December 



D' 



1923] 



NA TURE 



881 



direct sunlight is also a valuable measure. Articles 

 of clothing that require to be stored are immune from 

 attack if sealed down in paper bags, or very securely 

 wrapped in several layers of quite unbroken news- 

 paper. Naphthalene, in the form of flakes or balls, 

 should be placed among the clothing thus fastened up. 

 It also acts as a deterrent when placed in drawers 

 or cupboards, but is not entirely effective under such 

 conditions. Paradichlorobenzene appears to be as 

 valuable as naphthalene, but camphor is decidedly 

 less effective. 



On a large scale, the cold storage of furs, carpets, 

 and furniture is the most certain of all preventives, 

 and this method is coming more and more into use. 

 Extensive infection of carpets, upholsteries, etc. in 

 large houses, hotels, etc. may need fumigation in 

 order to eradicate clothes moths completely. An 

 effective remedy, which is also non-injurious to 

 furniture, fabrics, plate, or other household goods, 

 is the application of hydrocyanic acid gas. Its 

 manipulation requires the services of an intelligent 

 person who understands the dangers of its use and 

 knows how to administer it. Carbon tetrachloride 



is also effective, and has the advantage over hydro- 

 cyanic acid gas in being neither explosive nor inflam- 

 mable. Fumigation with sulphur is a well-known 

 remedy, but there is some danger from fire in its 

 application, while it has a bleaching effect on many 

 delicate fabrics, wallpaper, etc., besides tarnishing 

 metals. Carbon disulphide is also recommended, but 

 its vapour is inflammable. Dry heat is now recog- 

 nised as an effective agent in killing insects. All 

 fabrics will be freed from pests in a very short time 

 if exposed to a temperature of 130° F. Lower 

 temperatures have been found effective against 

 clothes moth larvae ; the latter when exposed in an 

 incubator at 128°, 120°, and 110° F. died in 6, 11, 

 and 31 minutes respectively. Fabrics dipped in 

 water heated to 140° F. will be found to contain 

 no living eggs or larvae of clothes moths. 



It may also be mentioned that there are a number 

 of worthless remedies against these insects, includ- 

 ing powdered sulphur, hellebore, and borax ; also 

 lavender flowers, cayenne pepper, reasonable strengths 

 of tobacco powder, and other substances are of no 

 value in keeping away these insects. A. D. Imms. 



Science lin: Agriculture. 



THE somewhat belated appearance of the annual 

 report of the Rothamsted Experimental Station 

 for the year 1921-22 does not deprive it of the peren nial 

 interest which must always attach to the doings of 

 this institution. For historically, Rothamsted can 

 claim to be almost the earliest example of the benefits 

 that result from the application of science to industry. 

 From the economic point of view, the discoveries of 

 Lawes and Gilbert take a very high rank in the history 

 of scientific achievement. The most remarkable 

 feature of the early work of Rothamsted was the 

 success with which field and laboratory work were 

 combined. With the ever-growing complexity of all 

 regions of knowledge, it has become increasingly 

 difficult to maintain this tradition. The refinements 

 (the application of statistical methods may be 

 instanced) which modem field research demands, 

 and the revolution in many of the fundamental 

 conceptions of science, are two factors. On the 

 applied side, another obstacle is the smaller apparent 

 margin for improvement in the practice of modem 

 husbandry. Whereas the discoveries of the early 

 workers were productive of changes in farm practice 

 of the order, in terms of economic results, of 100 per 

 cent., in these days, improvements are only possible 

 to the extent, as it were, of 10 per cent. 



A recognition of this fact is implied in the statement 

 contained in the report that " the most important 

 development of recent years has been the reorganisa- 

 tion of the work of the Station so as to bring it into 

 touch with modem conditions of agriculture on one 

 side and of science on the other : it is hoped to 

 reorgani.se in the near future the farm and field work 

 and to improve the field technique." It unquestion- 

 ably adds to the difficulties of this reorganisation 

 that it should coincide with a period when the whole 

 economic basis of arable farming is so precarious 

 as it is to-day. It is being openly said that arable 

 farming, and particularly the growing of cereals, 

 cannot be made to pay in present circumstances. 



In dealing with the finance of the farm attached 

 to the Station, the rep>ort states that " from 1920 

 onwards, the financial results are deplorable, and 

 they show clearly why many of the arable farmers 

 to-day are in their present position." The report 

 does not specifically indicate the most promising line 

 of investigation calculated to remedy this disastrous 



NO. 2824, VOL. 112] 



state of affairs, but there can be little doubt that the 

 Department of Soil Physics, of which the assistant 

 director. Dr. B. A. Keen, is the head, and to which 

 precedence is given in the report, should be so regarded. 

 Under the heading, " The Cultivation of the Soil," 

 some account is given of investigations which promise 

 to yield results which may indicate to the farmer 

 methods by which the cost of cultivation can be 

 reduced, and " costs of cultivation dominate the 

 future of arable farming." In this connexion it 

 may be significant that the American farmer appar- 

 ently has been able to grow wheat at a profit with 

 a yield of 16 bushels to the acre, whereas the British 

 farmer with a return of 32 bushels is losing money. 

 It is a reasonable deduction that it pays better to 

 reduce the costs of cultivation than to aim at 

 maximum production. In other words, the British 

 farmer may still be paying court to methods the 

 chief recommendation of which is their superior 

 artistry. 



In the section headed " The Feeding of the Plant," 

 it is interesting to learn that " broad beans die pre- 

 maturely unless they receive a homeopathic dose 

 of boric acid in addition to the so-called ' complete ' 

 plant food." It is remarkable that a discovery 

 parallel to that of the role of accessory food factors 

 in animal nutrition should have been made in relation 

 to plants. 



The volume of purely scientific work done at 

 Rothamsted would appear to be considerably greater 

 than that carried on in relation to so-called applied 

 science. As many as fifty-two scientific papers were 

 published during the year by members of the staff. Of 

 these, two were of Royal Society rank, namely : — 

 " The Mathematical Foundations of Theoretical 

 Statistics " (R. A. Fisher), and " A Quantitative 

 Investigation of the Bacterial and Protozoal Popula- 

 tion of the Soil " (D. W. Cutler, L. M. Crump, and 

 H. Sandon). 



The financial supp)ort which the Station now 

 receives from the State is considerable. For the 

 year under notice grants from the Development Fund 

 totalling 22,030/. were received. In 1912 the total 

 was approximately 3000/. It must be a source of 

 gratification to the director, Sir John Russell, that 

 so great an expansion should have taken place during 

 his term of office. 



