1^ 



NATURE 



[September 27, 191 7 



years old and in her first month of lactation. In 

 order to make use of this chart, then, we proceed to 

 make a mark upon it for each individual cow, each 

 mark corresponding (vertically) to a particular age, 

 and (horizontally) to a particular month of lactation ; 

 and this has been done in our figure for two distinct 

 and separate herds, one of fourteen, the other of eleven 

 cows. In short we note upon the chart the cow's 

 age and period, and are then able to read off the 

 corresponding "efficiency" which we are entitled to 

 expect of her. It only remains for us to add up the 

 number of cows (of each separate herd) in each zone or 

 "efficiency class," and then to proceed as follows, by 

 the simplest arithmetic : — 



Comparison of Herds A and B. 



■EfBciency 

 . class 



No. of 

 cows 



Total 

 efficiency 

 Per cent. 



170 

 O 



o 

 1 10 



90 



105 



50 



II ... 525 

 -Average efficiency per cow, 477 p.c. 

 Total yield of milk per day, 260 lb. ... 

 -Average ,, „ per cow, 23-6,, ... 

 Standard yield] 



at maximum ( . x 2y6 



efficiency j 47 7 



No. of 

 cows 



3 

 4 



I 



3 



14 



:49-4 



63-6 



Total 

 efficiency 

 Per cent. 



300 



65 



165 



O 



o 



890 



63 '6 p.c. 

 290 lb. 



207 „ 



X 207 = 32-5 



The value which we obtain as our final arithmetical 

 result, viz. 49-4 lb. and 32-5 lb. respectively, for our 

 two herds, may be called the "standard of efficiency," 

 or "standard yield at maximum efficiency," or (for 

 short) the "specific standard" of the herd. 



In practice we should have to take into account (a& 

 we have not here done) cows that have gone dry, 

 though of an age and period when they should still 

 have been milking; this would introduce a further, 

 but very slight, complexity. Apart from this, and as 

 our broad and simple result, we see (i) that Herd B was 

 operating at a higher efficiency than Herd A, i.e. 

 the cows in B were in the better state as regards age 

 and period; but nevertheless (2) Herd A was actually 

 yielding 23-6/207, or 14 per cent, more milk per cow; 

 and (3) the most important thing, that Herd A was 

 giving a yield which, when reduced to standard (as 

 though every cow were five years old and newly 

 calved), would be equivalent to 49-4/32-5, or no less 

 than 52 per cent, more milk than Herd B under 

 similar standard conditions. Herd A was one of the 

 best herds of pure-bred Holstein-Frisian cattle in the 

 State, while B was only a fair average or dairy herd. 



It is obvious that we may use the same method (with 

 the help of equally easy arithmetic) to determine the 

 value or " efficiency," in comparison with the herd as 

 a whole, of anv individual cow. For instance, after 

 we have determined the standard efficiency, or standard 

 yield at maximum efficiency, of Herd A to 'be 49-4 lb. 

 of milk daily, then a cow the age and period of which 

 place it in the 55 per cent, zone should be yielding 

 something between 50 per cent, and 60 per cent, of 

 that amount, say from 25 lb. to 30 lb. of milk daily. 

 She is not doing her duty bv the rest of the herd, and 

 may be weeded out accordingly, if her daily yield of 

 milk be found to be below this quantity. 



D'Arcy W. Thompson. 

 NO. 2500, VOL. 100] 



AGRICULTURE IN MADRAS. 

 ■pEW aspects of Indian administration have mani- 

 ■*■ fested more satisfactory advancements than that 

 of agriculture. Since the date of reorganisation of 

 the department into provincial sections (acting under 

 effective Imperial control), since the date when the 

 bulk of the officials under these became expert agri- 

 culturists, the improvement has been both substantial 

 and far-reaching. The keynote, moreover, seems to 

 have been the separation of agriculture from revenue. 

 But one can imagine the old Bengal civilian turning 

 in his grave with horror at the abolition of his 

 "Revenue and Agricultural Department," the " et 

 cetera" of former times. To-day the people of India 

 can receive the agricultural official as a friend, free 

 from suspicion of mercenary (revenue) alternatives. 

 No better manifestation of this improved relationship 

 could be given than the appearance of the Madras 

 Agricultural Calendar. 



A double page is devoted to each month, from April 

 to March (the official year), and these twelve tables 

 set forth the phases of the moon, the constellations of 

 the stars, the feasts, fasts, festivals, the fairs, shows, 

 exhibitions — all matters of more than ordinary interest 

 to the Indian cultivator. Between the pages of 

 monthly records are interspersed instructive, brief, but 

 practical, chapters on various useful subjects, written 

 by the director, the assistant director, the various 

 deputy directors, and other officials of the depart- 

 ment. 



The purpose of the Agricultural Department is 

 lucidly set forth; the importance of water to the 

 farmer fully expounded; the merits of the specially 

 selected and improved cotton-seed (here called Sircar 

 cotton) explained and ofTered for sale ; the properties of 

 the Monsoon plough exemplified ; the value of super- 

 phosphate as a manure for rice explained; then follow 

 suggestive and instructive essays on agricultural en- 

 gineering; on the conditions under which agricultural 

 logns can be made by the Government; on special 

 crops, such as ground-nuts, guinea-grass, indigo, 

 senna, etc. Next there are given chapters on the im- 

 provement of pasture lands, on the Veterinary Depart- 

 ment, and on the diseases and pests of crops. The 

 Calendar then supplies particulars of the Agricultural 

 College, the Research Institute, etc., and finally gives 

 a complete enumeration of the departmental and other 

 publications likely to be of value to the farmers. 



We commend this excellent little publication (78 

 pages) _ as a model of public utility, the more so 

 since it is offered for sale at the humble price of 

 one anna (one penny), and is printed both in English 

 and in the chief vernaculars of the province. 



SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY IN 

 SOUTH AFRICA.-^ 

 /^UR Government, I am afraid, has not always fully 

 ^^ realised in the past the powerful aid of science 

 and scientific research in general and industrial develop- 

 ment. It has been following too much the lead of 

 Great Britain, and has been perhaps too much inclined 

 to regard the scientific departments of the Government 

 as not of primary importance, since they are not imme- 

 diately productive in the commercial sense. The totally 

 inadequate salaries paid to the personnel of Govern- 

 ment scientific departments is perhaps an indication of 

 the place which their work has occupied in the general 

 plan of the nation. Only recently a protest was made 



' From the Presidential Address delivered at the Stellenbosch Meeting of 

 ■he South African Association for the Advancement of Science, on July 2, 

 ^ y Prof. John Orr. 



