June 14, 1888]' 



NA TURE 



163 



We read that "only " 30,000,000 acres have up to date been arti- 

 ficially irrigated, but the appropriateness of the qualifying adverb 

 is rendered evident when it is employed in contrast with the 

 total area of 200,000,000 acres of cultivated ground, and the 

 vast tract of 868,314 square miles which include British India. 

 The normal area under wheat is 26,000,000 acres, and the degree 

 to which this area is likely to be increased depends entirely upon 

 demand and price. Dr. Watt informs us that the Indian culti- 

 vator is at all times ready to adapt his courses of cropping to 

 circumstances, and that he will increase or abandon the cul- 

 tivation of wheat, cotton, or any other crop according to its 

 comparative profitableness. 



Dr. Watt comes to the conclusion that the Indian wheat 

 trade up to the present time is a perfectly natural one. " The 

 people are exporting only what they specially cultivate for that 

 purpose. The moment better profits can be realized on another 

 crop they will turn from wheat, without being in the least degree 

 incommoded." If this is the case, the English farmer may well 

 look with envy upon his Indian brother, as he is in the unfor- 

 tunate position of being compelled to carry on wheat-growing 

 from sheer inability to find a substitute for it in his agricultural 

 economy. Natural though the course of the ryot may be from 

 his point of view, the actual bounty upon wheat, or what 

 amounts to a bounty, consequent upon the fall in value of the 

 rupee, can scarcely be described as natural. This great advant- 

 age to the Indian cultivator is clearlv brought out by Mr. Bear 

 by the following considerations. First, the Indian ryot gets as 

 much for a quarter of his wheat now as he obtained in 1872. He 

 gets as many rupees, and his rupees are worth as much to him 

 as they were then ! In 1871-72 the average exchange value of 

 the rupee was is. ii'i2</., whereas recently it has been under 

 I*. 5</. The price of No. 2 club wheat in Calcutta in 1872 

 averaged only 21s. 3«. ip. per maund, whereas it has for some 

 time past been over zrs. 10a. ! Taking i6rs. per quarter 

 {6 maunds) as the price for both periods, then reckoning the 

 exchange value of the rupee for both periods, it is clear that the 

 exchange value of i6rs. in 1872 was equal to 305. 8</. per 

 quarter, whereas the exchange value of the same sum in 1888 

 is only 22s. 8t/. The fact is that the Indian ryot gets as much 

 for a quarter of wheat now as he did in 1872, in spite of the 

 fall in prices. He ge'.s as many rupees, and his rtipees are worth 

 as much to him. This seems to settle the question as to the encour- 

 agement given to the ryot as a competitor in wheat-growing with 

 the English farmer. Another point, in all respects discouraging to 

 the cultivation of wheat in England, is found in the complete revo- 

 lution during the last ten years in corn-milling machinery described 

 by Mr. W. Proctor Baker, of Bristol. There has been in fact 

 not a mere substitution of one machine for another, or of one 

 scries of machines for another, but there has been a change of 

 the principle and mode of procedure. The old system of "low 

 grinding " by mill-stones, so well calculated for producing flour 

 from soft, tender wheats, such as are produced by us, has been 

 entirely superseded by the Hungarian and American " gradual 

 reduction" process by "roller mills." Not only does this 

 system require the wheat to be dry, hard, and brittle, so as to 

 secure the requisite cracking and gradual reduction, but any- 

 thing in the form of a soft or moist wheat is most injurious to 

 the machinery and the products. It rolls into a paste, steam is 

 generated, and the flour works into balls, becomes attached to 

 the rollers, turns sour, and, in fact, throws the entire process out 

 of gear. "It is because of these troubles that owners of mills 

 on a large scale will not employ native wheats in damp seasons. 

 No concession of price is sufficient inducement to them to risk 

 the disorganization of the mill, and probable loss of reputation, 

 by turning out inferior or irregular flour." There are, however, 

 two modes in which these wheats may be used. First, by sub- 

 mitting them to an artificial drying process ; and secondly, by 

 mixing them with some description of very brittle wheat, and 

 allowing the mixture to lie for some weeks, until the brittle wheat 

 absorbs some of the moisture of the native wheat, to the mutual 

 advantange of both. 



