88 KEPOIQ OJf THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



the case might be. Marked instances of antagonism and 

 symbiosis were found, and the production of toxins was 

 demonstrated; the methods in use might perhaps be 

 employed to advantage in connection with the investigation 

 of the physiological functions of pathogenic organisms. 



Some further work on bacterio-toxins in soils was car- 

 ried out in connection with the sewage-treated soil samples 

 sent for examination by Mr. Allen of Nagpur. Work on 

 these soils was discontinued at the request of Mr. Allen as 

 the sewage treatment scheme on the Nagpur experimental 

 farm is not yet in complete working order. 



IV. — Special Enquiries. 



Potato Rot. — The enquiry on this subject referred to in 

 my previous report is not yet complete, but has been con- 

 tinued throughout the year in order to gain further and 

 fuller information upon various points in connection with 

 the physiological functions of the organisms involved, and 

 the probable distribution of the latter in soil or elsewhere; 

 this information is necessary in order to frame effective 

 preventive measures; reports of the occurrence of tuber rot 

 in store continue to arrive from various parts of India, 

 and numerous samples have been examined, in many 

 instances the rot is due to fungal and not to bacterial 

 attack, as described by the Imperial Mycologist. A report 

 will be issued shortly. 



Bdkhar. — At the request of the Assistant Commissioner 

 of Excise for Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and Assam I under- 

 took to investigate the biological factors in connection with 

 the fermentation of rice beer, with a view to determine 

 the feasibility of controlling the manufacture of the fer- 

 ment, which is at present in the hands of a peculiarly un- 

 suitable class, generally hillmen, who make the ferment or 

 Bakhar according to time-honoured traditional methods of 

 more antiquity than precision. The result of the present 

 state of affairs is a great variation in the quality of the 

 fermented liquor, due to the presence in the Bakhar of 



