igo8.] 



Miscellaneous Notes. 



303 



addition to daily wages of $s. per "grape" (two persons), they were provided with 

 sleeping accommodation, and as many potatoes as they required for their own use. 

 The potato merchants give voluntary testimony to the character of the Irish people in 

 their employment. In one of the reports it is stated that the labourers have " d< ne 

 good work, always cheerful and ready to work." Another employer remarks that his 

 squad were " extremely well behaved, no drunkenness or rioting," and that " earning 

 money to send home is their principal object," while another states that " the class of 

 labourers was fully up to the average, and gave us every satisfaction." 



Importation into France of Dodder and Forage Seeds containing Dodder. — 

 The French Journal Officiel for the 30th April contains a Presidential Decree, 

 dated the 21st February, prohibiting the importation 



Miscellaneous Notes int ° France of dodder { cuscute ) and forage seeds containing 

 dodder. 



Annexed to the Decree is an Order of the Minister of 

 Agriculture prescribing the procedure to be followed in connection with the Customs 

 examination of imported forage seeds, in order to ascertain whether or not they 

 contain dodder. 



Phosphates in the Society Islands. — H.M. Consul at Tahiti reports the 

 discovery of very large deposits of phosphates in these Islands. It is estimated 

 on reliable authority that in one island there are 30,000,000 tons of crude phosphate, 

 containing 65 to 85 per cent, of pure phosphate. {Board of Trade Journal, 

 21st May, 190S.) 



International Plant Protection. — Dr. Paul Sorauer, the editor of the Zeitschrift 

 fur Pflanzenkrankheiten, has issued the first number of a new supplement to that 

 publication entitled Internationaler Phytopathologischer Dienst. Dr. Sorauer 

 explains that the object of this supplement is to form a connecting link between 

 investigators into plant diseases in all countries, and a medium for the dissemination 

 of the results of scientific inquiries and the announcement of the appearance of new 

 forms of disease. Great importance is attached to the latter point, and the American 

 Gooseberry Mildew is mentioned as an example of a disease, which has established 

 itself in many countries because its injurious character was not recognized in time. 



A Weed of Pastures. — During May the Board received from Hayes, Kent, 

 specimens of a composite weed, which was identified as Crepis taraxacifolia, Thuill. 

 This is a bristly, branched weed of one or two feet in height, which, according to 

 Hooker, occurs more or less locally, from Yorkshire to Cornwall and Kent, and in 

 Carnarvon. It favours dry calcareous pastures and banks, and is a biennial, flowering 

 taking place in June and July. The plant should be regularly cut down before flower- 

 ing takes place, in order to prevent seeding. A dressing of 6 cwts. of superphosphat 

 and 1 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia might do good by encouraging a better type of 

 herbage, which would tend to crowd out the weed. Close grazing with sheep or geese 

 in spring might also be tried. 



Meadow Saffron in Switzerland. — With reference to the article on Meadow 

 Saffron which recently appeared in this Journal (April, 1908, p. 44), it may be noted 

 that the poisonous qualities of this weed in Switzerland are referred to by Stebler and 

 Schroeter (Matten und Weiden der Schweiz, Vol. IX, p. 209). Cases of poisoning o 

 household animals and human beings are recorded every year. Horses are poisoned 

 either by the green plant or by the leaves chopped up in the hay. Cattle, as a rule, 

 appear to avoid it, whether in the meadow or in the crib, but young animals are 

 frequently poisoned. Poisoning also often occurs in the early spring when beasts fed 

 in the stall during winter are let out on the young grass. Pigs are also affected, but 

 sheep and goats appear to be more or less immune. Warm milk is used as an 

 antidote. 



Report on proceedings under the Tithe ; Copyhold and other Acts. — The statutory 

 reports required to be laid annually before Parliament by the Board of Agriculture 