One of the most serious points at issue between science and 

 agricultural practice at present appears to be the comparative values 

 of farm-yard manure and artificial fertilizers. So far as absolute 

 experiment goes, the evidence seems to be in favour of the appli- 

 cation of the latter, while, on the other hand, the preponderating 

 opinion among farmers is on the side of farm-yard manure. In 

 the Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn, 

 by Dr. J. Augustus Voelcker, applications of dung appear some- 

 what at a disadvantage when contrasted wi'.h applications of salts 



of potash, phosphates, and nitrates direct. Mr. Vallentine, in 

 his paper upon the practical value of dung as compared with 

 artificial manures, declares in favour of the latter, and labours to 

 show the extravagant cost at which farm-yard manure is pro- 

 duced. " For years past," he says, " my main reliance has been 

 placed on artificial manures. Some dung is made and some 

 bought, but it is found to answer best, as a rule, to sell hay and 

 straw and to purchase manures." This may answer on some 

 classes of soil ; but what would be the effect upon our high-lying 

 and thin chalk downs if we were to relinquish sheep-farming and 

 depend upon " artificials? " 



Many more valuable papers well repay perusal, among others 

 one upon recent experiences in laying land down to grass, by Mr. 

 James A. Caird. The remainder are mostly official in character, 

 being the usual Reports upon implements, prize farm competi- 

 tions, shows, experiments, and the Annual Reports of the 

 Consulting Chemist, Botanist, and Entomologist, which, how- 

 ever, are none the less valuable for being official. 



Downton. John Wrightson. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — The following are the speeches delivered on 

 June 9 by the Public Orator, Dr. Sandys, Fellow and Tutor of 

 St. John's College, in presenting for the honorary degree of 

 Doctor in Science, Prof. G. G. Stokes, Lord Rayleigh, Sir 

 Frederick Abel, Prof. Cayley, and Prof. Adams : — 



(1) Salutamus deinceps Regiae societatis praesidem, pro- 

 fessorem nostrum Lucasianum, senatorum nostrorum omnium 

 consensu Britanniae senatoribus additum ; quern in munere illo 

 triplici Newtoni nostri in vestigiis insistere gloriamur. Atqui 

 ipse, qua est morum suavitate et modestia, vix tali sese honore 

 dignatur, sed a plausu populari remotus et seclusus, templum 

 quoddam serenum occupat, ubi reverentia debita rerum naturae 

 miracula perscrutatur, ubi "in statione tranquilla collocatus " 

 lucis leges obscuras observat, observatas ingenii sui lumine 

 illustrat. Viro tali rerum naturam contemplanti crediderim 

 apparere nonnunquam sedes illas quietas, 



" quas neque concutiunt venti, nee nubila nimbis 

 aspergunt, neque nix acri concreta prulna 

 cana cadens violat, semperque innubilus aether 

 integit, et large diffuso iumine ridet." 



Duco ad vos virum illustrem, Professorem Stokes. 



(2) Venio ad nomen physicorum professoris quern non sine 

 desiderio nuper amisimus, viri cum Cancellarii nostri munificentia 

 haud ita pridem consociati. Ex illo velut fonte, liberalitatis 

 flumen amplum professoris nostri in provinciam defluxit inque 

 alias Academiae partes redundavit. Ipse fontium exsilientium 

 et aquarum destillantium naturam quam feliciter exploravit ; 

 caeli colorem ilium caeruleum quam dilucide explicuit ; quicquid 

 audiendi quicquid videndi ad rationes intimas pertinet, quam 

 sapienter interpretatus est ; quotiens in rerum natura eventis 

 specie quidem inter sese diversis causas easdem subesse ostendit. 

 Quam profundam rei mathematicae deoopiav, ut aiunt, cum 

 quanta in experimentis instituendis sollertia coniunxit ; quam 

 subtilem denique scientiae cognitionem cum sensu illo communi 

 consociavit qui non in magna tantum fortuna sed in omni vitae 

 condicione rerum omnium est revera ra rissimus. 



Duco ad VOS lOANNEM WlLELMUM STRUTT, BARONEM 



Rayleigh. 



(3) Scientiam Chemicam et in bello et in pace utilem esse, quis 

 negabit ? Heri in hoc ipso loco virum hunc insignem docentem 

 audivistis, quo potissimum modo scientia ilia populi saluti con- 

 sulere et pericula pacis in artibus suscepta possit avertere. Idem 

 Martis fulmina ilia antiquis ignota quam familiariter tractat : 

 pulverem ilium formidolosum quo Bellona gaudet, quot experi- 

 mentis vexat : quam admirabilem in modum velut Olympius ille 

 Aristophanis, fulgurat, tonat, omnia permiscet. Atqui non 

 minus quam Pericles ille Atheniensis, qui tot insularum imperium 

 civitati suae conciliavit, inter ipsa tonitrua audit tot coloniarum 

 Britannicarum uno in imperio coniunctarum vocem, et illorum 

 consiliis pro virili parte op r tulatur qui in ipsa wrpoirjtei arlium 

 et scientiarum templum quoddam tanto imperio dignum con- 

 secrare voluerunt. Templi illius e sacerdotibus unum, cuius 

 praeceptor coram Principe nostro in hoc senaculo quondam 



