328 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1397 



That Chile possesses certain agricultural 

 products which may prove of great economic 

 benefit to California is the belief of J. W. 

 G-ilmore, professor of agronomy at the uni- 

 versity, and for the year 1921-22 exchange 

 professor at the University of Santiago, Chile. 

 Professor Gilmore has found a self-propa- 

 gating bamboo tree which gi-ows on dry lands, 

 yet affords abundant forage for cattle during 

 the summer months when other fodder is 

 scarce. He also tells of two new beans that 

 he has found, one of which is grown among 

 the Indians of Chile, and the other a species 

 which is suitable for higher elevations. He 

 is collecting samples of all beans grown in 

 Chile, and expects that some of them will 

 prove to be better than those we already have. 

 Another discovery which has been made by 

 Professor Gilmore is a new white-seeded 

 vetch, which he says should be a good cover 

 crop for our orchards. Yet another is a new 

 raisin grape grown in the dry lands of 

 northern Chile which is exceptionally rich 

 in sugar and which produces raisins of high 

 quality. 



The Journal of Terrestrial Magnetism re- 

 ports that, according to information received 

 from Dr. C. E. Adams, government astron- 

 omer and seismologist of New Zealand, a New 

 . Zealand Astronomical Society was recently es- 

 tablished, and it is proposed as soon as pos- 

 sible to incorporate the society under an Act 

 of Parliament. It is further hoped " that the 

 Astronomical Society will be able to establish 

 branches of the International Astronomical 

 Union and the International Geodetic and 

 Geophysical Union." The members include 

 Dr. Adams, Dr. C. C. Farr, Professor E. 

 Marsden, and practically all the astronomers 

 and physicists of New Zealand. 



The Journal of the Washington Academy 

 of Sciences states that scales for the measure- 

 ment of length are now being constructed 

 directly from the fundamental wave lengths 

 of light without the use of any intermediary 

 standard such as the standard meter bars. 

 For example, the Bureau of Standards has 

 recently completed the rulings on a 6-inch 

 standard scale for a manufacturing concern. 



using light waves from a neon tube as the 

 length. 



Nature states that after an interval of 

 seven years the Geological Society of London 

 has been able to resume the issue of its 

 annual index to " Geological Literature Add- 

 ed to the Geological Society's Library," 

 which is a complete work of reference, both as 

 to subjects and as to the output of individual 

 authors. The present part brings the matter 

 down to the close of 1913. 



Forecasts of the wheat yield in the north- 

 ern hemisphere issued by the International 

 Institute of Agriculture show that it will be 

 approximately 50,200,000 tons, compared to 

 51,300,000 in 1920, according to a press dis- 

 patch from Eome. The crop in Europe, leav- 

 ing out of consideration Great Britain, France 

 and Germany, is estimated at 12,000,000 tons, 

 compared to 10,500,000 last year. The United 

 States and Canada are expected to produce 

 28,500,000 tons, against 28,600,000 tons in 

 1920, and India, Japan, Algeria, Morocco 

 and Tunis will, it is said, yield 9,400,000 

 tons, against 12,000,000 harvested last year. 

 The rye yield is computed at 8,200,000 tons, 

 as against 6,700,000 tons in 1920, while barley 

 shows an increase of 2.4 per cent. Oats, how- 

 ever, have suffered from the drought, and 

 show a decrease of 12.3 per cent. The maize 

 yield, based upon returns for the United 

 States, shows a decrease of 6.2 per cent. 



The New York City branch of the Alumni 

 Association of the University of Wisconsin has 

 established an annual scholarship of the value 

 of $700 to be known as " The Zona Gale Schol- 

 arship " — named in honor of a distinguished 

 graduate of the university — to be awarded to 

 a student who has shown that he possesses 

 special talent of an unusually high order, and 

 who wishes to spend all his time in the uni- 

 versity in pursuing courses which he thinks 

 will develop his special talent, without being 

 required to complete studies in which he has 

 little or no interest. The holder of the scholar- 

 ship will not be required to satisfy the regular 

 entrance requirements if he is deficient therein. 

 This scholarship is open to any person in 

 any part of the country who has given evidence 



