352 



NA TURE 



[May 19, 1910 



climatology of South Germany appears in the " Bavarian 

 Meteorological Year-book " for 1909, viz. investigations by 

 MM. E. .Alt and L. Weickmann on thunderstorms and 

 hail, from observations made in Bavaria, Wurttemberg, 

 and Baden during 1893-1907 at carefully selected stations. 

 The discussion is carried out in great detail, with tables 

 for geographical districts, isopleths for thunderstorm fre- 

 quency in W.-E. and N.-S. directions, and by charts, but 

 we can only refer to some of the more general results. 

 The mean daily period of thunderstorm frequency for the 

 whole of South Germany shows that the principal maxi- 

 mum occurs between 2h. and 5h. p.m., 39 per cent, of 

 storms taking place about 3h. p.m. In the annual period 

 the storms occur most frequently between April and 

 September, the maxima being in June and July. With 

 regard to hailstorm frequency, 70 per cent, of the storms 

 occur between noon and 6h. p.m., the maxima being from 

 3h. to 5h. p.m. In the yearly period they occur most 

 frequently between May and July, the maximum being in 

 June, and, compared with the number of thunderstorms, 

 hailstorms were comparatively rare. It may be mentioned 

 that investigations as to a possible connection of thunder- 

 storm frequency with the sun-spot period led to no result. 



The results of the meteorological and magnetical observa- 

 tions for 1909 at Stonyhurst College Observatory, Lanca- 

 shire, have been received. The tables are, as usual, 

 plainly arranged, and the departures from very long 

 averages being given render the data exceedingly valu- 

 able. The weather of the year was generally mild and 

 quiet ; the temperature of June was 32° below the average, 

 and July and December were very wet, each having more 

 than 4 inches above the average rainfall. The mean of 

 the highest daily temperatures was 52- 1°, of the lowest 

 406° ; adopted yearly mean, 46-2° (06° below the average 

 for the last sixty-two years). The highest reading was 

 75-1° (August 15), the lowest 15-1° (December 21). The 

 total rainfall was 4877 inches (1-84 inches above the 

 normal). The mean disc area of sun-spots (in units of 

 I /5000th of the visible surface) appears at 38, and the 

 mean daily range of magnetic declination at 13-5' ; the 

 mean for the year was 17° 285' W. Photographic copies 

 of noteworthy seismographs were supplied to various 

 authorities, and would be sent to any observing station on 

 application. 



lUE 



PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE IN 

 INDIA.' 



TT would be difficult to conceive a harder task than that 

 set before the members of the staff of the Agricultural 

 Department of India when they first set to work to improve 

 Indian agriculture. The native methods of working were 

 often primitive, their seeds were impure and their crops 

 uncertain ; the ryots were uneducated, poor, and without 

 that ambition to rise that would have gone so far to lighten 

 the work of the newcomers ; but, in spite of all this, the 

 Department has, in the space of a comparatively few years, 

 done a vast amount of work ; it has to chronicle failures 

 as well as successes, but the successes have largely pre- 

 ponderated, and we can see some of the results in the 

 various reports that have recently been issued. 



The research institute for the Indian Empire is at Pusa, 

 an estate of more than 1300 acres bounded on three sides 

 by a loop of the little Gundak River. It is situated in 

 the heart of a district where intensive cultivation prevails 

 in consequence of the favourable climatic and soil con- 

 ditions, which are also indicated by the density of the 

 population — 900 to iioo per square mile. As, moreover, 

 the district is largely controlled by a community of indigo 

 planters, there is little fear that cultural improvements 

 suggested by' the staff should be unnoticed. The Phipps 

 laboratory is said to be admirably suited for its purpose ; 

 it is provided with water-power and electricity, while the 



1 Report on the Progress of Agricultur<^ in India for 1Q07-9. (Calcutta : 

 Superintendent Governmert Printing, India.) 



Report on the Introduction of Improvements into Indian Agriculture by 

 the Work of the Agricultural Departments. 



Report of the Agricultural Research Institute and College, Pusa, 

 1907-9. 



-■Vgricultural Statistics of India for the Years 1003-4 to 1Q07-8. 2 vols. 



Report on the Operations of the Department of Agriculture, Madras 

 Presidency, for the Offirial Year 1908-9. 



