NOTES. 399 



to agriculture and related subjects. In the agricultural section, the presidential 

 address was given by A. D. Hall. The special subjects for consideration were 

 irrigation (jointly with the engineering so<.'tion), dry farming, animal breeding, 

 and milk supply, all with sjiecial reference to Australian conditions. 



L. J. Briggs described dry farming investigations in the United States as 

 compared with conditions in Australia ; T. Cheri'y discussed the 10-inch line 

 of rainfall; J. W. Patterson compared the high evaporation factor in Western 

 Australia with the small factor in England ; and Heber Green discussed the 

 capillary power of soils. 



In animal breeding, P. G. Bailey reported progi'ess on experiments in in- 

 heritance in wool characters and on size inheritance in poultry. The value 

 of milk production records was taken up by A. Lauder, S. S. Cameron, and 

 M. A. O'Callaglian. The development of milking machines was outlined by 

 R. T. Archer, and their effect on the bacteriological purity and keeping qualities 

 of milk by K. Stenhouse Williams, J. Golding, and J. Macintosh. 



Cereal breeding was a most prominent toi)ic. The papers included The Migra- 

 tion of Reserve Material to the Seeds in Barley, Considei'ed as a Factor in 

 Production, by E. S. Beaven; Wheat Improvement in Australia, by F. B, 

 Guthrie; Wheat Breeding in Australia, by A. E. V. Richardson; and William 

 Farrer's Work, Methods, and Success, by J. T. Pridham. 



Other papers included Flax as a Paying Crop, by C. P. Ogilvie; Bacterial 

 Toxins in Soils, by R. Greig-Smith; The Estimation of Condition in Cattle, by 

 J. A. Murray ; A Review of Work on Soil Inoculation, by H. B. Hutchinson and 

 J. Golding; and The Effects of Caustic Lime and Chalk on Soil Fertility, by 

 H. B. Hutchinson and K. MacLennan. A large number of agricultural ex- 

 cursions were arranged to typical farms, the Roseworthy Agricultural College, 

 the Central Research Farm at Werribee, Victoria, the Wagga Experimental 

 Farm, and the Hawkesbury Agricultural College. 



A joint session was held witli the chemical section on the chemistry of 

 metabolism. The zoology section included papers on The Development of 

 Trypanosomes in the Invertebrate Host, by E. A. Minchin; Australian 

 Trematodes and Cestodes, by S. J. Johnston; Parasitic Worms of Queensland, 

 by W. Nicoll ; Mimicry, by E. P. Poulton ; Experiments on Silkworms, by O. 

 Maas; and Migration of Birds, by C. J. Patten. 



Agricultural Reorganization in Portuguese East Africa. — Plans are being pre- 

 pared for a reorganization of the agricultural w^rk in Mozambique. A central 

 department is contemplated with headquarters at Lourengo Marquez, and 

 divided into bureaus of agriculture and forestry and animal husbandry. The 

 staff of the bureau of agriculture and forestry would include a botanical ex- 

 plorer, a silvicultural engineer, an entomologist, an inspector of fruits and 

 plants, and an agricultural engineer with an agricultural expert in charge of 

 the agricultural station at Inhamussua, and assistants. That of the animal 

 husbandry bureau would include a corps of veterinarians as chief and assistant 

 chief, and in charge of divisions of animal sanitation, tropical veterinary path- 

 ology and zootechny, and their assistjints. 



A Board of Agriculture for New Zealand. — The minister of agriculture has 

 recently announced that it has been decided to establish a board of agriculture 

 for New Zealand to consist of 12 members. Its duties will be to advise the 

 minister of agriculture on any matters affecting agriculture that he may refer 

 to it for consideration; to appoint special committees of agricultural experts to 

 Inspect the work of departmental institutions, such as the experimental farms 

 and State agricultural colleges, and also to inquire into and report upon any 

 urgent agricultural problems of the day ; and to consider the policy of the de- 



