This paper describes a statistical analysis of the records collected by the Norfolk Milk Recording Society (3918 lactations), comparing the results with those obtained from the records of the Penrith M.R.S. (already published).

As in the case of Penrith, autumn calvers were found to average more milk in a lactation than spring calvers, but the best months of calving were two months later—i.e. October to February instead of August to December; this is because in the case of Norfolk, yields are maintained well throughout the winter, whereas they fall off very rapidly in the Penrith district from February to April, and if this bad period comes early in the lactation a low yield results. The yield falls off, in both districts, very rapidly during summer (after the flush of grass in spring) and particularly during the two periods June-July and September-October; the average rates at which the yield declines during different calendar months, appears to provide the explanation of the variation in yield according to the month of calving. Seasonal variations appear to be nutritional, rather than meteorological, in nature, and it seems probable that with more knowledge of feeding and management they should be largely eliminated; the greatest scope for improvement lies in summer, when it is suggested arrangements should be made for a supply of catch-crops for feeding green, and this supplementing of the grass should begin much earlier in the year—i.e. beginning of June in normal seasons—than is generally believed.

1. The soil temperatures in Egypt at a number of depths have been recorded by means of continuous recording thermometers. In general, the records show that the amplitude of the temperature wave at the surface of the soil is considerably greater than the air temperature wave. There is, however, a considerable damping of the wave with depth, no daily variation in temperature being observed at a depth of 100 cm.

2. No definite relation between the air and soil temperatures could be traced. The maximum air temperature was recorded in May and the maximum soil temperature in July.

3. The amplitude of the temperature wave decreases with increase in depth. The decrease in amplitude of the soil temperature wave is not regular owing to variations in the physical properties of the soil layers. Between any two depths, the ratio of the amplitudes of the temperature waves is constant throughout the year. The amplitude of the soil temperature wave bears no relation to the amplitude of the air temperature wave.

4. The time of maximum temperature at the soil surface is constant throughout the year at 1 p.m. The times of maximum temperature at depths below the surface lag behind the time of surface maximum, but they are constant throughout the year. When plotted against depth, the times of maximum at the various soil depths lie on a straight line.

The results of four experiments are described in which twenty-five pigs were fed on a ration containing half a pint of milk. Eighteen were fed on control rations, generally considered to be adequate, and of which in one series dried separated milk was a constitutent.

In every case the fresh milk produced an increase in live weight over the controls varying from 8 to 10 per cent. Less dry matter per lb. increase in live weight was consumed by the experimental pigs than by the controls.

The returns for half a pint of milk fed per pig daily expressed as pounds live weight gain per gallon of milk fed, were as follows:

The higher values in Exps. 2 and 4 may have been due to the fact that the pigs were individually fed but differed in that the milk was mixed with the food in Exp. 2 and fed separately in Exp. 4.

An unknown phosphorus fraction previously recorded by the authors as frequently present in calf blood, is shown to be nucleoprotein and due to the presence of precursors of fully mature erythrocytes. The same fraction may also appear in small amounts in human blood and in horse blood, and always occurs in very large amount in the nucleated erythrocytes of birds.

In regard to phosphorus partition, the same general relationship holds between the blood of lambs and of the mother ewes, as between the blood of calves and the mother cows. Total phosphorus is about twice as high in lamb blood as in maternal blood, inorganic phosphorus about twice as high, and organic acid-soluble phosphorus about three times as high. A considerable proportion of an acid-insoluble phosphorus fraction, probably nuclein, may be present in the red corpuscles of lamb blood and may even be present in foetal blood. The organic acid-soluble fraction is confined to the corpuscles, both in young blood and adult blood, but i n one case of a six-month calf foetus a small proportion was noted in plasma.

The nature of the problem of moisture determinations on materials such as flour and wheat is discussed shortly. It is not possible to obtain by over drying true values for moisture contents. What is sought is a convenient and reliable procedure giving strictly reproducible figures possessing full comparative value. This was the object of the work described, the main lines of which should be applicable to agricultural products of many kinds.

The electrically heated air oven is the most convenient and suitable instrument for routine purposes, and comparative results show that it allows of far more reliable work than the water oven.

Determinations of apparent moisture content have been made on a sample of wheat flour in electric ovens at temperatures ranging from 90° to 140° C. and for periods of heating ranging from 1 to 14 hours, the technique and number of determinations (about 400 altogether) being such that the results were suitable for statistical examination. The probable errors of single determinations were calculated for several sets of results and did not exceed 0·05 per cent. The results given show that at several temperatures, variation in time of heating over a considerable range does not affect the values obtained. In the light of these results it was possible to assess the reliability, as well as the convenience, of various possible procedures.

