September 6, 1906] 



NA JURE 



475 



oblaining in three or four generations immunity from rust 

 in specimens the original parents of which were of rust- 

 suseeptiblc and rust-resisting types. Very interesting is 

 the application of these laws to the breeding of animals. 

 Mr. W. Bateson, E'".R.S., and Mr. R. C. Punnett. of Caius 

 College, Cambridge, lent some preserved bodies of 

 Andalusian and rosocomb bantam fowls. The blue 

 Andalusian never breeds true, but alw.iys produces a definite 

 pt-oportion of blacks and splashed whites. From a pen 

 of blues, one-half of the offspring will be blue, one-quarter 

 black, and one-quarter white. When blue is mated with 

 cither blue, black, or white, one-half of the offspring will 

 be blue. When, however, black is mated with white, all 

 the offspring are blue. In reality, the blacks and whites 

 arc both pure breeds, and the blue is the hybrid form 

 produced by crossing these breeds. It is therefore so con- 

 stituted that it cannot breed true, and no amount of selec- 

 tion will ever bring about this result. White rosecomb 

 bantams belong to the class of recessive whites, and the 

 progeny of a white rosecomb by any pure-coloured breed 

 are alwavs coloured. Thus when a black and a white 

 rosecomb' are crossed, all the hybrids are black. When 

 such hybrids are mated together, three-quarters of the 

 chicks are black and the rest white. In Mendelian terms 

 the black is dominant and the white recessive. There 

 are, therefore, two kinds of blacks, those which carry 

 whites and those which do not. When crossed with white 

 the former give equal numbers of blacks and whites, whilst 

 the latter give blacks only. It is, however, impossible to 

 distinguish between the two kinds of black, except by a 

 breeding test, the eventual result of which is the produc- 

 tion of blacks and whites, both of which breed true to 

 colour. 



Assimilation of Nitrogen by Leguminous Plants. 

 The nitrogen problem has received special attention at 

 the Midland .Agricultural and Dairy College, and recently 

 experiments have been made with the pure inoculation 

 cultures of Dr. Hiltner, of Munich. Tares, peas, alsiko. 

 lucerne, and crimson clover {Trifolinm incarnatum) were 

 sown in pots of boiled, sterilised, quartz sand, and the 

 effect of inoculating the soil in these pots with the pure 

 cultures supplied by Dr. Hiltner was shown to have 

 decidedly beneficial effects upon the growing plants. Mr. 

 John Golding, by whom these experiments have been 

 carried out, has introduced a new system of inoculation 

 for leguminous crops, which consists in mixing dried 

 sterilised soil with crushed healthy nodules taken from the 

 roots of plants of the same kind as those which it is 

 desired to inoculate. The object of sterilising the soil is 

 to effect the destruction of harmful germs and pests such 

 as the wireworm, &c. Buhlert has shown that the microbes 

 of the leguminous nodules all belong to one species, but are 

 modified so that nodules coming from a particular legu- 

 minous plant are those best adapted for inoculation of the 

 soil in which that plant is sown. Mr. Golding's inoculating 

 material will contain, therefore, only the microbe of value 

 for the particular plant cultivated. If this material should 

 prove practically efficacious on a field scale, it can be 

 supplied at a cost of from id. to 2d. per lb., which at the 

 rate of an application of 56 lb. per acre represents a cost 

 per acre of from 4s. Sd. to qs.. ^d. 



Vitality of Fiirm .Sect/.v. 

 This question has received practical elucidation from ex- 

 periments carried out during the last eleven years by Mr. 

 William Carruthers, F.R.S., consulting botanist to the 

 Royal .Vgricultural Society. The results were illustrated 

 at Derby by a large table, which showed in respect of all 

 the farm seeds in common use the percentage of living 

 seeds remaining each year from the commencement of the 

 experiments in 1885 to the present year (iqo6). Of the 

 cereals, oats proved to have the greatest vitality. Black 

 oats retained 76 per cent., and white oats 57 per cent., of 

 living seeds in the eleventh year (19061, whilst in the 

 ninth year (iq04) the percentage was no less than 95 per 

 cent, and 97 per cent. Wheat in the ninth year showed a 

 germinating power of 20 per cent., but none remained 

 alive in the tenth year. Barley retained vitality to the 



NO. 1923, VOL. 74] 



