Aug. 2, 1920.] Agricultural Gazette of N .S.W . 589 



The following recommendations as to varieties are made from the results 

 obtained up to the present : — 



For the Home Garden. — Mammoth White Cory, Ruby, Cosmopolitan, 



Black Mexican, Stowell's Evergreen, Country Gentleman, Papago. 

 For Market or Canniny. — Mammoth White Cory, Early Crosby, Cosmo- 

 politan, White Evergreen, Stowell's Evergreen, Country Gentleman, 

 Papago. 



For further Trial. —Kendal's Early Giant, Howling Mob, Potter's 

 Excelsior, Late Mammoth. 



Nitrate of Lime. 



The process involved in the production of nitrates from the nitrogen of the 

 air consists in passing air through an arc flame (at a temperature of a^lOut 

 3,200 deg. C.) produced between electrodes in a powerful magnetic field. 

 The resulting nitric oxide gas is then cooled by suitable means and passed 

 through so CLilled oxidation cliambers, where it is given time fur complete 

 oxidation to nitrogen peroxide. Subsequently, the nitrogen peroxide gas is 

 passed up /absorption towers, where it meets a descending stream of water 

 and is converted into nitric acid. For fertilising |)Uiposes the nitric acid is 

 then neutralised with limestone, and the product, after solidification and 

 granulation, is sold as a manure under the name of nitrate of lime. 



The commercial success of the process is dependent on the availability of 

 cheap electric power, which, in Norway, is ensui-ed by the numerous natural 

 gigantic waterfalls. — G. A. CowiE, M.A., \\\ tha Journal of the Ministry of 

 Agriculture, London. 



Eradication of Bracken. 



Experiments conducted by the University College qf North Wales have 

 shown that manuring alone has had no effect in the eradication of bracken, 

 but, when combined with regular cuttings of the plant, a great improvement 

 has been obtained. The most certain method of dealing with the pest, 

 according to a publication of the University College, appears to be regular 

 and careful cutting at monthly intervals, commencing in the first week in 

 June (mid-summer in England), and continuing in the first week of July, 

 August, and September. In this way it has been found that in a few years 

 bracken, even of the strongest growth, will have completely disappeared. 



A Sociological Problem. 



It is not necessary to dilate upon the urgent importance of the development 

 of social activities in the country districts. The dullness of village life has 

 \onu. been recognised as one of the main reasons for the migration of the sons 

 of the soil to scenes of fuller activity, but efforts to alleviate it have been 

 spasmodic and sporadic. The time has come when the human needs of the 

 countryside have become insistent, and the futui^e of agriculture is seen to 

 involve a sociological, as well as an economic, problem. — Sir Henry Rew, 

 in the Journal of the Ministry of Agriculture, London. 



