SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— E. 369 



works out at o- 92 of a grazing unit per acre, a grazing unit being a cow in 

 milk yielding two gallons daily and obtaining her total requirements from 

 grazing. The grazing index is then used to calculate the grazing acreage 

 which each class of stock appropriates and the predominance of the dairy 

 herd is demonstrated. 



The detailed analysis of dairying considers the effect of environmental 

 and economic factors. The environmental factor is chiefly a matter of grass. 

 The approximate quality of Fylde pastures is defined and the monthly 

 variation of grass growth described. The economic factor for milk is 

 shown to vary as between those farms which produce for the seaside market 

 with its maximum demand in July, August and September, those farms 

 which supply the level market of industrial South Lancashire, and the 

 farmhouse cheese-makers with their maximum production of milk during 

 the flush of grass in May and June . A curve is shown of monthly production 

 for the Fylde as a whole, the sample from which the curve was constructed 

 covering nearly a half of the total cow population of the district. Milk 

 production rises in May and June with the flush of grass and is maintained 

 in July to September owing to the seaside demand, although various means 

 have to be adopted to maintain production after June, when grass is becoming 

 less plentiful and less nutritious. 



Finally, the distinction in geographical distribution, in seasonal rhythm 

 of production and in size of farm between producer-retailers, farmers 

 selling milk wholesale and farmhouse cheese-makers is demonstrated. 



Mr. R. Kay Gresswell. — Geomorphology of the south-west Lancashire 

 coast-line (2.45). 



The great tidal range, the total absence of shingle, and the great area of 

 blown sand cause a number of shore-line processes to occur in an extreme 

 form. Between Southport and Formby the profile across the beach 

 resembles a number of waves, having a wave-length of about 500 ft. and an 

 amplitude of 3-5 ft. These lie mutually parallel but inclined away from the 

 shore-line northwards, in an attempt to face the dominant waves. The 

 crests of these undulations are named ' fulls,' and the troughs ' lows.' They 

 are developed in a modified form on the other parts of this coast-line. There 

 was rapid accretion at Formby Point during the last century, but erosion 

 is now occurring, although accretion continues northward. Between 

 Hightown and Blundellsands, the river Alt, now diverted by a dam, mean- 

 dered until 1936 for 2.\ miles southwards along the foreshore, indirectly 

 causing rapid and serious erosion at Blundellsands. It is concluded from a 

 study (1) of the wind directions, (2) of the gale directions, (3) of the direc- 

 tion of maximum length of fetch, and (4) of the lie of the fulls and lows, that 

 foreshore drifting occurs away from Formby Point in both directions. This 

 at once provides a single explanation for the apparently mutually contra- 

 dictory phenomena occurring on this coast-line. 



Dr. W. O. Henderson. — The problems of Lancashire 's cotton supply (3.30). 



For over a century the bulk of Lancashire's cotton has come from the 

 U.S.A. There is no guarantee that supplies from this source will be 

 adequate in the future. The American Government has deliberately 

 reduced the size of the cotton crop, and there is the danger of a bad harvest 

 owing to climatic conditions or to the ravages of the boll weevil. An 

 increasing proportion of the crop is being used by American cotton factories. 

 Lancashire's dependence upon a single source of supply for so much of 



