358 



NATURE 



[August 13, 1903 



be recommended to hop-growers ; the first point in successful 

 management must be to ascertain, and make good the 

 manurial deficiencies of the particular soil. In some cases 

 phosphates, and in others potash, may be found profitable 

 as an addition to a dressing of a nitrogenous manure. 

 Specific instructions are given for the manuring of the 

 Farnham hop soils. 



To part i. vol. v. of the Journal of the Khedivial Agri- 

 cultural Society, one of the editors, Mr. E. P. Foaden, con- 

 tributes an article on " Manures in use in Egypt." With 

 the rapid advances made in the material welfare of the 

 country, and the increased use of irrigation, there has 

 been " an extraordinary increase In the value of land," 

 and the subject of suitable manures for use in intensive 

 cultivation is a pressing one. Nile mud, upon which the 

 cultivators have so largely depended in the past, has been 

 proved by experience to be insufficient, and by analysis to 

 lack nitrogen, though supplying an abundance of potash for 

 most, and of phosphate for many, crops. The supply 

 of farmyard manure is very inadequate. In Egypt as in 

 India, the lack of wood leads to the use ot dried cow-dung 

 cakes for fuel. Pigeon manure forms a concentrated 

 fertiliser extensively used in Upper Egypt, and dried 

 sewage is becoming popular. Two interesting natural pro- 

 ducts are mentioned ; one, Coufri, is a manure collected on 

 ancient village sites, but it is of low quality, seldom contain- 

 ing more than 05 per cent, of nitrogen ; the other, known as 

 Marog or Tafia, is a blue clay or a marl found in hills iM the 

 deserts in Upper Egypt. This is an important manure in 

 common use in parts of Upper Egypt, and of great value 

 to the country. Analyses of seven samples are quoted, arfd 

 these show that Marog contains notable quantities (from 

 25 to 24 per cent.) of nitrate of soda, associated with which 

 is common salt. The percentage of salt in the analyses 

 quoted varies from 6-8 to 21-5, but there is no 

 constant relation between the salt and nitrate of soda. It 

 is suggested that Marog might be treated so as to yield 

 commercial nitrate oi soda. In its present crude form the 

 heavy cost of transport prevents the use of Marog in Lower 

 Egypt. The article deals briefly with common artificial 

 manures such as nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia and 

 superphosphate, all of which are now being imported into 

 Egypt for application to cotton, sugar-cane, and the more 

 valuable cereal and market-garden crops. 



When the " Sale of Milk Regulations " came into force 

 in September, 1901, the standard of 3 per cent, fat and 

 85 per cent, non-fatty solids required by the Board of 

 Agriculture was regarded as being very low, and the 

 opinion was freely expressed that the milk of well-fed, 

 healthy cows was rarely so poor in quality. It has since 

 been shown that milk is more variable in composition than 

 was formerly supposed, and that a sample representing a 

 single milking may frequently contain a smaller percentage 

 of solids than is required by the Board's regulations. 

 When milk is drawn at equal intervals, the mixed milk of 

 a herd of cows will usually be satisfactory, but if the milk 

 of the individual cows be tested, it will be found to show 

 wide, and at present inexplicable, variations. On this 

 question some experiments have recently been made by 

 Messrs. Dymond and Bull at Chelmsford, under the auspices 

 of the Essex Technical Instruction Committee. The ex- 

 periment consisted in testing, twice daily, the milk of six 

 shorthorn cows which were housed, fed and milked under 

 careful supervision and under favourable conditions. Two 

 of the cows were under observation for short periods only. 

 The following figures show the number of times on which 

 the milk of the others failed to reach the standard : — 



lbs. analyses 



Cow I. ... 308 ... 206 . 



,, II. ... 288 ... 206 . 



„ III. ... 16 6 ... 156 . 

 „ IV. ... i8-8 ... 206 . 



The first two animals were in full milk, having calved 

 six weeks before the test began ; the other cows had calved 

 eight months, and were beginning to go dry. The feeding 

 was varied in the course of the experiments, and on several 

 occasions the animals were exposed to low temperatures, 

 but the milk was little, if at all, influenced. The quality 



Fat de- Non-fatty solids 



ficient deficient 



depended on the cow, not on the conditions under which 

 she was kept. The mixed milk did not fall below standard 

 during the experiments, but the analyses given indicate 

 that when a herd is largely composed of newly-calved cows 

 the milk may frequently fall below standard. 