extent of 90 per cent, in the fifth year (1890) and 19 per 

 cent, in the ninth year (1904), but none remained alive in 

 the tenth year. Grasses were proved to lose their vitality 

 very much more quickly than the cereals. Sheep's fescue, 

 for instance, was reduced by one-half its germinating 

 power by the third year, and all the seeds were dead by 

 the eighth year (1903). Of Timothy, 93 per cent, re- 

 mained alive in the fifth year and 12 per cent, in the 

 eleventh year. Crested dog's tail germinated 61 per cent, 

 in the fifth year and 11 per cent, in the eleventh year. 

 Of the 'rye grasses, in the seventh year the perennial and 

 Italian rye grasses germinated 36 per cent, and 71 per 

 cent., and in the eleventh year 6 per cent, and 10 per cent., 

 respectively. Of the root crops, swede turnips retained 

 their vitality almost unimpaired for the first three years, 

 and even up to the seventh year the germination was from 

 .S4 per cent, to 85 per cent. 



Improvement of Pastures. 

 The increasing importance of dairying has led to the 

 renovation of a great deal of poor pasture. No small part 

 of the work of some of the agricultural colleges has been 

 devoted to a study of the remedies appropriate to differerit 

 conditions, whilst' from 1S85 to 1904 a series of experi- 

 ments on the improvement of grass lands in various parts 

 of the country was carried out by the Royal Agricultural 

 Society. The results of these experiments were illustrated 

 by turfs cut from the actual pastures, and they brought 

 before the farmers who visited the show lessons of supreme 

 practical importance. In a turf sent by the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society, and cut from a pasture in Yorkshire, the 

 application of lime was shown to have been remarkably 

 beneficial, and the dividing line between limed and un- 

 limed portions was clearly indicated by the difference in 

 the character of the herbage. This turf was from land 

 where basic slag without lime had no appreciable effect. 

 On the other hand, turf sent by the Cambridge University 

 Agricultural Department from land of the Boulder-clay 

 formation proved the necessity for the application of phos- 

 phates, and basic slag was the appropriate remedy. Lime 

 and cake-feeding in these cases proved of no avail. Turfs 

 sent by the Royal Agricultural College showed that the 

 addition of kainit and superphosphate resulted in a large 

 increase of clover, and a large reduction of moss and un- 

 decayed vegetable matter that were conspicuous in the 

 unimproved pasture. The character of the herbage was 

 also shown to be materially influenced by other appli- 

 cations, such as sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of soda, 

 while the use of 5 cwt. per acre of guano — a natural 

 complete manure — produced a decided improvement, _ the 

 abundance of white clover and sheep's fescue providing 

 splendid food for sheep. 



British Forestry. 

 The exhibits consisted of seeds, cones, trees, shrubs, 

 timbers, tools, photographs, specimens, models, diagrams, 

 working plans, and maps. They were arranged under the 

 supervision of members of the council of the Royal English 

 Arboricultural Society. The Duke of Northumberland. 

 Earl Egerton of Tatton, the Earl of Egmont, and the Earl 

 of Yarborough sent timber specimens showing the economic 

 uses to which British plantations may be applied, and 

 illustrating methods of preservation, chiefly by creosoting. 

 Lord Yarborough 's woods have been scientifically managed 

 for a long period, and a chart was displayed showing that 

 23,564,719 trees have been planted on the Brocklesby and 

 Manbv Estates from the year 1700 to the present time. 

 An exhibit sent by the Duke of Northumberland consisted 

 of young trees planted out of doors, and showing the 

 mixture of light-demanding and shade-bearing trees accord- 

 ing to the following plan, as adopted in Germany : — 

 (a) outer row of beech providing shelter ; (6) second row 

 with sprinkling of sycamore as a wind-resister ; (c) oaks, 

 9 feet apart, for permanent crop; (d) other hardwood trees 

 for returns during rotation ; (e) sprinkling of larch for early 

 returns ; (/) shade-bearers of spruce, silver fir, and beech 

 for soil production and stimulation of main crop. Several 

 exhibits illustrated the evils arising from incorrect pruning 

 or from neglect of pruning. Where pruning is not effected 



