62S 



NATURE 



[February 4, 191 5 



incidental statement by Dr. Wilson that " there are no 

 copper refineries in Canada." It is dilTicult to under- 

 stand why Canadian copper producers should be will- 

 ing to forgo <the very handsome profit realised by the 

 refining of their crude products, and why they should 

 be so ready to ship these products to the United 

 States instead of completing the refining process at 

 home. 



Dr. Wilson avows as one of the objects of this 

 report that "it may possibly be found useful to par- 

 ties who are contemplating investments in the develop- 

 ment of similar industries in other sections of the 

 country," but it is surely of far greater importance to 

 Canada that it should be in a position to utilise fully 

 its mineral production, and to put it on the market as 

 material ready for use in the arts, and not in an only 

 partly manufactured condition. Surely one of the 

 many economic lessons enforced by the present war 

 is the need for the Empire to be as nearly as possible 

 self-supporting, so that we may be, as far as practic- 

 able, independent of other nations for the supplies that 

 we chiefly need. This is not always possible, because 

 even the vast British Empire does not furnish all the 

 natural products that we use, but in the copper smelt- 

 ing industry of Canada we have an example where 

 we are deliberately giving away our natural advan- 

 tages. Seeing that this is a case where both patriotic 

 motives and commercial interests point in the same 

 direction, it may fairly be hoped that there will be 

 found in Canada men enterprising enough to finish 

 what they have begun, and that the reproach that the 

 Dominion is unable to refine its own copper produc- 

 tion will soon be removed. This is certainly not the 

 conclusion that Dr. Wilson has drawn, nor perhaps 

 the one which he wishes to be drawn from his careful 

 and comprehensive report, but it certainly is the main 

 impression that the reader of his report is likely to 

 carry away from its perusal. H. L. 



AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICULTURAL 

 RESEARCH.'^ 



THE varied research activities manifest at Woburn 

 are reflected in the contents of the fourteenth 

 report. They include experiments in potato spraying, 

 trenching, the distribution of soil particles, the effect 

 of one crop on another, the control of the 

 black currant mite, and the loss of manure 

 in transit. It is not possible within the limits 

 of a short notice to discuss all these sub- 

 jects, nor perhaps is it necessary. For as is inevitable 

 with interim reports, final results may not be expected. 

 Thus with respect to the experiments in potato spray- 

 ing with Bordeaux mixture and with Woburn paste, 

 the report, though it advances our knowledge another 

 stage, does not make final revelation of the secret of 

 the prophylactic virtue of copper sulphate against late 

 blight {Phytophthora infestans). Mr. Pickering recog- 

 nises that the problem is complex, and inclines to the 

 view that the spray fluid acts rather by inducing 

 healthier foliage than by destroying the spores of the 

 fungus (p. 30). Although on the scientific side of the 

 question much remains obscure, Mr. Pickering records 

 notable progress on the commercially practical side. 

 He finds that Woburn paste used at the rate of 15 or 

 16 lb. is equivalent in its effect to Bordeaux mixture 

 made from 8 lb. copper sulphate, and this although 

 the paste contains five or six times less copper than 

 does the mixture. 



1 (i) Fourteenth Report of the Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm. By 

 the Duke of Bedford and Spencer U. Pickering. (London : Amalgamated 

 Press, Ltd., 1914.) Price 2S. gd. post free. 



(2) University of Bristol. The Annual Report of the Agricu'tu-al and 

 Horticultural Research Station. (The National Fruit and Ci^er Institute). 

 LongAshton, Hristol. 1913. Pp. no. (Bith : I/era^ri Viess, n d.) 



NO. 2362, VOL. 94] 



If we may offer a suggestion it is that Woburn 

 should undertake a series of records spread over a 

 term of years with the view of settling a question 

 which vexes the minds of not a few of our best and 

 biggest growers— whether in the long run spraying 

 with Bordeaux mixture, is or is not profitable. Those 

 who know only the laboratory side of the subject may 

 scoff at the question, but Mr. Pickering's experience 

 would doubtless confirm the reviewer's, that many 

 hard-headed lowland Scots do not spray, and give as 

 their reason that it does not pay. Evidence from 

 America, where large-scale spraying experiments have 

 been carried out, would appear to put the men in the 

 wrong, but in spite of that and similar evidence in 

 this country, these men maintain their negative posi- 

 tion. If, as Mr. Pickering estimates, the benefit of 

 spraying in a year of blight is only about 10-30 per 

 cent., and if, as is well known, spraying to be of much 

 use must be begun before the disease appears, the un- 

 converted grower may have economic justification for 

 his heresy. 



Mr. Pickering's experiments in bastard trenching, 

 carried out in conjunction with Dr. E. J. Russell, lead 

 to negative results which are at first sight surprising. 

 For it might be supposed, from what is known of the 

 need of roots for air, that the mere disturbance of the 

 soil would benefit the crop. It has to be borne in 

 mind, however, that the experiment was carried out 

 with fruit trees, and it is at least probable that when 

 the trees were planted the soil in which they were 

 planted was disturbed sufficiently for their needs. Mr. 

 Pickering is right in believing that where a hard pan 

 exists not far below the surface, bastard trenching 

 even without the addition of manure is of value. 



When so much is done at Woburn it is almost un- 

 gracious to ask for more, but we should like very 

 much to see the effect of the bastard trenching on a 

 crop of vegetables — carrots or beet, for example. It 

 is rash to prophesy in horticulture, but we incline to 

 the belief that the effect, though perhaps not great, 

 would be positive and not negative, as in the case of 

 the fruit trees. 



The Annual Report (1913) of the Agricultural and 

 Horticultural Research Station at Long Ashton, Bris- 

 tol, shows that this comparatively young institution 

 is carrying out a large amount of useful work. 



As is natural, much of the report is concerned with 

 problems connected with cider and perry-making. A 

 subject of wider interest is that of the influence of 

 the stock upon vintage quality and other characters 

 of annles. Growers as a class are apt to maintain that 

 the stock exercises a considerable though ill-defined 

 influence on the scion, and there is a good deal of 

 scattered information on the subject. The analyses 

 of fruit juices published in the report indicate 

 that the nature of the stock is without influ- 

 ence on the quality of the juice of the fruit ; save that 

 the rates of fermentation of juices obtained from fruit 

 grown on the Paradise stock are in most cases higher 

 than those from fruit grown in the free stock. 



For our part we are inclined to believe that light 

 would be thrown on the subject by an investigation of 

 the oxydases of scion and stock ; for it is by no means 

 improbable that research will discover that these potent 

 agents may pass along the wood and bast, and thus 

 affect the rate of chemical change in far-distant 

 tissues. 



The influence of grass on the growth of orchard 

 trees — a subject brought into prominence by Mr. 

 Spencer Pickering's observations — is discussed by Mr. 

 Barker on the basis of experiments carried out at 

 Long Ashton and in several demonstration orchards 

 in the west of England. 



Mr. Barker, beside confirming the view that grass 



