South  JSastern  Agricultural  College. 
217 
practical  outcome  of  this  comparison  is  that  the  Essex  soil 
requires  more  manure,  but  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  add  potash. 
In  the  department  of  Dairy  Bacteriology  cultivations  were 
exhibited  showing  the  sources  *of  bacterial  contamination  in 
milk,  such  as  from  the  air,  from  milkers’  hands,  from  the 
cow’s  udder,  and  from  dirty  milk  pails.  The  action  of  these 
bacteria  in  curdling  and  acidifying  milk  was  illustrated,  some 
dissolving  the  curd,  some  causing  colouration,  and  some 
imparting  an  unpleasant  flavour.  These  exhibits  indicated 
the  necessity  for  absolute  cleanliness  in  dairying  operations. 
IV.  South  Eastern  Agricultural  College. — The  exhibits  of  this 
College  were  divided  into  three  departments:  Economic  Zoology, 
Economic  Botany,  and  Chemistry.  The  Zoological  Section 
included  a large  collection  of  injurious  and  useful  insects,  some 
of  the  more  common  or  typical  pests  be-ing  shown  as  living 
specimens  actually  at  work.  A new  bee  pest — a fly,  Plyphus 
fenestratis — that  has  been  damaging  the  honeycomb  during  the 
past  year,  and  specimens  of  spoiled  comb,  were  also  shown. 
Ladybirds  and  other  beneficial  insects  were  shown,  the  former 
including  specimens  of  kinds  that  have  recently  been  introduced 
into  this  country  as  a means  of  checking  a]»his  and  scale.  The 
Botajiical  Section  included  numerous  specimens  of  diseased 
plants,  with  particulars  of  the  diseases,  mounted  specimens  of 
young  grafted  fruit  trees  and  collections  of  agricultural  seeds 
and  their  adulterants  ; also  models  of  various  systems  of  hop 
training.  The  exhibits  from  the  Chemical  De})artment  were 
connected  with  the  soil  survey  of  Kent  and  Surrey,  and  the 
general  effect  of  adulterants  on  manures,  washes,  foods,  &c. 
The  soil  survey  has  now  been  going  on  for  nearly  five  years. 
The  soil  is  resolved  by  ap])ropriate  means  into  its  ultimate 
])articles,  and  it  has  been  found  that  the  properties  of  a soil 
depend  in  a remarkable  way  on  the  size  of  these  ])articles. 
Thus,  the  adaptability  of  a soil  to  early  fruit  crops  can  be 
more  or  less  predicted  from  a knowledge  of  its  mechanical 
constitution. 
V.  Midland  Agricultural  and  Dairy  Institute. — Specimens 
were  exhibited  of  ])otato  ])lants  in  pots,  consisting  of  new 
varieties  obtained  by  cross-pollination.  The  Institute  also 
showed  some  interesting  diagrams  bearing  u])on  the  milk 
standard  question,  based  upon  analyses  of  samples  of  milk 
taken  every  week  during  1903  from  each  cow  of  the  Institute 
herd,  both  at  night  and  in  the  morning.  The  most  important 
results  were  as  follows  : — 