Madras .Agricultural Calendar, 1910. 



NO. 2 116, VOL. 83] 



soil of the experimental grounds can be made to grov 

 practically all the important crops of the plains. The sciei. 

 tific staff comprises an agriculturist, a botanist, a chemist, 

 two entomologists and a mycologist, with their super- 

 numeraries and assistants. 



In the botanical department Mr. Howard's work on 

 wheat promises results of considerable importance both to 

 India and to Great Britain. He has completed the classifi- 

 cation of the Punjab wheats and has isolated some twenty- 

 five pure types, the best of which will in time be availabl- 

 for general distribution. A survey on similar lines of tlv 

 varieties grown in the Central Provinces, Bengal, Bombay, 

 the United Provinces and Burma is in hand. This work 

 is being followed by hybridisation to evolve new varieties 

 possessing strength of straw, good cropping power, and 

 resistance to rust. Some of the pure types which are 

 being used as parents were found to be a great improve- 

 ment on the mixed sorts previously grown, and we are not 

 surprised to read that " large numbers of colonists came 

 to see the plots and arranged for small supplies of seed for 

 trial on their holdings." Not only is there the likelihood 

 of an increased yield, but it appears that India can grow 

 " strong " wheats such as are required in the English 

 market, the common impression that Indian wheats are 

 necessarily weak being erroneous. The economic results 

 of a notable increase in wheat production of high quality 

 can hardly be overestimated. An interesting physiological 

 problem is also under investigation. It was found in 1908 

 that the same sample of Muzaffernaggar wheat sown at 

 Lyallpur, Muzaffernaggar and Pusa gave rise to grain 

 varying markedly in appearance, composition, milling and 

 baking qualities. Mr. Shutt has observed similar variations 

 in Canada. The cause can hardly lie in the amount of 

 plant food in the soil, since no such variation is observed 

 in going from plot to plot on the Broadbolk wheat field 

 at Rothamsted ; it must lie in some other of the factors 

 constituting the general environment. Further investiga- 

 tions will be awaited with much interest. 



Dr. Butler has continued the mycological work on 

 the lines of previous years, very wisely concentrating 

 attention on a few diseases, and carefully working out the 

 life-history and general biology of the organisms involved. 

 Of these, the chief are " red rot " in sugar-cane, the palm 

 diseases, the wilt diseases of various crops, " white rust " 

 and other diseases of citrus, the mulberry disease of 

 Kashmir, and others-. So successful has Dr. Butler been 

 in combating the palm disease in the Godavari delta that 

 he is considered on this work alone to have paid the cost 

 of his department for many years to come ! He has in 

 preparation a book on Indian plant diseases that may be 

 expected to help Indian planters considerably. 



Dr. Leather was away on leave for part of the time, his 

 place being taken by Mr. Annett. Work was continued 

 on the losses of water from the soil, and the water require- 

 ments of plants, subjects that are obviously of fundamental 

 importance in India. It was found also, in the first 

 instance by pot experiments, and later bv field trials, that 

 certain soils benefitted notably by manuring with phos- 

 phates. 



The task of controlling the insect pests falls to the lot 

 of Mr. Maxwell-Lefroy, the Imperial entomologist, and 

 Mr. Mason, with assistants for special work, but the staff 

 is small for the work it has to do. The life-histories and 

 habits of a number of injurious insects have been investi- 

 gated, and also the influence of climatic changes on insect 

 life and the problem of utilising beneficial insects. Atten- 

 tion has been devoted to seri-culture and to lac. The 

 second entomologist, Mr. Hewlett, investigates Diptera. He 

 has ascertained the life-histories of nearly all the mosquitoes 

 occurring at Pusa, and has, in addition, found two species 

 of fish capable of destroying large numbers of Anophelef 

 larvae. The number of Diptera injurious to crops and 

 animals is very considerable, and fully justifies the appoint- 

 ment of an entomologist to deal especially with them. 



The improvement of the livestock and" poultry of Indis 

 is undertaken by the Agricultural Department under thf 

 direction of Mr. Shearer. A large and remunerative expor; 

 trade in Indian cattle has recently arisen, for which the 

 Montgomery appears especially suitable. Careful attention 

 is therefore being devoted to this breed. 



Such is a brief outline of the main lines of work a 



