EXAMINATION OF SCHOOL TEACHERS IN GARDENING, xcvii 



EXAMINATION OF SCHOOL TEACHERS IN COTTAGE 

 AND ALLOTMENT GARDENING. 



April 17, 1918. 



Eight Hundred and Eighty-seven candidates entered for the Exam- 

 ination held on April 17, 1918. Of these, 19 obtained a first class, 

 241 a second, and 404 a third, leaving 182 failures and 41 absentees. 



The Examiners, Mr. F. J. Chittenden, F.L.S., V.M.H., Mr. W. 

 Crump, V.M.H., Mr. C. R. Fielder, V.M.H., and Mr. John Fraser, 

 F.L.S., report that the candidates' written answers were somewhat 

 disappointing, considering their profession. There appears consider- 

 able carelessness in reading and answering the questions. The 

 questions were carefully prepared, with the view of getting the 

 candidates to think ; the answers, however, were mostly text- 

 book phrases, or sentences repeated from the R.H.S. Pamphlets ; 

 there was often no evidence of originality or study or of intelligence. 

 On the other hand, there was a certain proportion of excellent and 

 well-written papers. 



Question 1, on the cultivation of derelict land for potatos, was 

 fairly well understood. 



Question 5 asked for eight kinds of hardy fruit, not for eight 

 varieties. This distinction was frequently ignored. Increased oppor- 

 tunities are evidently needed for candidates to attend courses of 

 practical work. 



Question 6. — Many failed to grasp the meaning of this question ; 

 the vegetables should have been dealt with separately instead of in 

 groups, as each one varies from all the others in some of its require- 

 ments. Some confusion arose about spring cabbage, which several 

 competitors imagined referred to spring sowing instead of being 

 ready to use in the spring. Coleworts and Kale were not well known 

 to many. Many of the answers to this question were very good 

 indeed, and some very good diagrams of trenching were included. 



Question 7 was very well done on the whole, the selection of plants 

 was in most cases good ; but some of the candidates gave too many 

 examples for spring at the expense of the rest of the year. Some of 

 them did not indicate their relative values for cutting purposes. 



The object of Question 8 was to test candidates' practical 

 knowledge of the essential plant-foods and their intelligent applica- 

 tion to crops. A few of the answers were good and showed a practical 

 knowledge of the subject, but the majority were disappointing ; for 

 although a large number of the candidates showed a fair knowledge 

 of plant-foods and of the manures which supply them, many failed 

 to name suitable manures for the several crops, and particularly the 

 quantities to be applied. As in previous years, the text-book was 

 VOL. xliv. g 



