i9i i.] Summary of Agricultural Experiments, ioii 



In the preparation of the wash for spraying the flowers of 

 sulphur should be made into a paste with water and be poured 

 over the lime. After boiling the mixture for a quarter of an 

 hour the caustic soda should be added ; the whole should be 

 allowed to boil for a short time and then the dissolved soap 

 may be added, bringing the water up to 100 gallons. 



A case has just come to the Board's notice in which the 

 mixed materials were boiled in a copper vessel, and when 

 the wash was nearly prepared the vessel gave way, the result 

 being that not only was the copper destroyed, but a great 

 deal of the mixture was lost. 



In the preparation of such a wash as that described above 

 soluble sulphides are formed, and hot solutions of soluble 

 sulphides readily attack copper, converting it into soft friable 

 black sulphide of copper. Iron, on the other hand, is 

 practically unaffected by such solutions, and therefore when 

 sulphur is used in the preparation of a wash iron vessels 

 should be employed. 



SUMMARY OF AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS. * 

 Experiments with Live Stock. 



Fattening- Bullocks (Jour. South-Eastern Agric. Coll., No. i8> 

 1909). — This experiment was instituted with a view to testing (1) the 

 effect of substituting a treacle food, Molascuit, for roots in a fattening 

 ration ; (2) a light as compared with a heavy cake ration ; (3) the effect 

 of keeping the animals loose in a covered yard rather than tied in stalls. 

 Eleven two-year-old Galloway bullocks were divided into three lots and 

 fed as follows : — Lot I., four bullocks : 28 lb. roots at the start, rising to 

 56 lb. at the finish, lb. to 2 lb. linseed cake, i£ lb. to 2 lb. cotton 

 cake. Lot II., four bullocks : 2 lb. to 4 lb. Molascuit in place of roots, 

 linseed and cotton cake the same as Lot I. Lot III., three bullocks : 

 28 lb. to 56 lb. roots, 2 lb. to 5^ lb. linseed cake, 2 lb. to 5^ lb. cotton 

 cake. All three lots received also chaffed straw, hay, and rice meal, and 

 were allowed as much water as they wanted. Lot II. with Molascuit 

 drank about 5 gallons a day per bullock, against the 2^ gallon's of 

 each of the two lots with roots. The animals were sent to the butcher 

 as they became finished, so that the trial extended over a period of 

 from three to four months' feeding. 



* The summaries of agricultural experiments which have appeared in the present 

 volume have been as follows : — Cereals, April ; Cereals and Root Crops, May ; 

 Root Crops, June ; Root Crops and Potatoes, July ; Grass and Clover, August ; 

 Cereals, September; Miscellaneous, October and November; Miscellaneous and 

 Live Stock, December ; Live Stock and Dairying, January and February. The 

 Board would be glad to receive for inclusion copies of reports on inquiries, whether 

 carried out by agricultural colleges, societies, or private persons. 



