336 Summary of Agricultural Experiments, [july, 



different animals. The milk yield from palm nut cake was greater 

 at five stations and less at two than the yield from earth nut cake 

 and maize. Although, on an average there was an increased yield 

 from palm nut cake of 0*22 lb. per cow per day, it is concluded that no 

 increase in the milk yield from the use of this feeding stuff can be 

 reckoned on. 



In every case, however, a considerable increase in the content of 

 fat, whether reckoned in absolute figures or as a percentage of the 

 quantity of milk, resulted from replacing earth nut cake and maize 

 by palm nut cake. The effect was not noticeable, however, until some 

 time after the change of feed, the maximum increase in fat content 

 being reached in from 14 to 20 days. It was also found that the higher 

 the milk yield of the cow, the more noticeable was the effect of the palm 

 nut cake on the fat content, the increase in fat content in the case of 

 cows of the "Wesermarsh " and East Frisian breeds (both heavy milkers) 

 being 0*34 per cent., or 2*19 oz. to 2*26 oz. per cow per day. 



The amount of palm nut cake and meal fed per cow per day was 

 large (5^ lb.), and it is doubtful whether smaller quantities would have 

 had any appreciable effect on the fat content. The foodstuffs produced 

 on the farm are generally rich in carbohydrates and poor in albumen, 

 and this is also true of palm nut cake, so that it would only be profit- 

 able to feed this cake when it is necessary to buy foods containing 

 a large percentage of carbohydrates, or when it is a question of feeding 

 the animals with concentrated foods. 



Weeds, and Insect and Fungus Pests. 



The Weed Flora of Arable Land (Roy. Agric. Coll., Cirencester, 

 Scientific Bulletin, No. 2, 1910). — In 1910 the seasonal changes in the 

 weeds of arable land on the College farm were examined, and this report 

 deals principally with the observations made on one field. The surface soil 

 of the field is a calcareous clay, with hardly any siliceous sand separable 

 by washing. The subsoil is a mechanical mixture of stiff yellow clay, 

 with limestone rubble resting on forest marble. It had been sown 

 down to wheat in the autumn of 1909, and the weeds present were 

 tabulated on March 30th, June 8th, July 7th, and October 30th, 1910. 

 A frame a foot square was used, and the weeds enclosed by it counted at 

 a number of places uniformly over the field. 



On March 30th it was found possible to count not only the number 

 of species, but also the number of individuals of each species. There 

 were 17 species in all. Small seedlings of the ivy-leaved speedwell 

 (Veronica hedercz folia) were the most numerous, being 75 per cent, 

 of the total number of plants. Chickweed (Stellaria media) was only 

 moderately abundant (12 per cent.), and fumitory (Fumaria officinalis) 

 reached 3 per cent. The rest were sparse. Other fields also showed a 

 considerable dominance of the ivy-leaved speedwell, but fumitory was 

 commoner, especially in fields with a thinner soil. As regards the total 

 number of weed seedlings present, the average per acre varied in the 

 different fields under wheat that were examined from thirty-two to 

 fifty-two thousand. 



On June 5th it was found impossible to count the individual plants, 

 but a number of counts were made, as before, and the number of times 

 that each species occurred per 100 counts was recorded, no notice being 



