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AGTRIOULTURAL EDUCATION. 
ELEMENTAEY EXAMINATION of Pupils of Middle-Class- 
AND OTHER ScHOOLS. 
Examination Papers, 188G. 
A. AGEICULTURE. 
November lOtJi, 1885. Three Hours Allowed. 
Your place will he determined more Inj the quality than the qiiantitij of your trorl-. 
I.— THE SOIL. 
is (1) a warehouse of the food of plants — (2) a laboratory in which 
the food of plants is prepared — (3) a machine by which the food of 
plants is administered. 
1. As a warehouse — (a) On what ingredients in it does the fertility 
of a soil principally depend ? — (f>) By what operations on the farm 
is the store of these ingredients kept replenished ? — (c) Is there any 
other store-room of plant food, and what does it supply ? 
2. a laboratory — (a) On what processes in it does the fertility 
of a soil depend ? — (6) What new chemicals are annually or occa- 
sionally added to it in the operations of the farm ? — (c) What pro- 
cesses are these susbtances likely, severally, to quicken or set going, 
or, possibly, to check ? 
3. As a machine — (a) What are the mechanical characteristics of 
a soil on which its ability to administer plant food depends ? — (V) 
What annual or occasional operations are conducted on the soil in 
order to maintain or improve its capability as a machine for feeding 
plants? — (c) What improvements in the mechanical ability or cha- 
racter of a soil are these operations, severally, likely to effect?* 
II.— THE CE0P3. 
are (1) sown in properly prepared ground — (2) cultivated during 
their growth — (3) harvested either for use upon the farm, or for 
despatch to market. 
1. As to seed-time — (a) What are the conditions of successful 
germination required by all seeds ? — (h) What arc the special cir- 
cumstances of any field, whether as to character of soil, or present 
