220 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX, No. 1261 



owner being more or less scattered, whicli 

 points to the importance of consolidating 

 these tracts into compact units callable of 

 more economic management. The question of 

 whether the destroyed rural villages should be 

 rebuilt on their old sites rather than to re- 

 locate them more advantageously is another 

 matter of considerable importance. A rapidly 

 growing sentiment was noted for the restora- 

 tion of the devastated region by the invaders, 

 rather than the mere payment of financial 

 indemnity. The French government has al- 

 ready provided a credit of approximately sixty 

 million dollars, from which allowances are 

 being made to farmers who are ready to re- 

 turn to their land. For the most part the 

 restoration of the fields did not impress the 

 commission as being as appalling as might be 

 expected, and was compared with the reclama- 

 tion of stump land in this country. 



Speaking of the Live Stock Conditions in 

 Europe, Mr. George M. Rommel reported that 

 European farmers had been quite successful 

 in maintaining their supplies of breeding 

 animals. Although they have suffered from 

 a shortage of feed and some inroads have been 

 made on certain kinds of stock by the military 

 demands, the number of cows and heifers in 

 Great Britain is fully as large now as before 

 the war, and this is true of cattle generally. 

 The milk supply has been reduced on ac- 

 count of the shortage of concentrated feed, 

 and this has also cut down the number of 

 pigs quite extensively. There was also a small 

 falling off in sheep. 



In France there are about two. million less 

 cattle than before the war, principally due to 

 invasion. Since the close of 1914 the decline 

 in number of cattle has been less than 2 per 

 cent., the young stock having increased. A 

 similar increase also applies to Italy. Sheep 

 have declined nearly 40 per cent., due largely 

 to labor shortage, and hogs somewhat more 

 due to a lack of concentrated feed. The 

 shortage of milk in France is more serious 

 than in Great Britain. The heavy demand 

 for horses for military purposes has reduced 

 the available number by about a million. The 

 record of the Percheron horses in the British 



army has excited a good deal of interest 

 among farmers and breeders in England and 

 led to efforts to establish th breed of horses 

 in that country. 



Prices of breeding stock were reported as 

 extremely high in both France and England. 

 Breeders are anticipating a good ti-ade after 

 the war and have kept their stoclcs intact at 

 great expense. Not much demand for live 

 stock from the United States was looked for 

 in the immediate future, although dairy cows 

 may be needed and after the war American 

 horses will doubtless be required in Europe, 

 mainly of the commercial grades. 



Mr. E. C. Chilcott, who went to the French 

 colonies at the instance of the French High 

 Commission, was to have described the agri- 

 cultural conditions found there, especially in 

 Algeria, but was detained by ilhiess. 



At the business meeting Dr. A. F. Woods, 

 president of the Maryland Agricultural Col- 

 lege, was nominated vice-president, and Dr. 

 J. G. Lipman, director of the New Jersey 

 Experiment Stations, secretary of the section, 

 and these nominations were subsequently con- 

 firmed by the general committee of the asso- 

 ciation. Other officers for the year were 

 elected as follows : Member of the general com- 

 mittee of the association, Mr. George M. 

 Rommel, U. S. Department of Agricultirre; 

 member of the council of the association. Dr. 

 A. C. True, U. S. Department of Agriculture; 

 member of the sectional committee (for five 

 years). Professor C. P. Gillette, director of 

 the Colorado Experiment Station. 



E. W. Allen, 



Secretary 



SCIENCE 



A Weekly Journal devoted to the Advancement of 

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 ceedings of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science 



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