IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
124 [May, 1902.] 
movement to the chief industrial centres, Charleroi, Liege, Venders, and the 
coal district of Le Borinage. At one time some 200,000 men were estimated 
to have left their work throughout the country. Serious conflicts took place 
between the rioters and soldiery. On the 20th of the month, the Labour 
party adopted a resolution that work should be resumed. Unfortunately it is 
highly probable that the lull in this Socialistic movement is only temporary. 

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT 
OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 
1 
REPORT ON SPECIMENS OF EAST INDIAN WALNUT. 
{By Mr. Herbert Stone, F.L.S., F.R.C.I.) 
The following report of the examination of specimens of East Indian walnut has 
recently been made by Mr. Herbert Stone, one of the Imperial Institute expert referees 
on timbers. In his report Mr. Stone says : — I have carefully examined and tried the sample 
slabs of Albiszia lebbek, or East Indian walnut, otherwise known as “ koko,” and am 
favourably impressed with the wood, as it is fully equal to the American black walnut 
( Juglans nigra ) which is now so largely used in England, and I think it would compete on 
equal terms with that wood. It is certainly heavier and varies considerably, amongst the 13 
specimens one or two being rather heavier than is desirable for a furniture wood. It 
possesses a good figure which runs curly at times, in which case the appearance is very fine, 
and though not possessing much lustre when straight-grained, it has a “ watered ” appearance 
when curly in the grain. Taking plain and choice specimens together it shows about the same 
range of figure as the above-mentioned American walnut. 
I make my comparison with this wood, as it is the one whose place it must occupy, for I 
do not think it would compete with English or Italian walnut (Juglans regia). The 
mechanical tests I have applied are sawing, planeing, turning by power and polishing by 
hand. I find that it comes up to a better surface, with rather less trouble, than the American 
wood, and can be worked as fast and with the same ease. In finishing it requires less 
preparation by means of glass-paper, as the wood is denser, but as the grain is very coarse it 
requires much filling, and the pores are lined with a quantity of soft tissue which absorbs 
much polish and hence occupies much time. I consider that as good a finish can be obtained 
in about the same time as with the black walnut. I do not doubt that a market can be 
found for East Indian walnut in England, and I consider that ordinary straight grained 
sound boards and planks should be worth 2s. 6d. per cubic foot at London or Liverpool. 
Choice logs would probably fetch higher prices up to 4s. 6d. per cubic foot. It is as well to 
mention that until the wood becomes known on the English market remunerative prices 
should not be looked for. A new wood is nearly always imported for a time at a loss. 
The specimens examined were : — 
I. I. No. 
Indian No. 
Whence Received. 
Remark. 
5,5 26 
2,914 
Satara, Bombay .... 
Rather a poor specimen, poor in colour 
and the hardest of the series. Works 
well. 
5,525 
2,913 
Haveli, Poona .... 
A good specimen although from a very 
small tree ; very fair colour ; works 
better than the average. 
5,889 
3,277 
Surat, Bombay, marked 
“ Maghrech Bilimore,” 
Tlanes like American walnut and well. 
Poor in colour, streaky and of little 
value. 
5,505 
2 ;S 9 3 
North Kanara, Bombay . 
The best specimen , rather redder in 
colour, nice straight grain ; works 
excellently. A fine piece of wood. 
6,129 
3,512 
West Khandesh, Bombay 
Works well, rather hard, good colour 
rather streaky, of a rather purplish 
cast. 
5,504 A 
2,892 A 
South Arcot, Madras . . 
Works well, rather streaky, moderately 
good only ; hard. 
5,504 B 
2,892 B 
Do. . . 
A fine piece of curly, figured wood, but 
heavy and the hardest of all ; good 
colour. 
5 , 5 o 6 
2,894 
Telli cherry, Madras . . 
A fair specimen, but good and of fair 
colour. Works well. 
6,127 
3,509 
Ganjam, Madras . . . 
A good plank of good colour, even 
grain, very heavy. Works well. 
A poor plank of inferior colour, streaky ; 
works well but with an unpleasant, 
sneeze-provoking dust. 
4 , 93 s 
2,656 
Tenasserim, Burma. . . 
6,275 
4,789 
Mandalay, Burma, marked 
“ Dharwar.” 
