AgricidtKral Education Exhibition, Slirewshury, 1914. 175 



Poultry. — An interesting exhibit was compi-ised in a series 

 of mounted specimens showing the different stages in the 

 incubation of a fowl. The first visible sign of the chick appears 

 on the fourth day, and by the twelfth day the whole chicken is 

 to be seen, with feathers just appearing. These are fully 

 developed by the seventeenth day, and the last stage is the 

 absorption of the yolk into the body. There were also speci- 

 mens of poultry diseases and pests, and in the open was a pen 

 of fowls arranged for a twelve months laying competition. 

 Altogether a notable exhibition. 



University of Birmingham. — From the Agricultural Research 

 Laboratory of this University came a series of exhibits illustra- 

 ting the parasitic diseases of animals and plants. The laboratory 

 also illustrated the work upon which it is engaged in the 

 important study of soil protozoa. 



College of Agriculture, Holmes Chapel. — The College is 

 engaged in a soil analysis of the county of Cheshire, and the 

 mechanical analysis of some of the soils was illustrated. 

 Another exhibit dealt with the improvement of pastures, par- 

 ticularly under the influence of lime and phosphatic manures. 

 The influence of lime on some of the strong Cheshire soils was 

 most marked, and it was interesting to note that the results from 

 the use of ground limestone were not equal to those from 

 caustic lime. Some models of dentition in the horse, and types 

 of horse shoes for various purposes would be of interest to the 

 farm student, and there was a good collection of specimens 

 illustrative of the diseases of farm stock. One of these was a 

 bad case of actinomycosis in the jaw of a cow, which was said 

 not to have been affected in its general health. This college 

 has also been investigating the disease resistant properties of 

 varieties of potatoes, and exhibited maps showing their distri- 

 bution. 



University of Bristol. — The Research Station at Long 

 Ashton sent an exhibit on similar lines to that seen at Bristol 

 last year, which attracted a great deal of attention from the 

 apple growers and cider manufacturers of the district. 



Meteorological Office, South Kensington. This was the second 

 appearance of the Meteorological Office in this section of the 

 Show, and the exhibit comprised an extraordinary variety of 

 interesting and valuable matter. Probably the most interesting 

 thing from a farmer's point of view would be the diagrams 

 which illustrated the relation between the crop yields and the 

 previous year's weather. The crops selected were wheat and 

 barley. The instruments used for recording observations were 

 shown, together with specimens of the official weather reports 

 and the scheme for their publication. Unfortunately, those in 



