•54 



NATURE 



[October 24, 1918 



quents in thai case we do nol know. Dr. 

 professes his ignorance of the millibar. He 

 in. in nol have seen Prof. V. Bjerknes's work published 

 in Washington, or the discussions thai have taken 

 place upon it in meteorological publications. He 

 should not, however, complain il those whose scientific 

 lives depend absolutely upon measures "i thi pressun 

 ol the atmosphere feel necessities which he does nol 

 shave. II In- himself is unaware of the literatun ol 

 the subject, he can gel thi information which h( 

 seeks very simply by asking his colleague who is 

 charged with the duty of expounding the important 

 subject of dynamical meteorology in the I niversit\ 

 of Toronto just as he would ask a mathematical col- 

 league if hi- came across an equation which he could 

 nol solve. No doubl the powers "I ten are awkward, 

 and those thai are superfluous will pass away with 

 practical use, bul nol before. 



The general question of the reform of our system 

 of weights and measures is raised again by the 

 Ministn of Reconstruction in the report of Lord Sel- 

 borne's Sub-Committee appointed to consider the 

 methods of increasing home-grown food supplies in 

 iln interest of national security. One difficulty in 

 the way of home-grown supplies to which the report 

 directs attention'is the chaos of differenl units and 

 the divergence of standards of measurement for agri- 

 cultural produce. The Sub-Committee proposes, 

 therefore, that a uniform standard of weight should 

 be laid down on which alone sales and purchases ol 

 agricultural produce, other than liquids and certain 

 market-garden produce, should be legal ; with standard 

 measures also for liquids and of numbei l<>i market- 

 garden produce habitually sold in that way. Now 

 that the sale of produce is no longer between the local 

 grower and the local shopkeeper, bul is scorganised 

 that narcissus grown in Scilly may be- sold as cut- 

 flowers in Aberdeen, the old conventional methods of 

 s.ili bv the habit of local pottle or basket are certainly 

 out of date. 



There is no doubt that selling by weight is the 

 scientific mode of procedure, and for dealing with ship- 

 loads the only practicable method. Also for the final 

 distribution of the stock to small purchasers weighing 

 is the onlv satisfactory basis of a modern bargain. 

 For the intermediate stage between thi' large producer 

 and the small buyer the measure of capacity that is 

 based upon convenient packing for transport is very 

 serviceable. When produce must be put into sacks, or 

 Iiots. or flats in order to get it to market it is in so 

 handy a form for sale and so badly arranged for 

 weighing that some scale of equivalents must come 

 into vogue either by agreement or bv law, and it 

 should be the object of legislation to make that easv 

 and not difficult ; just as wherever beer is sold it 

 must be s,,ld by the barrel, whether the barrel con- 

 tains 36 gallons or 163 litres. 



'lb' reall; debatable point, however, about a revised 

 scheme of selling produce by weight is what the 

 standard of weight shall be. Here the Ion and the 

 pound are the rivals, just as the pound (in another 

 sense) and lb. pennj are rivals in decimal coinage. 

 There is such 1 convenient bridge lo the metric system 

 through the ton that an English name for the kilogram 

 would be the best solution. If anyone can product 

 a monosyllable that would be generally adopted .is ., 

 designation of a weight of about 2 2 lb., the rest might 

 comoaratively easy. "Kilo" is neithet sufficiently 

 euphonious nor sufficiently exclusive. 



Sale 1>\ number is anothet matter with a great his- 

 tory of its own, depending upon the art ol bargaining. 

 1 we have got rid of long hundreds, and bakers' 

 oi- booksellers' do/ens. and scores which an nol 

 twenties, we might then agree thai an immensi 

 NO. 2556, VOL. 102] 



amount of bookkeeping would be saved il net p 

 could bi protected against the inroads >>i discounts 

 l"i prompt cash, but that is probably as deep down in 

 human nature as giving back a shilling for good luck 

 w ben om si Us .1 pig, 



FKl IT INVESTIG [TIONS 17 LONG 

 ASHTONJ 



■HP 1 1 L report of the Agricultural and Horticultural 

 -*• Research Station of the National Fruil 

 1 id. 1 Institute, Long Ashton, near Bristol, gives a 



ecord of the work done during the year and th( 



changes in organisation brought about as the result 

 of thi war. Fortunately, the investigations still con- 

 tinue, though much of the time of the stall is devoted 

 to the work of the hood Production Department ; 

 and, still more Fortunately, arrangements are in pro- 

 gress whereb} the station will lie able further to 



develop after the war. On its establishment in 3 



lb.- station had to be content with [5 .iii.s ,,( land; 

 sin.-, thai date Hi, area lias gradually expanded until 

 at the beginning of this year it was 28$ acres. Most 



of the land, however, is now planted up with fruit 



01 covered with buildings, and no new experimental 



work requiring land could be undertaken at the station 



itself. An opportunity for increasing the ana oi 

 available land has reeentl) occurred, and arrange- 

 ments have been made wherebj this is to be extended 



to 53 acres, while an option has been secured that 

 will enable another 200 acres in be taken over if 

 necessary. The director is to be congratulated mi 

 haying made these arrangements for future develop- 



III. II!-. 



The report consists of a series of papers by the 

 director, Mr. 1>. T. P. Barker, and the stall, Messrs. 

 Otto Grove, <.. T. Spinks, A. II. Lees, and C. T. 

 Gimingham. The subjects are varied; then an 

 several pathological papers dealing with diseases or 

 |iesi> of fruit-trees, one on apple slocks, and another 

 on cider-apple jelly. The production of jelly from 

 apples involves many interesting problems, the 

 chemistn of which is nol fully understood. Cidei 

 apples and perry pears are not normally used lor 

 food in this country except in times of scarcity, when 

 certain varieties are taken by the jam-makers, and to 

 a less extent for dessert and cooking purposes. In 

 lb. 1. is, ol apples only the -sours*' are used in this 



way, the "sweets" and "bitter-sweets" being ex- 

 clusively reserved for cider. The "sours" contain .1 

 good ileal of malic acid, the amount exceeding 

 045 per cent, in the juice; they yield a jelly without 

 difficulty. The "sweets" and "bitter-sweets" have 

 hitherto proved unsuitable for jelly-malting, but Mr. 



Barker has now fortunately discovered the proper 

 conditions for manufacture. The juice is first • \- 

 tracted, and is then concentrated in a Kestner eva-m 

 porator until the malic acid constitutes between 

 1 and 1-5 per cent, of the whole; then sugar is added 

 until th, total quantity present amounts lo 65 per 

 cent. In practice a certain amount of blending of 

 juices is desirable, so ,1- to ensure that the proper 

 iration of malic acid shall be readily obtained. 

 It is, of course, possible to obviate any addition of 

 su^.u b\ carrying the evaporation far enough; in this 

 case it would have in -;,. 1,1 "in -seventh of the original 

 value of the juice, tin averagi sugat content of which 



is lib, ,ui to ner cent. On the whole, it is found 



, hi api 1 . ,1,1 thi sulm; 



\ in. .longed investigation is being made into 

 thi seedling trees on which .. 

 rown. Of these "storks" there an great 



1 Vim.' Report of the Agricultural and Horticultural Resi 

 v - Cider Institute, 1 \ hton, Bristol, 1917. 



