EXAMINATIONS IN HORTICULTUKE, 1012. 



321 



EXAMINATION OF SCHOOL TEACHEES IN COTTAGE 

 AND ALLOTMENT GAEDENING, 1912. 



April 27, 1912. 



One thousand and eighty-nine Candidates entered for the Examina- 

 tion of School Teachers in Cottage and Allotment Gardening, held 

 on April 27, 1912, being an increase of 592 over the entries for 1911; 

 106 obtained sufficient marks for a first-class, 702 for a second, and 

 209 for a third, leaving only 30 failures, 11 absentees, and one Candi- 

 date who was disqualified for consulting notes. 



The Examiners, Mr. F. J. Chittenden, F.L.S., Mr. John Eraser, 

 F.L.S., Mr. Alexander Dean, Y.M.H., and Mr. C. E. Fielder, V.M.H., 

 report that, generally speaking, the answers returned showed an intelli- 

 gent grasp of the subjects of the questions. The questions on vege- 

 table cultivation, especially, produced very practical answers, and were 

 awarded correspondingly high marks. It is, however, surprising that 

 so many Candidates would make up a Jio^-bed with well-rotted manure. 



The Examiners notice that the word ' ' born ' ' is much used in 

 reference to the germination of seeds. The term is by no means a 

 good one, for, as a rule, it applies to animal life and not to plant 

 life. Want of practical knowledge was very apparent where Cyclamen, 

 Lobelia, and Snapdragon were given as subjects suitable for training 

 on a cottage wall ! There was a similar want of knowledge, or thought, 

 in recommending arsenical washes for currant and gooseberry bushes 

 attacked by caterpillar. 



Question 10 was well answered and diagrammatically illustrated, 

 but in a large number of cases it was suggested that all the soil should 

 be excavated within a given distance from the tree, instead of taking 

 out a trench only at a certain distance. A still greater fault was the 

 recommendation to use manure freely in refilling the trench, as this 

 might be expected to reproduce the very condition of unfruitfulness 

 and gross growth which it is the object of root-pruning to counteract.- 



In Section B a greater proportion of the Candidates showed an 

 appreciation of the principles concerning which questions were asked 

 than in previous years ; but, even so, there was still on the part of 

 many a lamentable lack of the power to apply principles to practical 

 gardening. Questions in Section B are designed to test how far the 



