1920.] Plant Breeding at Aberystwyth. 



631 



completely finished. The laboratories (see Plates I and II) 

 are designed for each of three separate purposes: — 



(1) A large laboratory primarily intended for students and 

 capable of accommodating over 30 persons. The room is lit 

 from both sides, two tiers of benches running from end to 

 end on one side, and one bench on the other. A series of 

 incubators for the purpose of seed testing occupy the body of 

 the room; and the single bench, which is seldom required for 

 classes, is used by laboratory assistants concerned w T ith seed 

 testing and other routine work in connection with the Plant 

 Breeding Station. In the Easter and Summer Vacations the 

 extensive benches in this laboratory are of considerable 

 service both in preparing for the sowing of plots and in the 

 handling of the harvests. 



(2) Three special laboratories for the use of the staff of 

 the Station. Two of these are arranged to give the maximum 

 of bench and table space, and each is allocated to a branch of 

 the work in hand. Both are equipped with special cabinets 

 for filing seed samples, and with tiers of trays to facilitate the 

 systematic handling of numerous samples while under 

 investigation. The third is a small laboratory where the finer 

 work, such as the preparation of microscopical slides, will be 

 undertaken. The arrangement is based on the allocation of 

 the laboratories to different aspects of the work rather than to 

 individual investigators as such. 



(3) Private laboratories have also been provided for (a) the 

 Adviser in Agricultural Botany, and (b) the Lecturer in 

 Agricultural Botany : the latter laboratory has been equipped 

 for pathological work. 



In addition to the laboratories a drying room and a 

 gardener's workroom have been arranged for at the Agricul- 

 tural Buildings. The design of the former is rendered 

 apparent by reference to Plates III and IV. The room is 

 18 ft. high, the roof being reached by narrow passage ways; 

 thus two tiers of hanging pegs are available. Backs are 

 arranged around the sides of the room on the floor level; they 

 are used for the dual purpose of making hay off small plots or 

 from individual plants, and for drying heads of seed on 

 shallow trays. 



It was decided that the drying room should be at the 

 laboratories rather than at the garden, so that use could be 

 made of the central heating, and also because the room is 

 only intended to deal with small " lots " which would in 



