76 ON THE HYLOBIUS ABIETIS OR FIR WEEVIL. 



rubbish could be removed or burned, and the ground drained 

 where required. 



The reporter has seen it stated that washing the trees with 

 spirits of turpentine and lime water previous to planting will act 

 as a safeguard against the attacks of the H, abietis ; but however 

 beneficial this treatment might be in destroying any parasites 

 lodged about the bark, he does not consider it would have the 

 desired effect, and that because it would have wholly lost its 

 strength, from exposure to the weather from the time of its 

 application (during winter) till the first appearance of the H. 

 abietis about the end of May. Other plans for the destruction 

 of the pest have been proposed, such as picking the insect off the 

 trees when it has commenced its attacks : this would be im- 

 practicable in a large plantation ; besides, it is rare to find the H. 

 abietis in large numbers during the day. The reporter therefore 

 thinks that a natural system of procedure such as he has endea- 

 voured to point out will be found to be the most successful. 



ON VAEIATIONS IN THE COMPOSITION OF OATS. 



By Professor Henry Tanner, M.K.A.C. 



[Premium — Medium Gold Medal.} 



I AM permitted by the Council of Education to bring under the 

 notice of your Society some details respecting the variations in the 

 quality and composition of Oats, resulting from an inquiry, in 

 which many members of your Society kindly co-operated. It had 

 been represented to the Council of Education that it was desirable, 

 for educational purposes, to determine the variations in the pro- 

 duce and the composition of corn, and to trace these variations to 

 their respective causes. The following data constitute the first 

 steps in the research I was authorised to carry out for this 

 purpose. 



The specimens examined were all grown in this country in 

 1877, a year remarkable for being a cold and unfavourable season 

 for corn, followed by much bad harvest weather. It must there- 

 fore be borne in mind that these results have been arrived at by 

 the evidence obtainable in the growth of a single season ; and a 

 continuance in the inquiry will probably give additional facts, 

 confirmatory of their character, and increase our knowledge of 

 the limits of variation. I have much pleasure in acknowledging 

 the valuable assistance I have received from G. W. Wigner, Esq., 

 E.C.S., who has personally directed, on my behalf, the important 

 series of analyses upon which these statements are based. 



The variation in the production of actual food from a given 



