12 The Irish Naturalist. January, 



REVIEWS. 



THE NEW DEPARTMENT. 



Journal of the Department of Agriculture and Technical 

 Instruction for Ireland.— First Year, Nos. i and 2. Pp. 1 So and 

 192. Dublin: H. M. Stationery Office. August and November, 1900. 

 Price, is. each. 



For the information of agriculturists and educationalists in Ireland 

 and elsewhere, our new Department issues a quarterly journal, the two 

 first numbers of which are before us. It is a gratifying sign of the 

 interest taken in the work of the Department that the first number is 

 already out of print. It contains a full report of the first meeting of the 

 Council of Agriculture with the address delivered thereat by the Hon. 

 Horace Plunkett. A very important article on the Irish flax industry 

 is contributed by Prof. Johnson, who gives a full account of the process 

 of retting as practised by continental flax-growers and paints out the 

 importance of bacteria as agents in the process. Prof. Carroll of the 

 Model Farm, Glasnevin, gives the outline of experiments on foods 

 furnished to sheep, with regard to their manurial value in promoting 

 the growth of cereals on the land, and also to their food value as tested 

 by the production of mutton. We observe also articles on the Warble 

 Fly, and on enteric disease in calves, as well as a valuable summary of 

 the Irish agricultural statistics for 1S99, and a number of notes of general 

 interest. 



The main feature of the second number is Prof. J. C. E wart's valuable 

 article on the ponies of Connemara. Instead of conforming to one type, 

 as generally supposed, these hardy little animals may be grouped into five 

 tribes. Prof. Ewart, whose experience of horse-breeding is well known, 

 believes that Connemara "could produce ponies — say one thousand 

 annually — suitable for mounted infantry (alike in size, hardiness, staying 

 power, and intelligence) at a lower figure than any other district in Great 

 Britain or Ireland." Mr. W. S. Green, Inspector of Fisheries, contributes 

 a valuable paper on Fishery Development with especial reference to 

 instruction in sea-fishing, and we notice an excellent picture of the s.s. 

 Helga, recently acquired for the scientific marine researches of the 

 Department, and already at work on the western seaboard. There 

 are abstracts of the agricultural statistics for 1900, short papers on the 

 Turnip " Fly " and Wire-worms, reviews of the work of the Irish Land 

 Commission and the Congested Districts Board, directions as to the pre- 

 vention of tuberculosis in cattle and fungoid disease in potatoes, and a 

 number of short notes bearing on the wide range of subjects which come 

 within the scope of the Department's work. 



