KECENT AGRICULTURAL LITERATURE. . 99 



(J) Electrolytic Treatment of Seeds before Sowing (Wolfeyn Process). 



This process is claimed to cause marked increase in yield, and forms the subject of an 

 article by E. J. Russell, D.Sc, F.E.S., in the January issue of the "Journal of the Ministry of 

 Agriculture," London. The result of various experiments at Rot hamsted and elsewhere is 

 that electrified seed failed to give any increase in yield under the carefully controlled 

 conditions of an experiment station trial, and the process, therefore, lacks certainty and 

 cannot be compared in effectiveness with manuring, which succeeds nearly every time if 

 properly carried out. The writer of the aiticle is not prepared, on present evidence, to say 

 that the process never succeeds, but the risk of failure seems so great that the farmer should 

 look upon it as an adventure which may ov may not prove ^irofitable. 



(f) LivK Stock Ixsurancb Institute of Lower Austria. 

 (Cattle Section, 19U to 1918.) 



Hermann Kallburner, in the International Review of Agricultural Economics for 

 January, 1920, shows the development of this class of insurance in Austria, notwithstanding 

 the veiy great difficulties and losses caused by the war. In 1913-14 the Institute paid out 

 damages on 2*i^3 percent, as against 3-40 per cent, in 1917-18 of all cattle insured. 'Jhe 

 average insured va'ue of a hea<l of cattle was in September, 1913, 3S7 crowns and in 

 September, 1918, 04S crowns (1 crown = 100 heller = lOd. at par''. The rise is connected 

 with the increase in prices of butchers' stock and draught cattle. The tariff of premiums in 

 force since October, 1916, is shown in the article. 



During the period ftated the Institute paid on 72,594 casfsof loss, damages amounting 

 to 22,340,168 crowns. In addition to the numerous losses against which animals may be 

 insured, the Institute is extending its insurance to losses resulting from epidemics (foot and 

 mouth disease, anthrax, rabies, glanders, itifluenza, pulmonary phthisis), transport, pregnancy 

 and consequent diseases, castration and other operations, etc. Owners of small live stock, 

 especiallj' of pigs and goats, will be able to insure their animals in future. 



(jl) International Institute op Agriculture, Rome. 



The eighth volume of the recently published " Annuaire International de Legislation 

 Agricole " (International Year-Book of Agricultural Legislation) surveys the world's 

 legislation in 1918, that is, during the concluding period of the war, and the transition 

 from a state of war to one of peace. It is a volume of 1200 pages. In accordance with the 

 metbrd followed in previous years, the more important legislative provisions are printed in 

 exten-w, translated into French, while of the others only the title, both in the original 

 language and in French, is given, together with the number and date of the official 

 publication in wLich they appear. The International Ins-titute of Agriculture keeps in its 

 archives of documentation the complete text of all these measures. The Year- lx)ok contains 

 also a long analyt'cal introduction in English, briefly describing the laws and orders 

 published in full in the volume. This introduction indicates the general lines of Agricultural 

 Legislati( n promulgated in 1918 in the various countries of the world. Two indices make 

 the Year- book easy to consult : the first, a chronological index by countries; the second, a 

 subject index. There is also a full table of contents in English. The price of the volume 

 is 15 francs, and may be obtained by forwarding an order for that amount to the "Institut 

 International d'Agriculture, Serv'ce des abonnements et publications," Villa Umberto 1, 

 Rcme, Italy. 



(e) "The Right Use of Lime in Soil Improvement." 



This book, by Alva Algee, Secretary of the New Jersey State Department of Agriculture, 

 recently published by the Orange Judd Company, New Yf rk (Kegan Paul, Trench Tiubner 

 & Co., London), is a valuaV)le addition to the existing literature on the subject, and will do 

 much to dispel the doubt and indecision regarding the value and use of lime in the land. 

 Careful investigation into the relative values of various forms and sources c f lime are of 

 comparatively recent date, and rgricultural literature 20 years ago contained little about soil 

 acidity. The author divides his book into the following chapters : Lime and soils ; sour 

 soils ; evidences of acidity ; tests for acidity ; sources of lime ; definitions ; ground limestone : 

 storing lime in the soil; fresh burned lime; burning lime; lime hydrate ; other forms of 

 lime ; magnesian lime ; what shall one buy ; application ; amount of lime p'^r acre ; special 

 crop demands. 



