August 26, 1920] 



NATURE 



841 



diseases of sugar-cane. As a result of this woriv it 

 has been possible to pass out a number of seedlings 

 for further testing on ix large scale in different places. 

 The trial of new varieties is also carried out in 

 Madras and the United Provinces, for the old ones 

 which have hitherto been grown are rapidly losing 

 favour with the cultivators, and it is necessary to find 

 new and improved varieties to replace them.' When 

 imported canes are used it is necessary constantly to 

 renew the stock from the country of origin. Soil and 

 climate have a marked effect on the canes, and 

 varieties that are markedly superior in one area often 

 deteriorate rapidly in quality i*f transferred elsewhere, 

 and, consequently, experience gained from experi- 

 mental work in one part of the cane-growing tract is 

 often of doubtful value for another area. This fact 

 makes a strong argument for an increase in the 

 number of sugar research stations in order that the 

 most suitable stocks may be determined for the 

 various localities. 



Newly broken up land does not give very satisfac- 

 tory results, but it should be left for at least a year 

 before planting. If a proper rotation of crops is used, 

 an increase of as much as 5 tons of cane per acre 

 can be obtained. Manurial experiments in Assam 

 have shown that the use of phosphatic fertilisers gives 

 an average increase of 2-3 tons per acre, and in Pusa 

 it is found that rape-cake, farmvard manure, and 

 nitrate of soda can" all l>e utilised with profit. In 

 Madras it is estimated that careful manuring will 

 raise the crop from 25 to 30 tons per acre, which is 

 probably the limit for that particular climate. 



Apart from the actual selection and cultivation, 

 special attention is being devoted to the handling of 

 the sugar-cane in order to avoid damage and deteriora- 

 tion. Canes are often stored by windrowing, and 

 tests made over a period of several months show that 

 this does not lead to any appreciable decrease in the 

 quality or amount of sugar obtainable from equal 

 weights of the original and the windrowcd cane, but 

 that after a certain time has elapsed deterioration 

 sets in. Experiments suggest that this deterioration 

 is not depvendent upon the length of storage, but that 

 the falling off of the quality is probably due to a 

 seasonal rather than a biological factor. 



Special methods have been devised at Coimbatore 

 {Agric. Journ., India, xv., part ii.) for the transport 

 of cane for short distances and overseas. In the 

 latter case it is advised that the nieces of cane be 

 pickled in Bordeaux mixture for a short time in order 

 to avoid the introduction of disease from one locality 

 to another. Charcoal-dust, teak sawdust, and wood- 

 shavings all make satisfactory packing materials. 



Attention is now being directed to the use of the 

 nalmyra-palm as a sugar producer (Agric. Journ., 

 India, xv., nart 5.). Toddy is made in Bihar from 

 the sweet juice of this palm, but as less than 10 per 

 cent, of the trees are tapT>ed it is probable that the 

 manufacture of su£?ar would oav. The orocess of 

 tapping needs special care to obtain the b*>st results. 

 The tin<; of the flowering stalk"? are rut off after the 

 male and female inflorescences have been squeezed or 

 otherwise injured to irritate them into nrodurjnj^ a 

 good flow of sweet sap. The insides of the collecting 

 pots are coated with lime to preserve the juice and pre- 

 vent fermentation. The cude sugar obtained from this 

 juice contains lime, which is removed bv passing a 

 current of carbon dioxide throur*h tho sugar solution 

 until all the lime is precipitated, and a cheap white 

 sugar can then be prepared. It js cnrffrested that as 

 th4? production of sugar from tbo wild date-p.-^lm has 

 ';n far be^n satisfactorv. it would be well worth while 

 ' give the palmyra-palm indust«-v p fp<r trial. 



\V, E. Brenchi.fv. 

 NO. 2652, VOL. 105] 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Liverpool. — The title of emeritus professor of 

 engineering has been conferred upon Prof. H. S. Hele- 

 Shaw. 



Mr. R. S. Glennie, of the Batterse^i Polytechnic, 

 has been appointed chief lecturer in pharmaceutics at 

 the Royal Technical College, Glasgow. 



The Treasury has made to the University College at 

 Swansea a grant of 5000^. in a lump sum towards 

 expenses, and also an annual grant ot another 5000/. 



Reference has already been made in these columns 

 to the establishment of a new Department of Aero- 

 nautics at the Imperial College at South Kensington. 

 This addition to the work of the college was initiated 

 by the generous action of Sir Basil Zaharoff, who 

 endowed the University of London chair of aviation 

 known as the Zaharoff chair, tenable at the college, to 

 which Sir Richard Glazebrook was appointed with the 

 duty of directing the new department. A comprehen- 

 sive scheme of instruction and training, mainly post- 

 graduate in character, has been arranged for next 

 session, beginning in October, including special sec- 

 tions in aeronautical engineering, meteorology, and 

 navigation, and with the valuable co-operation of the 

 Air Ministry the services of a distinguished staff of 

 experts have been engaged. Apart from the director 

 with his great experience of this work at the National 

 Physical Laboratory, Sir Napier Shaw will be pro- 

 fessor of meteorology and Mr. Leonard Bairstow pro- 

 fessor of aerodynamics; Mr. A. J. Sutton Pippard 

 will deal with the structure and strength of aircraft, 

 and Mr. A. T. Evans with aircraft engines. Courses 

 of lectures will also be given dealing respectively with 

 airships and with navigation, while arrangements are 

 in hand for special instruction in air-cooled engines, 

 high-compression engines, dopes, instruments, wire- 

 less telegraphy, and similar subjects. Subject to 

 certain necessary restrictions, it has also been arranged 

 that students of the department will carry out part 

 of their practical training in one or other of the 

 Government establishments concerned with aero- 

 nautics. 



The Bureau of Education at Washington has just 

 issued a Bulletin (No. 11) giving statistics relating 

 to school systems in the United States for the year 

 19 17-18. The bulletin is concerned with elementary 

 and secondary education only, and is an elaborate 

 document covering 153 pages octavo, accompanied by 

 62 tables of statistics and by 49 maps and diagrams 

 illustrative of the various aspects and conditions of 

 primary and higher education, other than university 

 and professional, in the several States. From the 

 figures set forth it would appear that the total popula- 

 tion of the States has increased from 382 millions 

 in 1870 to 1054 millions in 1918, and that the children 

 of school age between five and eighteen have increased 

 from 12 to 272 millions, and the school enrolment 

 from nearly 7 to nearly 21 millions; whilst the 

 pupils in the high schools, who numbered 80,000 in 

 1871. were about 1,700,000 in 1918. The number of 

 teachers employed was 650,709, being 105,104 men 

 and 545,515 women, whose average salary in 1918 

 wa; 63^ dollars, as compared with 189 dollars in 

 1870. The percentage of scholars enrolled of school 

 age between five and eighteen was Ts, in toiS and 

 CT in 1870, largelv due to better teaching and super^ 

 vision, a more suitable course of studv, transportation 

 of pupils, and improved economic and general condi- 



