184 The Editor: Thrke Xew Xuts 



the extent that it offers i)romisc of indus- on the Covent Garden market. Few are 



trial value in Southern California and sold in California, because of the presents 



some other parts of the United States, small j^roduction. 



where it is already being wideh' j^lanted The tree is moderately frost resistant, 



on an experimental scale. Botaniealh' it and requires very little care or water, 



is Macadamia ternifolia, of the order wherefore it is highly prized in semi- 



Proteaceae, and takes its common name arid localities. Despite this, it will, like 



from its home ; it is also said to be called other plants, give better results if well 



the Australian hazelnut, although not so irrigated. As the bush or small tree 



known in this covmtr\'. which bears it is distinctly ornamental, 



The fruit is a dru])e with fleshy exter- and has the advantage of evergreen 



ior; the brown kernel (the nut itself) has leaves, it is much favored for planting as 



a shiny surface that is particularly an ornament. For this purpose, as well 



attractive. Its meat closely resembles as for its nuts, it can be recommended 



that of the Brazil nut, but is richer and without hesitation in Southern Califor- 



better flavored; like the Pili nut, it has nia and similar regions where its charac- 



the disadvantage of a very hard shell, ter exactly fits it for the needs of the 



which selection alone will reduce. In ra]:)idly increasing number of people who 



flavor it is first-class — small shipments l^elieve that economic \'alue and novelty 



made from Australia to London are said should be combined with ornamental 



to have brought twehx* shillings a pound qualities, in landscape gardening. 



Increasing the Richness of Milk 



The possibility of increasing, with economic advantage, the average fat content 

 of cow's milk, is discussed by Nils Hansson in the Kungl. Landibruks-Akademiens 

 Handlingar och Tidskrift, LII, 5, vStockholm, 1913. After discussing the results 

 of feeding experiments carried on for twenty-five years at the Central Experi- 

 ment Station of Sweden, where he is chief of the animal husbandry section, the 

 writer summarizes the results of his investigations on the influence that the choice 

 of the bulls has on the fat content of the milk. lie concludes: 



1. It is possible to increase the percentage of fat content of the milk of a herd, 

 with economic advantage, by a judicious selection of the breeding animals. 



2. By dividing a herd into families of descendants of the sires and of the dams, 

 the influence of each animal on the develo])ment of the qualities of the herd may 

 be better demonstrated. 



3. The influence of the males is demonstrated by the average i)roduction of 

 all their female descendants, or still better by a comparison of the a\'erage ])ro- 

 duction of their daughters with that of the dams of these daughters when they 

 were of the same age. 



4. The influence of the bulls on the percentage of fat content of the milk of 

 their female descendants depends upon the qualities of the females of the preceding 

 generations. 



5. The influence of the cows appears in the fact that a bull possessing a certain 

 genotype ]3ercentage of fat cannot increase the ])ercentage of fat in the milk exce]jt 

 in the daughters of cows inferior to him in the jxTcentage of fat content, whilst 

 the daughters of the same bull out of cows yielding richer milk will have a jDereent 

 age of fat inferior to that of their dams. 



6. The males and the females tran.smit to their descendants the ])ercentage of 

 fat which they themselves have inherited from their ancestors, the male and the 

 female having, as it api)ears, an equal influence on condition that they represent 

 the same constancy of results in this respect. But owing to its larger number 

 of descendants, the male has a greater influence on the develojiment of the herd. 



