776 



The Agricultural Index Number. 



[Dec, 



nished by the problem whether mole drains of 2J-in. bore at 

 •a depth of 18 in. are as efficacious as mole drains of 3J-in. bore 

 at a depth of 2 ft. or more : not only are the rate of flow and 

 the height of the water table in question, but the duration of 

 the smaller, shallower drains as compared with deeper drains 

 of approximately twice the cross section. Successful work has 

 undoubtedly been accomplished with both systems, but no data 

 as to the size of drains, their frequency and depth in given 

 types of soil are available. Such data will need to be collected 

 before a final report can be made, and the collection of informa- 

 tion of this character must necessarily take time. 



****** 



At the present time many claims are made on behalf of sub- 

 soiling and special virtues are claimed for special systems. As 

 Sub Soilin i^eaders of old agricultural periodicals well 

 , ^ . . ^^1^^ know similar claims have been made be- 

 Investigations. . • ^ i i • ^ i. 



° fore; an impetus has been given to sub- 



soiling, mistakes have been made, and the movement has died 

 down. What is remarkable is that no one has hitherto set 

 himself to discover exactly what mechanical results were 

 achieved in the soil and what the effect was on the chemistrv 

 of the soil and plant life. The first step clearly is to investigate 

 various types of sub-soiling appliances and to observe the re- 

 sulting crop. The Ministry has made a commencement with 

 this investigation and a report upon some mechanical results, 

 illustrated by photographs of very considerable interest, will 

 appear in an early issue of the Journal. 



****** 



The index numbers of prices of agricultural produce in England 

 and Wales show that, on the whole, average prices during October 

 The Agricultural ^'ather higher than in September, the 



T J \t ^u^^ increase compared with the corresponding 

 Index Number. • ^i ^ni. no v • ^.rr 



month m the years 1911-13 being 57 per 



cent, in September and 59 per cent, in October. The following 

 table shows the increase in agricultural prices generally in each 

 month since January, 1921, the corresponding month in 1911-13 

 being taken as the basis of comparison in each case : — 



Month. Percentage Tncrease.l Month. Percentaqe Increase. 



1921 1922 1921 1922 



January ... ... 183 ... 75 July 



February ... 167 ... 79 ! August .. 



March 150 ... 77 September 



April 149 ... 70 \ October .. 



May ... ... 119 ... 71 November 



June ... ... 112 ... 68 ! December 



112 ... 72 



131 ... 67 



116 ... 57 



86 ... 59 



79 

 76 



