An interesting factor governing the nitrate content of a soil has been brought out in the course of the preceding work on the treatment of soil with volatile compounds.

A Considerable area of pasture land in Mid-Somerset, known locally as “teart” land, and also a smaller area in Warwickshire, cause scouring in cattle at certain times of the year. These pastures are a source of loss to the farmers and, from time to time, have been the subject of investigation. In 1862 the late Dr J. A. Voelcker published a valuable report on the subject, and in the main the observations and results discussed in the present paper are consistent with the suggestions which he put forward. Details of more recent work are to be found in various reports in the Journal of the Bath and West Society from 1895 to 1904.

Very little work has yet been carried out on the Texture of Cheese although this is one of the most important factors controlling its market value. The present investigation was undertaken with the view of ascertaining the influence of “acidity” on curd, caseinogen and casein.

The formation of Iron Pan or Ortstein is of fairly frequent occurrence both in Britain and on the Continent of Europe. It is of some economic importance, for where it occurs considerable expense has to be incurred before it is possible to grow a crop of any kind on the soil. The Pan consists of a hard layer of material which has to be broken through for successful cultivation, as it is cemented together in such a manner as to prevent any penetration of plant roots and to limit the circulation of air and water.

1. It is shown that the strength of the discharge from an overhead wire network at a high potential is a variable quantity depending on the mobility of the carriers of the electricity and on the velocity of the wind. Attention has been drawn to the presence of radio-active disintegration products which may possibly be a complicating factor in the effect of the discharge upon plant growth.

2. The maximum current density of the discharge in some experimental stations, where the apparatus is constructed after the pattern of the Agricultural Electric Discharge Co., is of the order 10–11amp./cm.2

3. Measurements of potential gradient and of current density agree in showing that the effect of the discharge is not limited to the area under the wires. This is of importance as control and electrified areas have usually been placed close together in field experiments. Some account is given of the distribution of the discharge under various weather conditions.

4. Methods are discussed by which the control area may perhaps be kept under more normal electrical conditions in spite of the proximity of the overhead discharge wires. The results of some of the tentative efforts in this direction which were made at Dumfries during 1913 are briefly discussed.

The evaporation of water from the soil fractions “sand” and “silt,” from china clay, and ignited soil is a relatively simple phenomenon which can readily be explained by the known laws of evaporation and diffusion. The evaporation from soil is more complex, something being present which operates in making the relation between the soil and the soil water of a different and closer nature than in the case of sand, etc. The effect is not due to the soluble humus, for the removal of this material from the soil does not appreciably affect the phenomena of evaporation. Any possible effect of the insoluble organic matter is largely eliminated by the consideration that ignited sand and silt behave like the unignited material.

In a previous paper to this Journal by one of us it was observed that if a solution of a ferric salt be placed in contact with peat from which all the ferrous salts had been previously removed by boiling with hydrochloric acid, there was an immediate production of ferrous iron in the solution.

While investigations were being carried out concerning the question of variability within a variety, the case of correlation described below was observed.

(1) The method of taking four sub-samples and making in all 160 measurements of these sub-samples gives a satisfactory value for the average diameter of the sample.

(2) The average of the samples from each shoulder gives a good indication of the shoulder for each sheep.

(3) In comparing two sheep A and B we may take as almost certainly significant a difference between their two average shoulder diameters such that the ratio

that is a difference of some 8% of the average shoulder diameter of either of them for measurements taken as here indicated.

In a previous paper I have stated: “The monosulphide sulphur, therefore, appears to be essentially calcium hydroxyhydrosulphide CaHSOH with very minute quantities of calcium hydrosulphide CaH2S2. The solution of lime sulphur then appears to consist of calcium hydroxy-hydrosulphide, calcium thiosulphate, calcium sulphate with sulphur held in solution.”

I have now to amend this by adding “calcium disulphide” to the above.

The method of analysis is now as follows: Preparation of sample. 50 c.c. of the concentrated lime sulphur to be diluted to 500 c.c. with water.

In our previous papers we have shown that the black pigment found in the mammary tissue of sows of various coloured breeds is related to the colour rather than to the sexual condition of the pig. We have also pointed out that this conclusion is contrary to the statements of bacon curers who rely on the presence of this pigment for an indication as to whether or not a sow is ‘on heat.’ Their method of testing the condition of the sow has been described by us in a former paper. It follows from the assumption made by the bacon curers that pigment should not be present in the ‘belly pieces’ of spayed sows (or to be strictly accurate, of sows spayed in early life, before the mammary ducts and glands have undergone development).

The various offals obtained from the milling of wheat for flour have long been used as a feeding stuff for cattle, but their relative value as a food has never been thoroughly investigated.

In investigations on the effects of calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate on nitrogen fixation by A. chroococcum in soils and in solutions, the following results have been obtained:

1. Calcium carbonate in mannite solution cultures acts only as a stimulant, never as a toxic agent at least up to and including a concentration of 2%.

2. Magnesium carbonate is sharply toxic in solution cultures in concentrations in excess of ·1% to ·2%.

3. Calcium carbonate in soil cultures is without effect up to 1·4% of the dry weight of the soil when it becomes slightly toxic in the Anaheim sandy soil.

So far as I am aware, the manner of the dehiscence of the perithecium of Sphaerotheca mors-uvae has not hitherto been described. Although in the main features the process of dehiscence is very similar to that which I have described for Erysiphe Graminis and for Sphaerotheca Humuli, some new points of interest have been observed.

The present paper is written with no pretence at finality, and consequently some excuse is due for its publication at the present time. The author was induced to write it since the results so far obtained by him do not seem to agree, in all points, with the work previously done on the subject, and tend to show that there is much scope for future work both on this matter and also on a matter of much greater general importance, namely, on the influence of external conditions on a quantitative character.

In the preparation of lime-sulphur solutions used for spraying purposes by boiling together lime, sulphur and water, the following equations represent reactions which might occur primarily:

(1) 3CaH2O2 + S4 = 2CaS + CaS2O3 + 3H2O,

(2) 3CaH2O2 + S12 = 2CaS5 + CaS2O3 + 3H3O.

According to the above equations 3 molecules slaked lime CaH2O2 or 3 molecules of quick lime CaO may combine with 4 to 12 atoms sulphur; or 1 part of quick lime (by weight) should combine with ·7619 to 2·2857 parts of sulphur.

The foregoing facts clearly show that the reaction of species to manures is not a simple function of the chemical influences of particular substances on the growth of individual plants. They prove, however, that the final adjustment reached by the various plants is profoundly affected as the result of competitive interaction between all the species which contribute to the herbage. Furthermore, it has been shown that if manurial plots are studied in the light of the type of grassland on which the experiments are carried out, that the influence of this competitive interaction can be fairly accurately gauged. The principles which regulate the resorting of species under the influences of a disturbed equilibrium are, broadly stated, as follows: if the changes in environment are not of a fundamental character, the tendency will be for plants near their maximum distribution to be decreased, for those near their minimum to be increased, and for those near their optimum to be increased or decreased within the limits of their highest and lowest cardinal figures.