576 Agricultur etc. — Personalnachrichten. 



Hau , A. D. a n d C. G. T. Morison, On the Function of Silica 

 in the nutrition of Cereals. Part I. (Proceedings of the 

 Royal Society, London. B. Vol. LXXVII. p. 455—477. 1906.) 

 The authors conclusions are summarized by them as follows: 



1. Silica, though not an essential constituent of plant food, does 

 play a part in the nutrition of cereal plants, like barley, 

 which contain normally a considerable proportion of silica in 

 their ash. 



2. The effect of a free supply of soluble silica manifests itself in 

 an increased and earlier formation of grain, and is thus simi- 

 lar to the effect of phosphoric acid 



3. The silica acts by causing an increased assimilation of phos- 

 phoric acid by the plant, to which phosphoric acid the ob- 

 served effects are due. There is no evidence that the silica 

 within the plant causes a more thorough utilisation of the 

 phosphoric acid that has already been assimilated, or itself 

 promotes the migration of food materials from the straw to the 

 grain. 



4. The seat of the action is within the plant and not in the 

 soil. W. G. Freeman. 



Watts, F., A Review of the Sugar Industry in Antiqua and 

 St. Kitt's-Nevis during 1881 — 1905. (West Indian Bul- 

 letin. Vol. VI. p. 373—386. 1906.) 



Until 1906 these three islands were entirely dependent upon the 

 sugar industry and although cotton has recently made great pro- 

 gress especially in Nevis and Anguilla, sugar is still the princi- 

 pal crop. 



The exports of sugar, melasses and rum are summarized in a 

 series of tables and in graphic form in diagrams. 



During the past ten years the production of sugar in Antiqua 

 has owing to adverse seasons and the prevalence oi diseases fallen 

 to about 79 per cent. of what it was in the preceding fourteen years, 

 whilst the gross value of the sugar has declined to about 51 per 

 cent. of that of the former period. For St. Kitts-Nevis the cor- 

 responding figures are 80,1 and 52,5 per cent. 



In Antiqua in 1895 diseases of the sugar-cane were appa- 

 rently responsible for a diminution of the crop to the extent of some 

 2000 to 3000 tons of sugar. 



The result of the depression of the industry has been to give 

 an impetus to the practice of economies in production and with the 

 greater stabiüty ensured by the Brüssels Convention the outlook 

 for the future is more encouraging, given normally favourable cli- 

 matic conditions. W. G. Freeman. 



M. le Dr. St. Petkoff a 6t6 nomm^ Professeur extraordinaire de 

 Botanique ä l'Universitd de Sofia. 



Ausgegeben: 27. Novembep 11906. 



Verlag von Gustav Fischer in Jena. 

 Druck von Gebrüder Gott helft, Kgl. Hofbuchdrucker in Cassel. 



