280 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [July 
briefly stated as follows : It is generally accepted that a good supply of 
calcium carbonate is necessary in the soil for the efficient carrying-on of the 
process of nitrification, though it is difficult to say in quantitative terms 
exactly what amount constitutes a sufficiency. Analyses, of which the 
results are as yet unpublished, show that the quantity of carbonate of 
lime in Canterbury Plains soils is small—from 0’1 to 0'2 per cent.—and 
yet nitrification apparently proceeds at a satisfactory rate, since, so far 
as we know, ordinary crops are not markedly benefited by supplies of 
nitrogenous fertilizers. This research aims at determining the effect on the 
rate of nitrification produced by adding varying quantities of carbonate 
of lime to typical soils. 
Cold Storage of Fruit, by E. G. Loten and W. C. Morris. 
(This paper appeared in the N.Z. Fruitgrower for April.) 
Agriculture’s Debt to Science, by Sir James Wilson. 
Abstract. 
The author considers the term “ scientific agriculture ” a most unfor¬ 
tunate phrase, not only because it is a misnomer, but for the reason that 
the man who calls himself a “ practical ” farmer does not believe in 
science. Farming is constantly changing and widening its scope. If the 
inventor and the implement-maker could be classed as scientists, and a 
chronological list were drawn up from the time of the first breast-plough 
pushed by the husbandman to the time when huge areas of prairie have 
been cultivated by means of steam or the internal-combustion engine, it 
would stand out that year by year some improvement had taken place which 
had gradually cheapened the cost of production and increased the output. 
In New Zealand the growth of fodder crops would be impossible, under 
present conditions, were it not that the implement-maker has provided 
drills which sow the seed with almost mathematical accuracy. Over 
climate there is, as yet, no control, but science has shown how to minimize 
evaporation by various methods based on scientific principles. 
Specific examples are given of important advances in farming brought 
about by non-farmers. Thus, Jethro Tull, a lawyer, in the year 1800 
showed the great advantage of tilling wheat; James Smith, of Deanston, 
by improved drainage enabled intractable land to be reduced to a tilth ; 
Eaunce de Laune, a London business man, showed farmers the folly of 
buying grass mixtures instead of seeds of various grasses guaranteed as 
to purity and germination, and mixing them for themselves ; the threshing- 
machine, replacing the flail, was the work of a clergyman. 
But the greatest advance of all may be traced to the chemist. The 
secrets of the soil were a closed book until the chemist unravelled them. 
Here comes in the work of Liebig, who renovated depleted soils by means of 
bones, thus saving the cheesemakers of Cheshire from a serious position. 
The work of Pasteur and its supreme benefit to the New Zealand 
dairy-farmer is referred to, as well as its having revolutionized medical 
and surgical science. Also, the effect of leguminous crops on the soil is 
pointed out, the reason for their value being the researches of a French 
chemist, Georges Ville P 
Coming to New Zealand agriculture, the author points out the 
assistance farmers have received from the scientific (pure and applied) 
branches of the Department of Agriculture, and he stresses the importance 
