90 



NATURE 



[March 17, 192 1 



the growing demands from nations which are becom- 

 ing wheat-eaters ail point to a reduced supply for 

 Great Britain. That our production can be increased 

 becomes evident from a comparison of the figures few- 

 different years, e.g. in 1868 16,733,000 quarters of 

 wheat were produced compared with 6,677,000 

 quarters in 1920. 



During the war patriotism was certainly one of the 

 controlling factors in the production of home-grown 

 wheat, but now that conditions are more or less 

 normal price becomes the dominant factor. The 

 Agriculture Act has considerably changed the posi- 

 tion of the wheat-grower in this country, and with 

 a free and uncontrolled market, as well as a 

 guarantee against loss in the event of the world's 

 price falling below the cost of production, the grownig 

 of wheat becomes an attractive scheme. The 

 guarantee is based on the acreage sown, and not on 

 the quantity of grain per acre, and the four-quarters- 

 per-acre basis for the guarantee should be a stimulus 

 to the light-land farmer to grow wheat, while on 

 heavy land and "wheat-land" there is the stimulus 

 of a higher return on account of the greater yields. 

 Probably the best way to increase production is to 

 raise the average yield per acre throughout the 

 country. 



The Harper-Adams Agricultural College has been 

 carrying out tests for some years, and the results 

 show what large differences exist between the yield- 

 ing powers of different varieties. In a three-year 

 average the " Standard " variety of wheat showed a 

 yield of 33 bushels per acre, while " Svalof Iron" 

 headed the list with 56 bushels per acre, so that it 

 is obvious that by using some of the new higher yield- 

 ing varieties the yield per acre could be considerably 

 increased. At one time Great Britain boasted that 

 her average wheat yield per acre was higher than 

 that of any other country in the world, but the figures 

 for igio ^ow that we are now below other countries, 

 the yield for Denmark being 47-5 bushels per acre 

 against 29-1 bushels per acre in Great Britain. 



Judicious manuring is one of the surest aids to 

 increased yield, and even at present prices an increase 

 of three bushels per acre amply repays the application 

 of I cwt. of sulphate of ammonia. Other points to 

 be considered are the time and the rate of sowing. 

 All available experiments seem to favour the autumn- 

 sown wheat, while it seems verv probable that a bid 

 saving could be effected by reducing the amount of 

 seed sown per acre. 



Hydrography of the Nile Basin. 



THE hydrographical data relating to the Nile and 

 its upper reaches were published last year bv the 

 Public Works Ministry of Egypt in a report entitled 

 "Nile Control," which was reviewed in these columns 

 on December 30 last. The information was collected 

 for the use of the Technical Commission which was 

 appointed last year to report upon the various projects 

 prepared by the Ministry for controlling and dis- 

 tributing the Nile waters in Egypt and the Sudan. 

 The report of the Commission has now been pub- 

 lished ("Report of the Nile Projects Commission," 

 Cairo, 1920). The Commission consisted of two 

 hydraulic engineers of wide experience, Mr. F. S. J. 

 Gebbie, nominated by the Government of India, and 

 Mr. H. F. Cory, nominated by the Government of the 

 United States ; also of Dr. G." C. Simpson, nominated 

 bv the University of Cambridge as a physicist whose 

 scientific knowledge and experience were desired in 

 connection with problems in water measurement. 

 Criticism of the projects had been rife for many 



NO. 2681, VOL. 107] 



months, and had culminated in a series of charges 

 being brought against the Ministry of Public Works 

 by Sir W. VVillcocks and Col. Kennedy, in which 

 falsification of data and suppression of records were 

 alleged. More than half of the report is taken up by a 

 consideration of these charges by the Commission, 

 which has reported unanimously that there had been 

 no falsification or any fraudulent manipulation of 

 data. 



Passing to the consideration of the technical 

 merits of the projects for the dams at Gebel Aulia 

 on the White Nile and at Sennar on the Blue Nile, 

 for the barrage at Nag' Hamadi in Upper Egypt, 

 for a dam on the upper reaches of the Blue Nile and 

 for another on Lake Albert, the Commission reports 

 wholly in favour of each of them. It does not con- 

 sider that proposals for the construction of reservoirs 

 in the marsh region of the White Nile are worthy of 

 investigation. The further terms of reference, the 

 allocation of the increased supply of available water 

 and the apportionment of cost, produced a minority 

 report from Mr. Cory. On the measurement of river 

 discharges the Commission expresses the opinion that 

 there is no other river in the world for which the 

 discharge is so accurately determined as that of the 

 Nile, and its report bears out what has been fully 

 set out in " Nile Control," that the present-day 

 needs of Egypt and the Sudan demand the highest 

 precision in the control and distribution of the Nile 

 water. The addition of a Physical Department to 

 the Ministry of Public Works indicates that this has 

 been recognised, and it is to be hoped that when a 

 fuller measure of responsibility is placed upon Egyp- 

 tian administrators they too will realise the necessity 

 for maintaining the highest efficiencv in all that con- 

 cerns the scientific study of the hydrography of the 

 Nile basin. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Birmingham. — Mr. John G. Garrett has been ap- 

 pointed lecturer and demonstrator in mine surveying, 

 and Mr. John P. Rees lecturer in metal mining. 



The following new members of the staff of 

 Queen's Hospital havfe been appointed University 

 clinical teachers : — Dr. Geoffrey Eden, assistant lec- 

 turer on clinical medicine and junior medical tutor, 

 and Mr. W. Gemmill, assistant lecturer on clinical 

 surgery. 



Edinburgh. — The committee organised in 1911 by 

 the late Prof. MacGregor to promote a memorial to 

 Prof. Tait in the form of a second chair of natural 

 philosophy is now in a position to report to the sub- 

 scribers and others interested that the Tait chair will 

 shortly be established. The funds collected before the 

 war have now been substantially augmented by sums 

 from other sources, and the committee, after con- 

 ferring with the University Court, has been informed 

 by it that it will be possible to arrange for the founda- 

 tion of the chair not later than the year 1925, by which 

 time certain funds set aside by the University Court 

 towards the endowment of the chair will have 

 matured. In announcing this gratifying" decision the 

 Tait Memorial Committee believes that there are still 

 many of Prof. Tait's former pupils and friends 

 desirous of being associated in the promotion of this 

 lasting memorial to a great natural philosopher. 

 Further and immediate contributions will make it 

 possible to inaugurate the Tait chair of natural philo- 

 sophy before 1925. Further information may be ob- 

 tained from the hon. secretary. Dr. C. G. Knott, Uni- 

 versity of Edinburgh. 



