August 4, 192 1] 



NATURE 



7Z^ 



months, for the purpose of making synoptic charts 

 of temperature, salinity, gas content, curl-ents, and 

 so on, which it is hoped will prove amenable as 

 material for mathematical investigation of the related 

 phenomena. 



In his essay on volcanology Dr. H. S. Washington 1 

 describes the information which requires to be col- I 

 lected for the systematic study of the subject, and i 



the programme of a volcanic observing station, such 

 as those which have been established for some years 

 at Vesuvius and Kilauea. The article on geophysico- 

 chemical problems, by Dr. R. B. Sosman, of the 

 Carnegie Institution Geophysical Laboratory, con- 

 cludes the report, and deals with the investigation of 

 the physical prof>erties and chemical reactions of the 

 substances and aggregates which make up the earth. 



Agricultural Research. 



'"T^HE Present Position of Research in Agricul- 

 -*• ture " formed the subject of a lecture delivered 

 by Sir Daniel Hall at the Royal Society of Arts, and 

 reported in the society's Journal for April i (No. 3567, 

 vol. Ixix.). Up to the time of the formation of the 

 Development Commission in 1909, agricultural re- 

 search was entirely unrecognised by the State. A 

 considerable amount of information had been gained 

 from the researches at the Rothamsted Experimental 

 Station, which was started in 1843, and was entirely 

 dependent on the endowment provided by -its 

 originator, Sir John Lawes ; valuable researches were 

 also being carried on at the VVoburn Station of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society, while from 1890 onwards 

 the' various agricultural colleges were commencing m- 

 vestigations along many different lines. To work of 

 this kind the State granted not more than a few 

 hundred pounds a year, and the Development Com- 

 mission was expressly charged with the object of 

 formulating some scheme for the promotion of re- 

 search. The scheme adopted is now in working order, 

 and by it the field is divided up into a number of 

 subjects, one of which is allocated to each university 

 or institute. By this means research is removed from 

 immediate State control, concentration of effort 

 ensured, and overlapping avoided, and each institute 

 is able to carry out a continuous scheme of work. The 

 question of the State control of research is one which 

 is hotly debated. On one hand it is argued that the 

 State pays, and therefore should control the expendi- 

 ture; on the other, when the nature of research work 

 is considered, it is obvious- that the looser system of 

 control prevailing in a university is much more pro- 

 ductive of good work than the rigid methods of a 

 Government department, while the type of man wanted 

 for research is much more attracted to the former 

 than to the latter. Moreover, if research came 

 directly under Government control, then the pro- 

 gramme of work would have to be submitted annually j 

 to the judgment and criticism of administrative \ 

 bodies possessing no expert knowledge. That such a 

 procedure is disastrous has been proved many times in 

 other countries. 



Another advantage arising out of the association of 

 the research institutes with the universities lies in the 

 co-operation thereby ensured with other workers in 

 all fields of science, so that no matter in what 

 direction the particular research mav extend, the 

 advice of men with expert knowledge is always avail- 

 able. It is also of the utmost importance to keep 

 agricultural research in contact with the business of 

 farming, and this is attained most easily througn 

 association with a university which teaches agricul- 

 ture and is in touch with the surrounding farmers. 



At present there are under the scheme eight insti' 

 tutes, each dealing with some particular branch of 

 agricultural research, such as plant pathology, fruit- 

 growing, dairying, etc. A research council, consist- 

 ing of the directors of the various institutes, together 

 with a few independent scientific men and the officials 

 of the Government departments concerned, has been 



NO. 2701, VOL. 107] 



set up to ensure the co-ordination necessary between 

 the different research centres. To this body also the 

 Ministry is able to submit plans for any large-scale 

 investigations requiring the co-operation of a number 

 of the institutes. An important feature of the scheme 

 has been the provision of a number of advisory 

 officers who are attached to the various agricultural 

 colleges. These men are free from most teaching 

 duties, and are able to give advice and help to the 

 farmers and horticulturists in their area while keeping 

 in close touch with the directors of the related insti- 

 tutes and the officers of the Ministry's staff. In 

 this way a systematic service is secured capable of 

 dealing with plant pathology, etc., all over the 

 country. 



The total funds set aside in the current Estimates 

 ^'or this research scheme amount to 105,000?., against 

 38,250/. for the year 19 13-14. This ensures for each 

 institute a definite number of salaried posts with 

 reasonable prospects of promotion, so that agricul- 

 tural research is no longer an absolute blind-alley 

 employment. 



The immensely impKJrtant subject of animal disease 

 has been very inadequately dealt with, but the many 

 difficult questions involved are being investigated. 

 The Ministry is now supporting a research laboratory 

 at Addlestone, and grants are made to the Royal 

 Veterinary College and the London School of 

 Tropical Medicine for the pursuance of researches in 

 animal diseases- 

 Having dealt with the organisation of research, the 

 lecturer gave a short account of some of the most 

 impK>rtant practical results obtained recently from 

 the various institutes. At Rothamsted a valuable in- 

 vestigation has been carried out on the method of the 

 decomposition of farmyard manure, A cellulose fer- 

 menting organism was discovered which attacks straw 

 in the presence of active nitrogen. At the same time 

 there is considerable loss of nitrogen, so that it is 

 most essential to protect the ordinary dung-heap from 

 washing by rain, and also, in the case of rich cake-fed 

 dung, it must be got on to the land early if heavy 

 losses of nitrogen are to be avoided. Some of the 

 principles emerging from this work have been very 

 successfully applied to the treatment of sewage. Ai 

 present the valuable nitrogenous compounds in sewage 

 are mostly wasted, but by passing it through a straw 

 filter bed under certain conditions some 60 per cent, 

 of the nitrogen is removed by the organisms decom- 

 posing the straw, which thereby becomes a good 

 manure, and, moreover, the effiuent is harmless. 

 Further trials are in progress with the object of 

 making farmyard manure on a large scale without 

 animals. 



At Aberystwyth plant-breeding methods are being 

 applied to grasses and clovers, while at Cambridge 

 the scientific breeding of farm crops has given most 

 valuable results; wheats have been produced which 

 add 10 per cent, to the yield of the farm, while somp 

 of them combine the strength of the Canadian with 

 the cropping power of the English varieties. 



