1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
365 
5. What kind of crop succeeds the best on this kind 
of soil ? 
6. How large would you make the beds on such a 
soil ? and why? 
7. Is this heavy or light soil, cold or warm ? 
The same questions were asked as to another kind of 
soil at a different spot. The pupils returned and gave 
from their notes the required answers. 
The questions which they were obliged to answer in 
writing, were as follows: 
I. In the case of a heavy soil, sown with wheat and 
oats, and in that of a light soil sown with rye,—state 
for every month. 
1. How much plowing and harrowing has to be 
done ? 
2. With how many horses or oxen ? 
II. How much manure will you require for it, ex¬ 
pressed in loads ? Do you call that heavy or light ma¬ 
nuring ? 
III. How will you treat the manure in the stable, in 
the dung-hill and in the field ? 
IV. When you have at command Jauche, (drainings 
of dung-hills,) and mineral manure, how and for what 
crops would you use them ? 
V. What kind of weeds appear in the summer and 
what kind in the winter crops ? 
VI. And how will you destroy them when there are 
such ? 
VII. How can you prevent these weeds from coming 
up ? 
VIII. You have good and bad meadows—to what 
kind of cattle will you give your best, and which the 
worst kind of hay ? 
1. In the naked fallow, suppose that there is planted 
rape after clover, from which one cut was taken, let 
there be sown wheat. After peas, let there be planted 
potatoes—ten acres for each kind of crop: 
The required work for each kind of crop to be done 
in two days ? 
How much labor of cattle is required in every pe¬ 
riod ? 
2. A field of twenty acres is to be manured with 
eight fftads per acre, about the month of June: The 
field is 1000 paces from the farm yard: All must be done in 
five days: The manure must be strewed in three days: 
How much labor of cattle and hands is required ? 
3. A meadow of middling quality, of thirty acres, 
must be mown in two days; the grass must be immedi¬ 
ately spread; when dry, it has to be brought home in a 
day, about t >o miles from the yard. How many span 
of working cattle and labor of hands, how many men 
and how many women are requisite ? 
4. The crop of a rye field of twenty acres must be 
brought home in two days. How many laborers 
(a) To make straw bands ? 
(b) To mow ? 
( c) To gather and bind ? 
(d) To bring together and for loading ? 
( e ) To bring to the barn? 
(/) How many span of oxen or horses to haul it ? 
5. The crop of ten acres of wheat, oats and barley, 
must be threshed in nine days and taken to the market, 
ten miles distant. How much labor, &c., of men and 
animals ? 
6. In a heavy soil there shall be made in two days, a 
ditch of three feet depth, three feet wide at the top, 
one foot at the bottom, three hundred yards long; how 
much does it cost per yard and how many hands must 
be set to work ? 
7. A meadow of good quality, of twenty acres, about 
two miles distant from the farm yard, must be mowed 
in one day—if possible, dried in three days; the hay 
must be brought in, in half a day and stacked: 
How many persons and teams are necessary; and 
what is the probable crop from such a meadow ? 
To show their skill in making reports and other state¬ 
ments in writing, the following subjects were given: 
1. A superintendent reports to his superior an acci¬ 
dent on the estate, and describes the necessary steps he 
has taken. 
2. The superintendent gives a written order and in¬ 
structions to the overseer of the farm. 
3. The superintendent makes a weekly report on the 
income and expenses of the grain, and for seed, fodder 
consumed by the cattle, on an estate where there are 
kept sixteen servants, twelve horses and eight oxen. 
The next day, the 7th of September, the result of the 
examination was made publicly known. For this pur¬ 
pose, the board of examiners, the pupils and the audi¬ 
ence assembled at the university, and the following 
statement was made: 
That most of the pupils showed skill in the practical 
manipulations; but that by some, not only skill, but 
thoroughness was wanting. They were then admon¬ 
ished on the requirement of these practical manipula¬ 
tions in the farming operations. 
The trial, as to the names of the parts of the imple¬ 
ments, as, well as the remedy when broken, &c., was 
declared not satisfactory; that a better knowledge of the 
parts of such implements with which the farmer has 
evtivy day to work, is required and expected. 
In the examination of soils and the best kinds of 
crops for them, the pupils showed considerable know¬ 
ledge and correct views, but the knowledge in sheep 
breeding was rather slight; they showed more experience 
in horned cattle, and the most in their judgment of hor¬ 
ses. 
In the examination on the culture of crops, they pro¬ 
ved well experienced; less so in that of herbage and 
fodder; had little knowledge in the value of a substitute 
for fodder, but were entirely deficient in the economy of 
farming, and showed a want of judgment in the quan¬ 
tity of force required for certain labors. The study of 
this important branch was recommended to their special 
attention, to acquire a correct knowledge of the amount 
of labor required for agricultural operations, in order to 
economize the most important capital, time, which ean 
never be replaced. 
The report upon the result of this examination, was 
very independent and honest. It was not like those of 
institutions of education, where the principal and teach¬ 
ers train the pupils, in a certain set of questions, to as¬ 
tonish the audience on the day of exhibition, when they 
publicly deceive, as to the high qualifications of the pu¬ 
pils, in order to increase the patronage of their manu¬ 
factory of learned boys and girls, defraud the parents 
of their money, the children of their most precious time, 
and force upon the public a set of ignorant, conceited 
pretenders, who, instead of adding to the progress of 
things in general, retard it. This examination would 
have sufficed in many other places, and the pupils would 
have been crowned with laurels; but here, the examin¬ 
er wished not to recommend a young man for a place, 
when he was convinced the pupil would ruin his em¬ 
ployer, and injure the reputation of his teacher and the 
society. 
At the close of the president’s practical remarks, it 
was stated that it was the object of the association to 
ascertain what the young culturist has acquired during 
his practical studies; that a higher practical knowledge 
is required to become a director of estates, and that 
can be best accomplished by travelling. Further, that 
it had been hitherto the belief, that every simpleton 
could be a good agriculturist, and when every attempt 
failed to get h’m along in the world, the farming busi¬ 
ness was looked upon as the receptacle of all family 
prodigies of dullness. Of this error, the bad effects 
