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into ear about the middle of the month. The temperature fell during July with a heavy gale, and much rain on the 26th and 27th; the potatoe blight immediately appeared, the apple trees were blighted, and much fruit blown down. August was almost continuously warm and fine, the harvest commenced and was general in the first week, and was gathered in under most favourable weather.

The wheat crop must be considered as above the average yield, but the sudden and great rise of temperature in June, with a very small amount of rain in that month, injuriously affected the latesown spring corn, drawing it fast into ear with a weak and thin stalk; the turnip crop also suffered much from the same cause, but mangold braved the variations of heat and moisture, and showed a vast superiority in withstanding the variations of our climate, as compared with the turnip. The hay crop suffered in quantity from the drought, but it was gathered in excellent condition.

The practical lesson which the meteorology of the year teaches, is, that late-sown spring corn is often from climatic influence a very defective crop; the remedy for which appears to be deep autumnal cleaning of the land, and drilling it up during the winter: it is thus placed in good condition to receive the seed on the first burst of spring, so that the roots may spread and take fast hold of the soil, and the plant, having a vigorous growth, throws up a strong stalk and a well-filled ear.

Greater attention has lately been paid to develop the growth of cattle when young, and a corresponding benefit has resulted to the breeder. Let our corn plants receive like attention in the early stages of their growth, and they will push their way through many adverse influences to a bountiful harvest.

Truro, May 20, 1859.

25.-Tithe Commutation Table.

Communicated by R. DYMOND, Exeter.

THE average prices of corn upon which the commutation of tithes was founded, as provided by the 'Act for the Commutation of Tithes in England and Wales,' were,

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By the 'London Gazette' of January, 1859, it appears that the average prices for the seven years ending on the Thursday next preceding Christmas Day, 1858, have been as follows:

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And by calculation it will be seen that for every 100l. of tithe rent-charge, as stated in the apportionments, the amount payable for the year 1859 will be 1081. 19s. 6d., which is a little more than 3 per cent. above the last year's value, and an increase of 9 per cent. on the averages adopted for the apportionments.

The following statement, founded on Mr. Willich's 'Annual Tithe Commutation Tables,' shows that the average prices for the whole twenty-three years since the passing of the Tithe Commutation Act are 991. 8s. 91d., being 11s. 3d. per cent. under those on which the commutation was founded. But notwithstanding the present low price of wheat, the rent-charge payable for the year 1859 will be considerably higher than at any pre

vious period :

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26.-Average Prices of Meat and Corn.

Compiled from the Journal of the Statistical Society. By R. DYMOND, Exeter.

Average Price of Beef and Mutton per Pound and per Stone of 8 lbs., as sold by the Carcase in Leadenhall and Newgate Markets.

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Average Price of Grain per Imperial Quarter in England and Wales during each Quarter, for the Year ending September 25, 1858.

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Wheat sold in England and Wales during each Quarter, for the 12 Months ending September 30, 1858; and also the Quantities entered for Home Consumption.

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5,079,000

4,277,000

UNIVERSITY LOCAL EXAMINATIONS.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY: EXAMINATION AT EXETER;

DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES.

THE subject of Middle Class Education is familiar to the members of the Bath and West of England Society. In the 'Journal' of last year (vol. vi. p. ix.) attention was drawn to the fact that a test of "good general education" had been offered to the whole of England, under the conduct of Examiners especially appointed by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and that the scheme for "local committees to cooperate with these examiners," first inaugurated in the West of England by an agricultural body, had been followed by the appointment of similar committees in the great centres of population-Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Bedford, London, Southampton, Cheltenham, and Bath.

The local examinations at Bath and Exeter commenced, simultaneously with those at the other centres, on the 21st of June, 1858, and continued till the 26th. At Bath the University was represented by Mr. Thomas Dyke Acland, D.C.L., as delegate, and Rev. G. S. Ward, M.A., as examiner. At Exeter the University delegate was the Rev. Robert Scott, D.D., Master of Balliol, and the Examiner, Mr. Parker, M.A. The results of the several examinations were published officially by the University of Oxford, and extracts from the report will be found in another portion of this volume.

The Exeter Examination revealed a state of facts creditable to many of the instructors of youth in the counties of Devon, Somerset, and Cornwall, and was deemed satisfactory by the committee of gentlemen who, in the year 1857, were charged with the duty of carrying out the "scheme of prizes for practical schools in the West of England." To mark the success of the movement and give it additional impetus, it was thought desirable that local prizes should be awarded to those pupils who had distinguished themselves in the examination. A public meeting was accordingly held at the Guildhall, in the city of Exeter, on Friday, October 22, to which the students, their parents, and instructors were invited. In the unavoidable absence of Sir John Kennaway, Bart., President of the Committee, the chair was taken by the Right Hon. Sir J. T. Coleridge, Kt., who briefly introduced the business of the meeting, and called on Mr. Acland, Honorary Secretary to the Exeter Committee, to read the report of their proceedings. From this document the following is an extract :

"The Committee think that the necessary expenses of a local examination under the authority of the University will require a fund of about 50%, annually, in which estimate it will be observed that no allowance is made for prizes, if they should be deemed desirable.

"In London, where the Local Committee was composed chiefly of practical teachers, each candidate examined in the rooms engaged by the Committee | was required to pay 10s., the candidate having the alternative of paying his travelling expenses to Oxford. It may be premature to decide on taking a similar step at Exeter; but the Committee are of opinion that eventually the local examination ought to be self-supporting.

"The position of the Exeter candidates in the Oxford division list is a ground of congratulation to the promoters of a scheme which had Exeter for its birthplace. It deserves particular notice that not only some of the highest places of honour were attained by candidates from the West, but that the average of attainment of Exeter candidates in the most important branches of education was very much above the average for the whole of England in the same departments, fully justifying the confidence expressed last year by your secretary, in concert with Dr. Temple, that the schoolmasters in the West of England need not fear comparison with their brethren in any part of the country. The candidates, at the recent examination, were not drawn from schools of any particular class. Grammar schools, of very high reputation, and commercial schools strove side by side in honourable competition.

"But the Committee feel especially bound to advert to the fact that several schools which competed, in some cases with success, in the first Exeter examinations of 1857, supplied no candidates in 1858. Whether this result was owing to the fear of too high a standard, to the fee to be paid, or to any other cause of misapprehension, there is reason to believe that it was not owing to any apathy among the masters.

"But the facts of the case suggest the enquiry whether the Oxford examinations have superseded the demand for some local examination, ancillary or in some sense introductory to the Oxford examination, for the sake of such schools as responded warmly to the original proposals of 1857, while they have hesitated to accept the overtures of the Universities.

"The Committee are not prepared at present to announce any distinct proposal for the continuance of a purely local examination, should such be declared desirable, but they wish it to be distinctly understood that they have not lost sight of the primary object which they were first called upon to promote; namely, the education of boys in the West of England with a view to employments in agriculture, arts, manufactures, and commerce, and they are anxious to learn the wishes of those most deeply interested in the subject, whether as teachers or as parents."

Mr. SILLIFANT, in moving the adoption of the report, congratulated the Committee on the success of a measure at first considered merely experimental. Believing that the Middle Classes were quite capable of taking care of themselves, and that their children needed no assistance in the way of charity, he thought that the University had done all that was needed by giving the independent schoolmasters a locus standi, and providing them with a public, unbiassed test of the quality of the | instruction they imparted.

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