Sale nf (lorn hy Weiijhf. 
717 
Some of these are capable of destroying in a few days as much 
nitrate as is formed in months or years. Fortiuiately the 
activity of these baneful species can always be kept in abeyance 
by the aeration of the soil brought about by drainage and good 
tillage. 
J. M. H. MuNRo. 
SALE OF CORN BY WEIGHT. 
The advantages of the sale of live stock and other agricultural 
commodities by weight have of late been prominently brought 
under the notice of the farming interest in a Variety of ways, 
and I think it may not be inappropriate if, at the present 
juncture, attention is drawn in the pages of the Journal to the 
highly important subject of the establishment of a uniform 
weight for grain, which a Select Committee of the House of 
Commons was appointed last session to consider. The reference 
to this Committee was as follows : — 
To inquire and report upon the various weights and measures used for 
the sale of grain throughout the United Kingdom ; the desirability of selling 
grain by weight only or by measure and weight, and, in the event of either 
being considered desirable, the extent to which either might be enforced ; 
the desirability of the adoption of a uniform weight, either for the United 
Kingdom or any part of it ; if a uniform weight is desirable, the standard 
to be adopted, and whether there should be one standard for all kinds of 
grain ; and, if not, what should be the standard for each kind. 
Unfortunately the time at the disposal of the Committee was 
too short to enable it, before Parliament rose, to examine 
more than one witness, Mr. H. J. Chaney, the well-known 
Superintendent of the Standards Department of the Board of 
Trade. Neveitheless, so much information of value was brought 
out in the course of Mr. Chaney's examination, that it appears 
worth while, even in the present incomplete condition of the 
labours of the Committee,' to attempt to summarise the existing 
' The j/ro forma report of the Committee, with the documents laid before it 
has been published as a Parliamentary Paper, No. 347 of Scss. 1891 (Eyre & 
Spottiswoode, price 0^^.). It contains, in addition to Mr. Chaney's evidence, 
(1) Returns from 1,500 inspectors, employed by the Standards Department, of the 
weights used in the different districts of the United Kingdom. (2) A paper show- 
ing the weight of a Winchester bushel of different grains as established by law, 
in the different States and Territories of the United States, in pounds avoirdupois. 
(3) A note on the Winchester bushel and heaped measure. (4) A memorandum 
on the use of the instruments known as " Corn hoppers " and " Chondrometers," 
the former for obtaining uniform measure, the latter for testing the quality of 
grain. The former is in use in the City of London and in Scotland, and is 