A poor specimen, rather light indifferent 
colour, works badly. Probably im- 
mature and a little tainted with decay. 
4,937 
2,655 
Thayetmyo, Burma . . . 
A good specimen of fair colour, coarse 
in the grain ; works well. 
A quite useless plank, badly tainted, 
defective anti of extremely bad colour. 
Works well notwithstanding. 
6,126 
3 , 5 o 8 
Minbu, Burma .... 
THE PREVENTION OF “SMUT” IN OATS. 
The disease known as “ smut ” in oats is very prevalent in the western districts of 
Ireland, where from 10 to 50 per cent, of the crop is not infrequently destroyed by it, and 
consequently an investigation has been carried out by Dr. T. Johnson, on behalf of the 
Congested Districts Board, with the object of finding a suitable remedy. The results of the 
work were recently communicated to the Royal Dublin Society, and the paper is reproduced 
in the Journal of the Department of Agriculture for Ireland (March, 1902). 
The disease is caused by a fungus, Uslilago aveinc, which attacks the young oat. plant, 
but whose presence is not revealed until the grains are being formed. The latter, in infected 
plants, become black owing to the formation of the dark-coloured spores of the fungus, and 
gradually the whole of the tissue of the grain is replaced by a loose mass of the spores, which 
are scattered by the wind, thus spreading the infection. Even when the. grain is not completely 
destroyed it is rendered quite useless, either as food for man or beast, or for sowing purposes. 
It has been found, however, by previous workers that the oat plant is only liable to attack by 
the fungus when in the seedling condition, and that if it can be safely carried beyond this stage 
there is practically no further risk of infection. When infected oats are used for seed, however, 
the “ smut ” spores are present on the surface of the grains, and when germination takes place 
the hyphte of the fungus penetrate the delicate tissue of the seedling oat and later bring about 
the destruction of the crop. It is important to notice, too, that the presence of even a few 
ears of smutted oats will contaminate a large stock and produce widespread damage to the 
Vol. VIII. No. 89. 
next crop. The treatment usually adopted in such cases is to soak the seed)- before sowing, 
in some fungicide which will kill the adherent spores without affecting the vitality of the 
grain, and many methods for attaining this object have been suggested. But even 
when the whole of the adherent spores have been destroyed there is still left another possible 
source of infection. The soil of a field, .which has borne a crop of smutted oats, will contain 
large numbers of the spores, and these sometimes retain their vitality for several years, besides 
being capable of germinating on the decaying organic matter present. If, therefore, grain 
which has been freed from “smut” spores by treatment with some fungicide be sown in 
ground containing spores left from a previous crop, there will still be considerable danger of 
infection, and, in order to reduce the chances of this to a minimum, at least three years should 
elapse between successive sowings of oats on the same field wherever smut is prevalent, A 
moist climate is very favourable to the fungus, and this may possibly account for the 
prevalence of the disease in the west of Ireland. 
It was found on enquiry that in many of the badly affected districts in Ireland the seed 
used by the farmers was saved from year to year from their own crops, and that no attempt 
of any kind was made to prevent the recurrence of the disease. A quantity of infected grain 
was, therefore, procured from Co. Donegal, and, after tests to make sure that the oats were 
smutty, a series of experiments was instituted in order to determine the most suitable fungicide 
for use. The following tahle gives the particulars of the different methods tried : — 
No. 
Fungicide, 
Strength of Solution. 
* • 
Time of 
Immersion. 
I 
“Sar” or sodium sulphide 
o'5 per cent. , i.e,, i§ pints of sar in 5° 
24 hours 
solution 
gallons of water 
2 
Potassium sulphide 
o'5 per cent., i.e., i l lb. of the sulphide 
24 hours 
in 25 gallons of water 
•y 
Copper sulphate 
o‘5 per cent., i.e., 1 lb of the sulphate 
12-16 hrs. 
in 22 gallons of water 
4a 
Formalin 
0‘2 per cent., i.e., 1 lb of formalin in 
2 hours 
50 to 60 gallons of water 
4 b 
Formalin for 2 hours as 4a 
0‘2 per cent., i.e., 1 oz of ammonia in 
4 : j- gallons of water 
1 3 2° F. 
15 min. 
followed by ammonia 
5 
Hot water 
10 min. 
