1008 expp:rimf.nt station record. 



burg, Monaco, Austria-Hungary, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain. The 

 agreement contains 16 clauses, of which the first states that birds useful to agri- 

 culture, especially insect eaters and birds enumerated in the lists attached to the 

 agreement, are to enjoy an unconditional protection, and that the destruction of 

 these birds, their nests, eggs, and broods is to be forbidden. Certain nocturnal 

 birds of prey, as well as woodpeckers, bee-eaters, swallows, and several birds of the 

 sparrow species, appear- as useful birds, while ravens, magpies, jays, and others are 

 branded as mischievous. Some exceptions protect sporting and other rights. Italy, 

 a country in which the capture of northward-bound birds is a regular trade, does not 

 appear amongst the signatories. According to statistics recently given in the Reich- 

 stag, no less than seven hundredweight of migratory birds were put on the Verona 

 market at one time. The agreement will shortly be submitted to the Reichstag. 



At the last session of the South Australian House of Assembly a resolution was 

 adopted affirming the desirability of making expei'iments with cereals, manures, etc., 

 under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture. In view of the present con- 

 dition of the finances, the ]Minister of Agriculture has decided thatforthis season the 

 work will be confined to experiments with fertilizers and with rust-resistant wheats. 

 The experiments with fertilizers will be cooperative, and will be carried on at nine 

 different places, there being, as a rule, 10 plats of 2J to 3 acres each at the different 

 places. About 20 rust-resistant wheats have been selected for trial in different local- 

 ities. These experiments are likewise cooperative, the farmers all being members of 

 the agricultural bureau and entering into an agreement to sell one-half of the crop of 

 each variety to the department at 6d. above the local market price, "the object 

 being to afford the neighboring farmers an opportunity of securing seeds of desirable 

 wheats at a reasonable price." The Minister of Agriculture anticipates, another sea- 

 son, undertaking experiments in the fertilizing of vineyards, orchards, and pastures, 

 as there is believed to be good opportunity for useful work in each of these directions. 



o 



