Vol. XII. No. 302. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



373 



LIVE STOCK NOTES. 



Epizootic Lymphangitis. - This disease of horses 

 is common in most of the West Indian islands, in some of 

 which it is known as erysipelas. The disease, which is 

 a contagious one, was very prevalent during the South 

 African war. More recently in l^ganda it has been con- 

 sidered necessary to include epizootic lymphangitis amongst 

 the diseases of the Cattle Disease Ordinance, Uganda, 1902. 



An account of the disease was given in the West Indian 

 Jiullelin, Vol. XII, p. 72. In addition to this information, 

 leaders of this journal will be interested to learn that, accord- 

 ing to the E iperiment Illation Record (Vol. XXVIII, No. 8), 

 the disease has been successfully treated with neosalvarsan. 

 '.Six of seven cases of epizootic lymphangitis to which 

 I'o grains of neosalvarsan to 250 cc. distilled water was 

 administered intravenously were completely cured, and the 

 author [E. Hondemer] thinks that the .seventh horse, which 

 ■was nearly cured would certiiinly yield to a .second injection.' 



AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING. 



STUDIES OF INHERITANCE IN HORSES. 



Since 1787, the Tiakehnen stud, in (Jeiniany, has 

 been the centre for producing Kast Prussian pedigree 

 half-bred horses. Analysis and the comparative study 

 of the pedigrees show that the best breeding results 

 were obtained by in breeding. 



The selection work has included systematic observa- 

 tions on the transmission of hereditary characteristics, 

 and the following extract, taken from an article on the 

 Trakehnen investigations, published in the Monildi/ 

 BidUtin of Agricultural Intelligence and Plant 

 Diseases (September 1913), shows some of the 

 interesting and inipoitant facts that have been brought 

 to light. Mendelian inheritance of coat colour is dealt 

 •with first: — 



White is dominant over all other colours in horses; 

 a white horse can only be obtained it one of its parents is 

 ■white, but white horses when mated do not always produce 

 ■white offspring. ( 'hestnut is always a recessive colour. Bay 

 is recessive as regards white and dominant as regards 

 chestnut. 



It is, however, not possible by means of Mendel's theory 

 to foretell which colour will prove dominant. According to 

 the writer, more light is thrown upon this question by an 

 examination of the animal's pedigrees. Thus he cites instances 

 of great power of coat colour transmission taken from the 

 breeding records of Trakehnen and based on colour pedigrees. 

 Contrary to the opinion of Von Ottingen. the writer consid- 

 ers that a bla(^k coat can l>e transmitted with a fair amount 

 of constancy. The writer attributes the presence of white 

 hairs to the use in in-breeding of white horses. 



In conclusion, the writer has examined all the Trakehnen 

 breeding material from the point of view of the transmission 

 of hereditary defects. His observations have led to the con- 

 clusion that a pathologic fold of the eyelids is hereditary. 

 The transmission of this defect seems to be more marked in 

 the maternal line. At Trakehnen, periodic opthalmia was 

 found to be hereditary in some cases, and not in others. 

 The writer considers that tick is hereditary and can be trans- 

 muted by animals which have not got the disease. 



Roaring was also proved to be hereditary. Spavin, 

 navicular disease (Schale), and broken windedness were not 

 transmitted by animals which are much affected by them. It 

 seems that there may be a predisposition in foals to paralysis. 



A NEW PUMP FOR ESTATE WORK. 



This pump is distinguished by its extreme simplicity, 

 by the facility with which it can be set, and by its perfect 

 uniform action. 



>/>./ 



The Monthli/ Bidletiii. of Ayriadtwral Inteliigence aiui 

 Plant Disease!? (September 1913) describes the mechanism 

 as follows: — 



'It consists, as may be seen from the annexed figures, of 

 a cylindrical body closed on two sides by plates, one of 

 which bears the suction pipe and the other the forcing pipe. 

 Within the body revolves another cylinder, in each of the 

 faces of which a deep groove is cut at right angles to the one 

 at the other end, and a block of metal like a water tight 

 piston slides in each of the grooves. These blocks are 

 traversed and driven by two diametrically opposed excentrica 

 fixed on the driving shaft, which occupies a slightly 

 excentric position towards the axis of the cylindrical body 

 of the pump. 



'Fig. 1 is a section of the apparatus showing the arrange- 

 ment of the working parts. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of 

 the movable parts.' 



Electricity ajid Crop Production.— Aa 



interesting article appears in the Journal of the Board of 

 Agriculture (October 1913) on electricity and crop produc- 

 tion, liecent experiments have shown that the immediate 

 problem is the provision of a genuine control area, for a control 

 area unaffected by the discharge cannot be obtained within 

 hundreds of yards on the leeward side of the electrified area. It 

 has been decided to use screens of galvanized iron wire but even 

 then the discharge will probably have to be stopped whenever 

 a strong wind is I 'lowing from the electrified area towards 

 the control. It is added that these experiments must be 

 continually accompanied by purely physiological work in the 

 laboratory for the purpose of determining accurately the 

 effect of electrical discharge upon each plant function, such 

 as transpiration, photosynthesis and the like. 



Much satisfaction has accompanied the employment of 

 lead labels in the Botanic Gardens, Grenada. These are 

 ma<le with letter punches. In a recent communication, the 

 Superintendent of Agriculture, Grenada, points out that the 

 set of punches is very useful for making indestructible labels 

 for bags of soil, plant specimens, etc. 



Incidentally the employment of these labels has proved 

 cheaper in the long run than using wooden ones, t^oma 

 arrangement is required to ensure a perfectly neat etlect. 