1. A procedure is described for evaluating an “index of texture” (I.T.), based on determinations of moisture contents at the point of stickiness (P), and of sand contents (S) of soil samples.

2. The procedure is simple, and allows of a rapid laboratory examination of a great number of spot samples, so that detailed texture maps can readily be constructed.

3. Employed in conjunction with soil-reaction maps, the texture maps form a useful basis for detailed investigations of soil genesis and soil fertility.

1. Examinations have been made of the losses involved by igniting fractions of tropical soils.

2. It has been found that these losses are partly due to organic matter and partly to combined water; the greater part of the loss is due to water.

3. In the clay fraction there is a correlation between the amount of combined water and the silica/alumina ratio; the greater the ratio the less the combined water. This is affected by the proportion of iron present.

4. Lateritic soils lose more water on ignition than other soils but the lateritic material in soils is not necessarily evenly distributed throughout the fractions; those fractions containing the highest proportions of lateritic material lose the most water.

1. The capillary pull of an ideal soil has been determined by measuring the maximum hydrostatic pressure (H) sustainable by a liquid surface formed, amongst an assemblage of uniform spheres of mean diameter 0·0374 cm. (2a). It has been found that using liquids of low surface tension like benzene to avoid contamination, the constant K in the equation Hgp = KT/2a has the weighted value 9·5.

2. Values of K for single apertures between three and four spheres in contact have been determined, using steel spheres of a diameter ⅛ in. and benzene. It is found that K does not vary rapidly for four spheres and has a value between 9 and 10 for apertures in which the ratio of breadth to length varies between 1·0 and 0·4.

3. The equivalent capillary tube is the circular or elliptic cylinder touching the spheres forming the aperture. This assumption gives values of K in fair agreement with observation.

4. The value of K is practically independent of variations of pore-space ranging from 36 per cent, to 40 per cent, such as usually occur in ordinary packing.

1. The value of the knowledge of the saturation capacity of a soil as an aid in its characterisation and classification is briefly stated.

2. A short account is given of the more important methods in use for determination of saturation capacity.

3. The theory underlying the method of Page and Williams, and the possible defects of the method are discussed.

4. The results of an investigation of this method lead to the following conclusions:

(a) Leaching the mixture of soil and calcium carbonate to 2 litres is in sufficient to displace from the soil all its exchangeable bases.

(b) In view of this, it is recommended that 3 litres or more of filtrate be obtained, or preferably, the amount of soil employed be reduced to 10 grm.

(c) The leaching solution remains in contact with the soil mixture for a period adequate for the normal sodium chloride solution to be saturated with calcium carbonate.

(d) The difference in the amount of calcium, derived by solution from the carbonate, in the first and second litres of filtrate, is sufficiently small to be neglected.

(e) The tardiness with which the reaction proceeds to completion is probably due to the difficulty experienced in displacing the final amounts of adsorbed ions, rather than to the presence of calcium ions in the leaching solution.

(f) The incompleteness of the reaction renders the method of Hissink inaccurate for the calculation of the saturation capacity.

(g) The variation in the character of the colloidal material of soils i s to some extent reflected in the value of the ratio of the calcium passing into solution through exchange reactions in the second litre, to that dissolved in this manner by the total volume of filtrate.

1. Of a large number of cultivated soils examined, chiefly from the south-east of Scotland, the majority had a pH between 5 and 6·5, a “lime requirement” of 0·05 to 0·25 per cent. CaCO3 and an exchangeable calcium content of 0·1 per cent, to 0·45 per cent. CaO.

2. A general agreement was observed between these three sets of figures although numerous exceptions occurred.

3. The reaction of a district of six square miles was studied in detail and of a single farm in still greater detail.

4. Long unploughed soils were found to have a low pH, a low content of exchangeable calcium and a high “lime requirement.”

5. Woodland, hill and heath soils were characterised in their surface layers by an extremely low pH (below 5 as a rule), a low content of exchangeable calcium (usually less than 0·1 per cent. CaO) and a high “lime requirement.”

In cases of anaemia in cattle and sheep, of infectious origin, parasitic origin, or due to simple haemorrhage, the phosphorus partition of the blood reveals an “unknown fraction,” confined to the corpuscles, and evidently nucleoprotein. It is determined by difference between the total phosphorus and the sum of total acid-soluble and lipoid phosphorus. It is associated with the appearance of nucleated red cells (normoblasts and Jolly bodies) and vanishes as they disappear. The amount may make up a considerable proportion of the total P.

