1920.] Seed-borne Diseases of Cereals. 209 



to the bull owner, and any administrative expenses incurred 

 by the society are to be defrayed by subscriptions or levies 

 from the members. 



The grant for boars will be at the rate of one-third of the 

 value of the boar, subject to a maximum grant of £5. 



The grants made to milk-recording societies are also increased 

 in order to encourage the formation of new societies and to 

 secure the provision of reliable and qualihed recorders. 



The amount of grant that has been paid in the past has been 

 at the rate of £2 los. per herd per year, subject to a limit of 

 one-half the expenses of a society, but it is recognised that until 

 farmers have proved the commercial value of keeping milk 

 records they are disinclined to pay a levy of 3s. to 5s. per cow, 

 which is the approximate charge made to members of milk- 

 recording societies. It has, therefore, been decided to increase 

 the grant to a milk-recording society for the hrst and second 

 year of its operations from £2 los. to £3 los. a herd, and sub- 

 sequently the maximum grant will be a maximum of £3 a herd. 



It is hoped that the increase in the grants will remove some 

 of the difficulties that have been experienced in forming new 

 societies, and will lead to a more rapid extension of the Live 

 Stock Scheme during the current year. 



* * 5*' Hs * 



In the investigation of possible control measures for certain 

 seed-borne diseases of cereals that do not yield to the ordinary 

 chemical and hot water seed treatments, 

 Seed-borne DiseaseB heat has been found particularly 



of Cereals : Possible / . ui 

 Control by Dry adaptable. 



jjeat. Experiments carried out by Mr. D. 



Atanasoft and ]\Ir. A. G. Johnson, of the 

 University of Wisconsin, are described in the Jonrnal of Agri- 

 cultural Research (Vol. viii., 2nd January, 1920, p. 379). It 

 was first attempted to duplicate Xaumov's treatment of 

 1916, in which cereals were subjected to 60° C. for periods 

 ranging from 24 hours to 3 days. This, it was thought, 

 would also kiU, or at least greatly weaken, the fungus 

 mycelium present in the interior of the kernels. It was 

 found difficult to verify his results. Wheat and barley 

 thus treated retained their viabiUty, but so did various fungi 

 that infected the kernels. Following this, higher temperature 

 and longer exposures were tested with rather surprising results. 

 Wheat and barley kernels remained viable even after an ex- 

 posure to heat ranging from 100° to 110° C. for as long as 45 

 hours. It was soon found possible by reducing this time to 

 lessen the injury to the seed and yet kill the most persistent 

 parasites. 



