630 ] unrnal of Agriculture. [ri Oct., 1909. 



Paccotet, in his recent work on wine-making,* resumes the lite history 

 of Mycoderma very concisely as follows : — 



" Mycoderma vini .... forms on the surface of the liquid white films 



which thicken, become wrinkled, and are submerged with difficulty 



Several varieties exist This plant burns up alcohol, which it transforms 



into water and carbonic acid without intermediate product. In the cask, the carbonic 

 acid thus produced fills the vacuum in the cask and protects the wine against the 

 development of the Mycoderma, so that flowers of wine are not to be feared in 

 the same way as Mycoderma aceti, of which nothing hinders the development since 

 it does not produce carbonic acid to interfere with the entrv of the air it needs." 



Lengthy quotations are not possible. Those interested are referred 

 to the works of Pasteurf on wine, on vinega.r, and on beer. And also 

 to Semichon's more recent work on the diseases of wine, J a study of 

 which will show that the method of treating fino soleras insures the con- 

 tinued growth of a film of M ycoderma vini^ the presence of ^vhich in a 

 state of purity protects the wine from the development of M ycoderma aceti 

 and the acetification which would ensue. Needless to point otit, every 

 precaution must be taken to render the wine as suitable as possible for the 

 growth of the former to the exclusion of the latter. One point of import- 

 ance in this diref'tinn appears to be the use of veso or pla.ster in the first 

 making of the wine. 



It is evident that the question is a complex, though a most interesting 

 one. well worthy of thorough scientific investigation. The results obtained 

 in Jerez in the .shape of the fine wines for which the district is famous are 

 the outcome of special methods arrived at empirically during centuries 

 of practice. (jV, ^, concluded.) 



SEED TESTS. 



Alfred J. Eivart, D.Sc, Ph. D., F.L.S., Government Botanist and 

 Professor of Botany in the Melbourne University, and Bertha Rees, 

 Government Research Bursar. 



Nearly the whole of the agricultural and garden seeds .sold in Victoria 

 are imported from abroad, and pass through the Customs mostly in large 

 bulk. The total numlDer of importations per week naturally varies at 

 different times of the year, but, on the whole, a^■erages 10 to 20 per week. 

 According to the recent Commonwealth Quarantine Regulations, such seed 

 must be free from certain injurious weed seeds, and from the seeds of 

 various poisonous and parasitic plants. The total number of plants on 

 the prohibited list is nearly 100, which seems a large numl>er, but which 

 is really exceedingly small when compared with the 200,000 or 300,000 

 species of plants known to science. 



I'he Customs Regulations include no provision as to the germination 

 value of imported seeds, and since the State has no Pure Seeds Act, it 

 is possible for seed to be imported and sold, which has totally lost the 

 power of germination. This is no fanciful case, but actually occurred 

 recently with an imported sample of Couch grass seed. 



With very few exceptions, every civilized country has either a Pure 

 Seeds Act, or possesses seed testing establishments, where farmers, seeds- 

 men, and the public, can have seeds tested either free of cost or at a 

 nominal charge. The natural result is, that the poorest quality seeds will 

 tend to reach those countries Avhich are not protected in this way, and 



* Paccotet— Vinificatiiin. 



fVustenr—Kfuiics Kttr le Vin, FtydfH mir la Biere, M ('moire s:tir ta fermentation aeeti<ive. 



♦ Semichon— Tmite des Maladies den Vins, 1905. 



