RURAL ENGINEERING. 389 



Analyses showed that red clover blossoms contained sugar to the extent of 

 3.6 per cent, alfalfa blossoms 2.8 per cent, and white clover blossoms 2.4 per 

 cent, whereas in the blossoms of blue grass and in the leaves of clover and alfalfa 

 the quantity of sugar present was found to be less than 1 per cent. In the test 

 with fermentation tubes it was found that when white clover blossoms were 

 thoroughly ground and mixed with a quantity of sterile distilled water and 

 held at a temperature of 37° C. for 24 hours an active fermentation took place; 

 at the end of this period the quantity of carbon dioxid gas which had been 

 formed equaled 45 per cent of the volume of the original clover blossom mass. 



The bloated condition of the animals was alleviated through the use of a 

 solution of formaldehyde as a drench. In two cases in which formaldehyde 

 was administered the cows refused their dry feed and suffered diminished milk 

 production for a period. The authors have demonstrated that under laboratory 

 conditions urotropin will act as efficiently as formalin, although it requires a 

 somewhat larger dose. For the present they strongly recommend the use of 1 qt. 

 of a 1.5 per cent solution of formalin, followed by the placing of a wooden block 

 in the animal's mouth and gentle exercise if the animal can be gotten up. 



Thiele's hog- cholera remedy " 544 " {North Dakota Sta. Spec. Bui., 3 {1915), 

 No. 11, pp. 289-291). — ^A test made by Dr. Paul Fischer, of the bureau of live- 

 stock industry of the State of Ohio is briefly noted. Either 8 or 9 pigs were 

 used in each test, all belonging to the same litter. All pigs received 2 cc. of 

 hog-cholera virus, some either antihog-cholera serum or Thiele's " 544 " in ixddi- 

 tion, and some were kept as checks. The pigs receiving " 544 " died on almost 

 precisely the same days as the checks, or in some cases a little earlier. 



Poultry diseases {Wisconsin Sta. Bui. 250 {1915), p. 40). — In the course of 

 investigations by B. A. Beach, H. E. Lothe, and J. G. Halpin of an outbreak of a 

 disease from which nearly 2,000 chickens died in less than 10 months, a bacillus 

 was isolated which caused death in five or six days when introduced beneath 

 the skin of healthy fowls. This organism, in many respects resembling the 

 bacillus causing fowl cholera but differing in that it does not affect ducks, is 

 believed to be present in addition to those causing roup or chicken pox in the 

 outbreaks with excessive mortality. A vaccine is said to have been prepared 

 which will render a fowl immune to the disease. See also a previous note (E. S. 

 R, 31, p. 887). 



Some factors in combating fowl tuberculosis, K van Es {Berlin. Tierarztl. 

 Wchnschr., 30 {1914), No. 32, pp. 515, 516).— A detailed discussion of the 

 etiology of tuberculosis in fowls, as well as of the predi.sposing causes, and the 

 means for controlling the disease. See also a previous note (E. S. R., 31, p. 

 582). 



RURAL ENGITSTEERING. 



The use of water in irrigation, S. Fortier {New York: McGraw-Hill Book 

 Co., 1915, pp. XIII +265, pis. 10, figs. 7jf).— This volume deals with the agricul- 

 tural side of irrigation. It is intended for the use of new settlers in the West, 

 irrigation farmers and those who are interested in irrigated agriculture, and 

 students in agricultural high schools and in agricultural and engineering classes 

 of colleges and imiversities. 



The subject matter is confined almost exclusively to the irrigated farm and 

 to the problems confronting the irrigator. The legal, economic, and engineering 

 phases of the subject are touched upon, but only in so far as they affect the 

 welfare of the farmer. The subject matter is presented under the chapter head- 

 ings of the irrigated farm, the necessary equipment and structures, methods of 

 preparing land and applying water, waste, measurement, delivery, and duty of 

 water, and irrigation of staple crops. 