The study has comprised a detailed analysis of twelve samples of soil, ten of which were samples of typical peat soils, the other two being samples of normal soils. The degree of humification of the organic matter of the samples varied, that in the wet peats being high and low in the dry peats.

Extracts of the soil were obtained by the use of boiling hydrogen peroxide, 20 per cent, hydrochloric acid and 2·5 per cent, caustic potash.

Hydrogen peroxide extracted roughly 70–80 per cent, of the soil nitrogen, 60–70 per cent, of this soluble nitrogen appearing as ammonia through the oxidising effects of the reagent. The nitrogen compounds of wet peats were more easily oxidisable to ammonia.

The question of the effect of iodine manuring on the iodine content of plants has recently assumed considerable importance in view of the use of iodine as a cure and preventive of simple goitre. Whether the theory that goitre is due to deficiency of iodine be correct or not, it appears to be well established that small doses of iodine act both as a cure and a preventive of enlargements of the thyroid. It has therefore been suggested that a simple and effective method of general prophylaxis, in areas where goitre is at present endemic, might be found in increasing the iodine content of foodstuffs such as milk and eggs, by administration of iodine, and of plants by iodine manuring.

The new observations of Haines on the pressure deficiency of liquid in a soil-like aggregate confirm the theoretical deduction that the pressure deficiency falls off with increasing water content, but do not justify his belief in a high static stress as saturation is approached.

A theorem is established connecting the static stress at any water content with the pressure deficiency and the dry area of the surface. This, together with general considerations of the energy conditions of physical equilibria, appears to dispose of the two assumptions from which the high values for the cohesive stress at saturation have been deduced.

The present investigation was undertaken with the object of ascertaining the effect of cutting at fortnightly instead of weekly intervals on the yield of pastures, and on the composition, digestibility and nutritive value of the herbage.

The main trial was carried out on the 1925 light-land pasture. The plot was divided into 14 sub-plots, and one sub-plot was mown per day. The whole plot, therefore, was cut over once per fortnight during the season. The results in respect of yield, composition and nutritive value were compared with corresponding results obtained on the same pasture plot under a system of weekly cuts during 1925.

A second trial was carried out on sub-plots 2 and 3 of the 1926 heavy-land pasture, one sub-plot being cut weekly and the other fort-nightly. The work in this case was restricted to securing comparative data in respect of yield and composition of herbage.

The results from both trials lead to the conclusion that the differences in chemical composition, both organic and inorganic, between pasture grass cut at weekly and fortnightly intervals are inconsiderable. The dry matter of the fortnightly-cut grass is extremely rich in crude protein and contains, in comparison with grass cut at the hay stage of maturity, a low percentage of crude fibre. Moreover, these characteristics are retained, by systematic cutting at fortnightly intervals, over the entire season.

The results of the digestion trials justify the conclusion that the dry matter of the pasture herbage grown under a system of fortnightly cutting is a protein concentrate equal in digestibility and nutritive value to that obtained by weekly cutting. There is no significant running off in respect of composition and feeding value during the second week of growth. At the end of a fortnight the herbage still consists of the same immature, non-lignified. tissue as it was at the end of a week's growth.

Since the soluble carbohydrates constitute a large proportion of most feeding stuffs and are in many the preponderating factor it is desirable that as much information as possible should be known about them, particularly with regard to their energy values in relation to feeding.

It has been known for many years that agricultural grasses become less nutritious as they approach maturity and ripen their seed. The grass plant in its earlier weeks of growth makes a heavier draft on soil nitrogen than later in the season, with the result that its tissues are particularly rich in protein. As the grass continues to grow, the protein, now formed in lessening quantities, is distributed throughout a greater bulk of the plant and thus its percentage in the dry matter is reduced. From a study of the analytical data on record of grasses examined at several stages of growth, it may be summarised that as a grass matures the protein, ash, fat and water decrease while the carbohydrates (nitrogen-free extract) and fibre increase. Further, in addition to the larger percentage in their dry matter of protein and mineral constituents, the leaves and shoots of very young grass are more succulent, palatable and digestible than the leaves of the older plant. These facts have been used in giving advice as to the best period at which to cut for hay, i.e. the stage of growth at which the grass will yield the largest amount of digestible matter per acre. This will vary somewhat with different species, but the weight of scientific evidence is in favour of cutting at or shortly after the flowering period. It will thus be seen that chemistry has contributed valuable information in relation to the best time or period for the harvesting of grass for hay.

The fact that the findings of various workers on the influence of weather on yield in oats are seldom in agreement on all essential points suggests that the requirements of the crop varies from province to province, and warrants investigation within regions of relatively narrow compass.