i9i i.] 



Live Stock Shows at Turin. 



519 



A promising feature of this extension of the area in a northerly 

 direction is that, at present, the further north the beans are grown 

 the better in quality do they become. The best reports have, in fact, 

 been received of beans grown far above Harbin. It is true that in the 

 districts which lie far north there is always a risk of early frosts 

 descending upon the harvests; but this danger could be averted by 

 cultivating specially selected varieties which mature in the shortest 

 possible period. 



Much remains to be effected in the way of improvement of com- 

 mercial arrangements in connection with the dispatch of the beans at 

 the Manchurian ports. 



Effect of Electricity on Sheep Raising. — According to Prof. Silas 

 Wentworth, of Los Gatos, California, his experiments with electric 

 influence on animal and vegetable life at his experimental farm on a 

 ranch near Roseville during the past year have proved that electricity 

 will more than double the production of lambs and greatly increases the 

 yield of wool. A flock of 2,000 sheep was divided, one-half being placed 

 in a field under the power wires of an electric power company, while the 

 other was removed from electric influences. 



In the field under the electric power line the production of lambs 

 averaged a fraction over two lambs to each ewe. In the adjoining 

 field where electrical influence was lacking the lamb average was less 

 than one to each ewe. Similar differences were noted in the yield of 

 wool from the sheep in the different fields. The fleeces from the sheep 

 in the electrically-influenced field proved 20 per cent, heavier. 



Preparations are being made to plough up both fields and plant 

 wheat, when the effect of the current on the growth of that cereal will 

 be tested. (F.O. Reports, Annual Series, No. 4650.) 



Live Stock Shows at the Turin international Exhibition. — An Inter- 

 national show of cattle and sheep was to have been held in connection 

 with the Turin Exhibition in June last (see 

 Agricultural particulars in Journal for March last, p. 1032), 



Congresses and but had to be postponed, and will now be held 

 Exhibitions Abroad, in Turin from September 28th to October 2nd, 

 191 1. Classes for pigs have now been added 

 to the original schedule. An international show of horses will be held 

 at the same time. 



An international dairying industry show will also be held in con- 

 nection with the main exhibition from October 1st to 15th, 191 1. There 

 will be classes for milk, butter, and cheese, and for machines, imple- 

 ments, and accessories used in the dairy. There will also be prizes 

 for articles, publications, illustrations, and photographs dealing with 

 the sanitary handling of milk, &c. ; for the best system of collecting 

 and distributing milk in populous districts; for dairying associations 

 and organisations, &c. 



Further particulars of any of these shows may be obtained from 

 the Secretary, Agriculture and Horticulture Committee, 21 St. James's 

 Square, London, S.W. 