6 
Control 
Not treated 
The first of these, the “sar” solution, has been strongly recommended as a fungicide 
by the United States Department of Agriculture, and its method of preparation is given in the 
paper. A stronger solution than that given in the table can be used, but in that case the 
time of immersion must be reduced ,• thus, when one gallon of “sar” is used to 50 gallons 
of water the seed is only soaked for two hours. This also applies to the use of the 
potassium sulphide solution (No. 2), in which case it was found that immersion for the 
shorter period in the stronger solution was quite as effective, did not lessen the germinative power, 
and the grains dried more quickly. The treatment by steeping in the copper sulphate 
solution proved too strong, as the seeds afterwards possessed a very low germinative 
power when tested in the incubator, and this was fully confirmed by the subsequent field 
experiments. This result agrees with American experience, and it is suggested that, if copper 
sulphate is used as a remedy for “smut,” the grain should not be steeped in the solution, but 
only sprayed with it and afterwards treated with lime. Treatment with formalin has been 
stated to lessen the germinative power of the oat, and for comparison some of the grain so 
treated was afterwards placed in a 0’2 per cent, solution of ammonia for 15 minutes, as 
recommended by David. The germination of both lots was then tested in the usual way, and 
found to be 99 per cent, in the case of treatment with formalin alone and 96 per cent, in that 
of formalin followed by ammonia. A very cheap and effective method of treating smutted 
oats is the one introduced by Jensen, in which the infected grain is immersed in water at 
132° Fahrenheit for ten minutes, but this to be successful requires to be very carefully 
conducted. If the temperature is a few degrees too high or the steeping is continued too long 
the oats, as well as the spores of the fungus, will be killed, while, on the other hand, a tempera- 
ture much below 132 0 Fahrenheit is not fatal to the spores. The method is, therefore, not so 
simple as the others, and could not be recommended for general adoption in the west of 
Ireland. 
After treatment with these different fungicides samples of each of the six lots were sent 
to three districts in the west for a practical test and, in addition, small control experiments 
were conducted at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Gksnevin. The samples were sent out 
simply numbered, and no information was given regarding the treatment which they had 
undergone. In all cases the beneficial effect of treatment with a fungicide, except copper 
sulphate, was clearly proved, as will be seen from the results of the larger experiments given 
below, in which the numbers correspond to those of the previous table. 
Grain. 
Yield per Acre 
in lb. 
Standard Smut-free 
Crop. 
No. 
Clifden 
(Co. Galway.) 
Tourmakeady 
(Co. Mayo.) 
Ardara 
(Co. Donegal.) 
Average. 
1 
1,650 
U 37 ° 
2,240 
U 75 ° 
2 
1,800 
1,850 
3 D 68 
2,270 
3 
I ) 3 So 
1,250 
1,872 
1,500 
1,600 to 3,200 lb. (40 to 
4 
U 55 ° (b) 
1,240 (a) 
2,240 (a) 
1,676 
80 bushels) per acre. 
5 
1,920 
2,000 
2,oSo 
2,000 
6 
1,120 
U 33 ° 
2,080 
i>5 10 
Straw. 
1 
3> s 4° 
1,720 
4,432 
3,33° 
2 
4,160 
2,090 
5,760 
4,000 
2,800 to 5,040 lb. (25 to 
'J 
3,82° 
1,840 
4,256 
3,3°5 
4 
3>6So (b) 
1,610 (a) 
4,43 2 (a) 
3,24° 
45 cwt.) per acre. 
5 
4,240 
2,250 
4,23° 
3,573 
6 
3,°4° 
2U5° 
4,43° 
3,206 
In each case the official in charge of the experiments reported that No. 6 , which had not been 
treated in any way, was quite as badly affected with “ smut ” as the farmer’s ordinary crop, 
whereas very little disease developed in any of the treated samples, and at Tourmakeady 
No. 5 , which had been treated with hot water, was quite free from “smut.” In addition the 
straw from No. 1 to 5 was of excellent quality, while that from No. 6 was very inferior and 
badly contaminated with smut spores. 
These results were so satisfactory that it was decided to distribute some fungicide to the 
farmers themselves for trial, and for this purpose “ sar ” was chosen as being very effective and 