An illustrated article in a recent number of the Scientific 

 American describes scientific poultry raising as practised on 

 the largest poultry farm in the States (at Sidney, Ohio). 

 On this farm 3000 Leghorns supply on an average 200 

 dozen unfertile eggs for culinary purposes per diem, and 

 900 Plymouth Rocks produce 450 eggs daily, which the 

 hatchery — a building 480 feet long — converts into 300 

 healthy chicks. The chicks, when a day old, pass to the 

 " nursery," and spend a month in this building, which is 

 capable of holding 6000 at a time. They then pass to a 

 second building, where they remain until three months old. 

 The chickens are not allowed to mix, but are divided up into 

 small colonies, so that if anything goes wrong the mischief 

 is prevented from spreading. The hens are provided with 

 automatic nests, so constructed that the egg is removed as 

 soon as it is laid ; the new-laid eggs are thus collected at 

 once, and are washed, dated, and placed in refrigerators 

 for transport, so that they reach their destination absolutely 

 fresh. Electric light is employed in the testing of eggs, 

 and the progressive poultryman, assisted by the researches 

 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, feeds his fowls on 

 the most approved principles. The net result of science 

 in the poultry yard is a " marvellous development of the 

 incubator industry " and of the poultry business. It is 

 stated that one town in Illinois turns out more than 50,000 

 incubators a year. Among leading poultry farms are 

 mentioned those of ex-President Cleveland and of President 

 Diaz, of Mexico. 



NO. 1763, VOL. 68] 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



The Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 

 have made the following appointments to science research 

 scholarships for the year 1903, on the recommendation of 

 the authorities of the several universities and colleges. The 

 scholarships are of the value of 150I. a year, and are 

 ordinarily tenable for two years (subject to a satisfactory 

 report at the end of the first year) in any university at 

 home or abroad, or in some other institution approved of by 

 the Commissioners. The scholars are to devote themselves 

 exclusively to study and research in some branch of science, 

 the extension of which is important to the industries of 

 the country. The nominating institutions and the scholars 

 are as follows : — University of Glasgow, A. W. Stewart : 

 University of St. Andrews, D. McLaren Paul ; University 

 of Birmingham, N. L. Gebhard ; Yorkshire College, Leeds, 

 R. Gaunt ; University College, Liverpool, J. F. Spencer ; 

 University College, London, H. Bassett ; Owens College, 

 Manchester, L. Bradshaw ; Durham College of Science, 

 T. P. Black ; University College, Nottingham, G. Tatter- 

 sall ; University College, Sheffield, Catherine Radford ; Uni- 

 versity College of North W'ales, Bangor, K. J. Thompson ; 

 Royal College of Science, Dublin, S. A. Edmonds; Queen's 

 College, Belfast, T. B. Vinycombe ; McGill University, 

 Montreal, H. L. Cooke ; University of Sydney, A. Boyd. 

 The following scholarships granted in 1902 have been con- 

 tinued for a second year on receipt of a satisfactory report 

 of work done during the first year : — LIniversity of Edin- 

 burgh, J. K. H. Inglis ; University of Glasgow, A. Wood ; 

 University of Aberdeen, A. C. Michie ; University of 

 Birmingham, J. A. Lloyd; Yorkshire College, Leeds, H. D. 

 Dakin ; University College, Liverpool, F. Rogers ; Uni- 

 versity College, London, E. P. Harrison ; Owens College, 

 Manchester, G. C. Simpson ; Durham College of Science, 

 C. R. Dow; University College, Sheffield, G. B. Water- 

 house; Queen's College, Gal way, W. Goodwin; University 

 of Toronto, W. C. Bray ; Dalhousie College, Halifax, 

 Nova Scotia, T. C. Hebb ; University of Melbourne, 

 R Hosking ; University of New Zealand, M. A. Hunter. 

 The following scholarships granted in 1901 have been 

 exceptionally renewed for a third year : — Yorkshire 

 College, Leeds, R. B. Denison ; University College, 

 London, G. Owen ; University College of London, Dr. G. 

 Senter ; University College of North Wales, Bangor, Alice 



