NOTES. 311 



their breeding and management. In 2 days the second lecturer would leave, I i 

 replaced by a third who might lecture upon poultry, the besl breeds to be kept for 

 export and laying purposes, the management and feeding of poultry, etc. Twodays 

 later tlii^ lecturer would be replaced by a fourth, who would lecture on other agri- 

 cultural subjects. The course of instruction at this particular farmhouse would then 

 terminate after 10 days' instruction. Four classes would bein progress at one time 

 in farmhouses sufficiently far apart to prevent overlapping, and yet near enough for 

 the officer to reach the next center and lecture on the same day." 



Agriculture at the British Association. — At the recent meeting of the British Asso- 

 ciation I»r. Wm. Somerville made the opening address as chairman of the subsection 

 on agriculture. Theaddress covered such subjects as the "faecal excretions" of plants, 

 the stimulating and exhausting effects of manures, German investigations on the 

 action of conserving agents on farmyard manure, chemical fixation of atmospheric 

 nitrogen, Nitragin, improvement of varieties of crops, and cooperative work. The result 

 of < ierman investigations in the preservation of stable manure were said to indicate no 

 preservative effect but rather a loss of nitrogen by the use of such agents as kainit. 

 superphosphate, precipitated phosphatic gypsum, and gypsum. It appears that super- 

 phosphate may conserve nitrogen t< i an appreciable extent si i long as the manure lies in 

 the stall, but its effects disappear whenever its acid phosphate and free sulphuric acid 

 are neutralized by ammonia, and this rapidly occurs in the pit. Sulphuric acid 

 sprinkled over manure as it was placed daily in the pit reduced the loss of nitrogen 

 from 27.8 to 7.1 per cent, but the cost for this preservative was excessive, and its use 

 is associated with so many drawbacks that its employment can not be. recommended. 

 The general conclusion appears to be that the excessive los> of nitrogen in manure 

 can be best avoided by storing it in a deep compact mass in a water-tight j>it in a 

 well-shaded situation. Dr. Somerville pointed out that in field experiments with 

 calcium cyanamid results about 20 per cent below those obtained by the use of an 

 equal amount of nitrogen in the form of sulphate of ammonia have been obtained, 

 while in pot cultures much better results were secured than either with nitrati 

 soda or sulphate of ammonia. It is thought that possibly root acids in the soil may 

 partly change the calcium cyanamid into the dicyanamid, a substance directly poisonous 

 to plants. A review of the present status of Nitragin shows a renewed interest in 

 this matter both in Germany and in the United States. Previous "failure of the 

 Nitragin to effect an improvement in the crop when it was sprinkled on the seed is 

 now believed to be due to the action of secretions pn du :ed by the seed in the early 

 stages of germination." The present indication was said to be that this difficulty 

 may be obviated by cultivating the bacteria in a medium that imparts to them the 

 necessary power of resistance. In speaking of the improvement of crops by selec- 

 tion, some striking figures were given showing the differences in growth of spruce trees 

 from seed selected from mother trees varying considerably in dimensionsand situated 

 at various altitudes. In general the seedlings follow closely after the mother trees in 

 rapidity and manner of development. 



Miscellaneous. — A pamphlet of 15 pages, entitled A Tribute to Levi Stockbridge, 

 by William H. Bowker, a former student and of late years a member of the board of 

 trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, has been received. The paper 

 was read at the memorial exercises held for Professor Stockbridge at the college 

 last commencement, and contains many interesting personal recollections, as well 

 as a tribute to Professor Stockbridge as a teacher and in makine practical application 

 of scientific truth to agriculture. 



A recent pamphlet entitled Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, part 

 3, contains notes by ''K. W." on Sir John Bennett Lawes and Sir Joseph Henry 

 Gilbert, and on the agricultural investigations conducted jointly by these two men. 

 These notices are especially interesting, as they were written by one who had an 



