lo July, 19 i:;-] lii-jiiiciice of Radio- Aclivc Miinral, cr-"f. 417 



ear instead (jf drinking, and in tlie end are left witlujut a drink at all. 

 Each calf, then, should get its proper allowance, which should always be 

 out of clean, sweet vessels. The best method of feeding is to construct 

 a set of small bails, and arrange by means of rubber teat attached to 

 stout piping, a system whereby the calf has to suck up its m.ilk, this 

 insures more certain digestion, and the accompanying illustration shows 

 the " Herkes " calf -feeder in operation. Failing this, a tin should be 

 provided for each calf (kerosene tins, cut in half, make good buckets for 

 this purpose). The attendant can then see that each gets its proper allow- 

 ance, and there will be nO' ear-sucking ; if ear-sucking is resorted to after 

 they are allowed out of the bails, the ears may be smeared with a solution 

 of aloes. 



Good, warm sheds, wdth clean straw bedding, should be provided at 

 night. Even if straw has to be purcha.sed clean, it will pay, as there is a 

 return for the money in manure, in the value put on the calves, in the 

 prevention of the onset of scour and other filth-induced ailments. 



The straw should be thrown into the pens about three times a week, 

 and the whole cleaned out once a week, and stacked for manure. 



When a calf, properly reared, comes into the bail, it comes in robust 

 fully grown, and ready to stand the years of milking that are before 

 it; therefore, all the time that is devoted to^ calves is time well spent, and 

 a herd of long-milking, strong, and healthy cows may be established. A 

 half-nourished calf will grow into a weedy cow, and in turn bear a weedy 

 calf, hence the great necessity of plenty of attention and proper feeding 

 during the growing period. 



THE INFLUENCE OF RADIO-ACTIVE MINERAL ON THE 

 GERMINATION AND ON THE GROWTH OF WHEAT. 



By Alfred J. Eivart, Ph.D., D.Sc, &rc. (Professor of Botany and Plant 



Physiology in the fdelbonrne University). 



A long series of experiments carried out by Victor Nightingall, Govern- 

 ment Research Scholar in the Botanical Laboratory of the Melbourne Uni- 

 versity, have shown that, under suitable conditions, a distinct accelerating 

 nction is exercised upon the germination of wheat and other cereals when 

 exposed to the rays emanating from a sitronglv radio-acti\e mineral.* 

 The details of these experiments are not yet ready for publication, but the 

 accelerating action was, in some cases, so pronounced that it was considered 

 worth while to proceed without delav to field trials. The results of plot 

 experiments on a small scale are published in the Journal for 191 1. page 

 155. Though somewhat indecisive, they indicated that there was a possi- 

 bility that field trials might give a beneficial result. It must, however, be 

 lemembered that the results obtained in the laboratory were, for the most 

 part, obtained by the use of quantities of radio-active mineral, which it 

 would be impossible to apply on the same relative scale in a field trial. 

 In addition, it does not always follow that a substance which accelerates 

 germmation will necessarilv benefit the plant during its whole development, 

 or even give it anv permanent advantage. Furthermore, if the presence 



* The mineral in question came frnni the Olarv HUl mine. South Australia, and it contained 0"il8per 

 cent, of phosphoric acid (PjO.-J, 0-40 of potash (K2O), 0-400 of calcium (CaO). and 214 per cent, of 

 magnesia (MgO). 



