224  Agricultural  Education  Exhibition,  1910. 
offspring,  of  the  prize  stock  at  different  ages  and  under  varying 
circumstances.  In  the  case  of  a milch  cow  her  milk  record 
might  be  attached  to  the  illustration,  and  it  would  further 
be  exceedingly  useful  to  learn  at  what  outlay  on  food  the 
milk  had  been  obtained  in  the  case  of  the  different  specimens. 
These  remarks  are  thrown  out  as  suggestions  for  the 
future  and  not  as  criticisms  of  present-day  work.  The  diffi- 
culties in  the  past  have  been  very  great-.  Money  being  short, 
it  has  often  only  been  possible  to  do  a very  limited  number 
of  things  among  the  many  that  suggested  themselves  to 
the  Governors  or  the  Staffs  of  the  various  Colleges.  Hence 
the  obtaining  and  keeping  of  well-bred  stock  as  an  object 
lesson  to  students  often  entailed,  on  the  part  of  those  con- 
cerned, much  skilful  economy  and  retrenchment  in  other 
directions.  Only  those  who  have  been  responsible  for  collect- 
ing data  can  really  know  the  expense  involved,  and  to  have 
this  expense  added  to  that  of  buying  and  breeding  high-class 
specimens  was  often  more  than  could  be  borne  by  even  the 
most  financially  fortunate  of  such  institutions.  It  is  to  be 
devoutly  hoped  that  in  these  days  of  “developments”  those 
times  are  over,  and  that  accurate  data  about  the  best  com- 
mercial, as  well  as  show,  stock  will  be  forthcoming  and  will 
in  future  be  displayed  at  the  R.A.S.E.  Education  Exhibition. 
The  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England. — One  bay  was 
set  apart  for  the  Society’s  publications,  and  in  the  other  the 
Woburn  Experimental  Station  was  responsible  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  exhibit.  The  value  of  the  two  new  fertilisers  that 
obtain  their  nitrogen  from  the  air  was  demonstrated  by  wheat 
plants,  growing  in  pots,  to  which  dressings  of  nitrate  of  soda, 
nitrate  of  lime,  and  cyanamide  had  been  given.  A mixture 
of  the  last  two  was  shown  to  be  quite  equal  to  the  separate 
dressings,  with  the  advantage  that  the  difficulties  due  to  the 
hygroscopic  nature  of  the  nitrate  of  lime  were  obviated,  and 
the  inconvenience  from  the  fine  particles  of  cyanamide  was 
prevented.  It  was  particularly  interesting  to  hear  of  the 
number  of  visitors  who  recognised  the  weed  “ Spurrey  ” 
growing  in  the  acid  soil  from  the  Stackyard  Field,  while  it 
was  remarkable  to  find  how  few  of  these  had  noticed  the  fact 
that  the  growth  of  this  weed  was  a sure  indication  of  the  lime 
requirements  of  the  soil.  The  influence  of  magnesia  on  the 
root  and  grain  of  the  wheat  plant  was  the  subject  of  much 
interest,  as  were  also  some  striking  examples  of  the  effect  of 
manures  on  the  mechanical  condition  of  the  soil. 
The  large  table  on  the  “Life  of  Farm  Seeds”  was  now 
shown  by  Mr.  Carruthers  in  its  completed  form,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  Society  will  see  its  wayr  to  publish  the  same  at 
an  early  date. 
