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Q. 7. From which constituents of food can fat be produced? In selecting a fattening food what composition would you especially desire? What must be the character of the animal, and under what conditions should it be placed if rapid fattening is desired? Q. 8. How has it been shown experimentally that the production of work by an animal does not depend upon the amount of albuminoids in its food?

These five questions were generally well answered.

Q. 9. What is meant by the manure value of a food? Compare the manure values of linseed and cotton cakes, of maize and beans? Here the information lacked definiteness; candidates had no idea of the quantities involved.

Q. 10. By what different agents may milk be curdled? Does milk curdle more quickly when warm or when cold? Which constituents of the milk are found in the curd, and which in the whey? Generally, milk was said to be curdled_by "bacteria," in contradistinction to curdling by acid or by rennet. Yet the bacteria only act by secreting acids or enzymes.

Indifferently answered.

HONOURS.

Results 1st Class, - ; 2nd Class, 2; Failed, 3; Total, 5.

The answers sent in to the Honours questions did not attain a high standard; it was evident that the candidates had some acquaintance with the subject matter of each question, but had not passed beyond a mere general idea to the exact knowledge demanded. For example, in Q. 3 (Part I., Agriculture) the answers indicated that the nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash of a purchased food were in the main left on the farm in the dung, and so could be valued to the incoming tenant, but the basis on which this is now done as an ordinary part of farm valuations was not given, nor was any reference made to the crucial distinction between the old scale of compensation based on the cost of the food and the new one which depends on its composition. Q's. 2 (on rates and taxes), 5 (on the cost and production of a milch cow), 7 (on finger and toe) were better answered, but in Q. 4 (on the continuous growing of cereal crops) no one knew of Mr. Prout's long and successful management of a farm exclusively devoted to cereal growing, although a further account of it appeared in the last volume of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society.

The papers submitted for Honours in Horticulture were sound as far as they went, but all showed that the candidates lacked experience of market gardening.

DAY EXAMINATION.
STAGE 1.

Results 1st Class, 1; 2nd Class, 1; Failed, 2; Total, 4.

The answers were too few in number to call for detailed comment.

STAGE 2.

1st Class, 22; 2nd Class, 49; Failed, 24; Total, 95.

SECTION A.-TILLAGE AND CROPS.

With the exception of the papers from one class, the answers generally showed an improvement. There was evidence of better teaching, but candidates still show a tendency to regard farming operations from too exclusively a chemical point of view, to the neglect of the general economy of the farm and the important factor of the tilth of the soil.

Q. 1. What differences in the character of the plough slice are brought about by a short or a long mould board in a plough? For what

class of land is each best suited? How is the shape of the plough slice adjusted by the ploughman?

The character of the work done by a long or short mould board was generally known, but opinions were about equally divided as to which was more suitable to heavy land.

Q. 2. What difference in fertility would you expect to find between soil and subsoil? Is anything to be gained by working the land more deeply than customary; distinguish between the effects of deep ploughing and subsoiling.

The majority of candidates still regard the subsoil as composed of coarser materials than the soil, and do not in consequence recognise how unworkable a clay subsoil may be if brought to the surface. Nor was the importance of organic matter of the soil and its accompanying bacteria sufficiently recognised.

Q. 3. What are the chief improvements effected (1) in a heavy clay soil, (2) in a light sand, by laying it down to temporary grass for two or three years?

This was generally soundly answered.

Q. 4. What is meant by bare and bastard fallows respectively? For what reason do some farmers give their land an occasional bare fallow, and on what class of land is the practice likely to be useful? Calculate the cost per acre of a bare fallowing.

It should be borne in mind that almost the only justification of a bare fallow is the need of restoring the tilth of a heavy clay soil.

Q. 5. What are the most troublesome weeds of arable land in your part of the country? Describe the class of soil you are dealing with and what are the most effective means of eradicating or keeping under the weeds in question?

More observation should be given to the weeds characteristic of different classes of land.

Q. 6. A farmer has some good grazing land; what rules should he follow, and what details should he look to, to secure that it remains in fine condition? Indicate some of the best methods of improving poor pasture.

Here the answers turned almost wholly on manuring, to the neglect of such practical questions as careful stocking to keep the grass properly eaten off, harrowing, rolling, cutting anthills, and other details attended to by the skilful grazier.

Q. 7. Under what conditions will farmyard manure of high quality be produced, and how should it be managed and stored so as to retain its manurial value to the full ?

Fairly answered, though not enough was said of the value of keeping the manure undisturbed and well trampled down in the yard until it is ready for the land.

Q. 8. Describe the leading varieties of mangels; state which is the hardiest, which the heaviest cropper, and which the richest. Describe the routine of cultivation for the mangel crop.

Little was known of the varieties of mangold and of their relative values.

Q. 9. To what attacks of disease or insect pests is the oat crop subject, and what remedies can be applied?

Well answered by a few candidates.

Q. 10. Work out the cost of a day's labour of a horse, taking into account food, attendance, and depreciation.

Candidates generally showed an improvement in their knowledge of costs.

SECTION B.-HORTICULTURE.

A small but good set of candidates, possessing a sound general knowledge of Horticulture, and able to express themselves clearly. The questions call for no detailed comment.

SECTION C.- ANIMAL HUSBANDRY.

Numbers small, but the work in this section shows improvement; there was more definiteness in the answers, quantities were given and costs realised.

SECTION D.-CHEMISTRY OF PLANT AND SOIL.

A fair set of answers, marred, as in Section E, by the fact that the candidates had often begun to learn Agricultural Chemistry without any training in the pure science. Often an answer would read very correctly until some passage would reveal that the writer had got up the question without any real understanding of the subject, from sheer inability to grasp the meaning of a chemical change.

Q. 1. Lime is often said to sink in the soil. What is meant by "lime" in this connection, and how far is the statement justified? What solvent actions are at work removing "lime" from the soil?

Few candidates knew that a layer of chalk or lime applied to the surface of grass land will be found, after a time, a little distance below the ground level, owing to the action of earthworms. This process is not seen in arable land, and is quite distinct from the removal of calcium carbonate by solution. Teachers might impress upon their students that rain water cannot become charged with carbon dioxide by passing through the air (law of partial pressures); it is only when in contact with the soil gases that the soil water acquires any considerable proportion of carbon dioxide. Q. 4. Have the roots of a plant any solvent action upon the inorganic materials of the soil? Describe experiments to illustrate your answer and discuss the evidence that they afford.

Nearly all the candidates ascribed considerable solvent power to the acid root sap, a theory which is generally discredited nowadays. Few candidates mentioned that the roots do excrete carbon dioxide, and that this is quite capable of etching the marble slab in Sach's well-known experiment. One or two candidates said the acid excreted was acid potassium phosphate, but did not explain why a plant should excrete two of the constituents it is always trying to obtain from the soil. Czapek's observation of the excretion of acid potassium phosphate only referred to germinating seedlings.

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Q. 6. How is humus formed in the soil, and what does it contain? Under what circumstances will the so-called "sweet or "sour" humus be produced?

Many candidates regarded nitrification as part of the action of making sweet" humus, denitrification as the corresponding action bringing about 66 sour" humus.

Q. 3. What are the factors regulating the temperature of the soil? Discuss their relative importance and illustrate your reasons by practical examples.

It was not sufficiently recognised that the greater or less evaporation of water is the chief factor in regulating the temperature of the soil.

9291,

P.

SECTION E.--CHEMISTRY OF MANURES AND CROPS.

The failures were mostly from one class which had not been taught to the necessary standard.

Q. 2. What essential difference in composition is there between the liquid and the solid portions of an animal's excrement, and which is the more valuable as manure? Which of the two is more subject to loss and how?

Few candidates appreciated the fact that since the solid excrement represents those portions of the animals' food which have resisted digestion, it will continue to resist the putrefactive bacteria in the soil and decay but slowly.

Q. 3. What plant food does the soil obtain from air and rain? Under what conditions would this supply be increased or diminished? Give the amounts received in pounds per acre where this is possible.

Quantities, which are all important in this connection, were rarely given. It is not correct to say that after a thunderstorm there is an increase in the nitrates in the rain water.

Is it

Q. 7. Name crops specially benefited by nitrate of soda, and others on which it has generally but little effect. How would its value be affected by very early or very late applications? generally wise to use nitrate of soda alone? If not, what else should be applied to the crop?

Candidates generally were correct in connecting the value of nitrate of soda for wheat with the growth of the latter during the winter, and the small value of the same manure for turnips with their growth under conditions rendering nitrification active; but as regards late applications of nitrate they did not lay enough stress on the fact that a cereal crop almost ceases to take nitrates from the soil after the time of its flowering.

SECTION F.-CHEMISTRY OF ANIMALS AND Foods.

The few answers call for no comment.

SCIENCE EXAMINATIONS, 1906.

SUMMARIES OF THE RESULTS.

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