SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
ee 
(e) A brick factory has been given information which will 
enable the quality of the products to be improved fo 
more exacting uses. 7 
(f) Advice has been given to local potters which will enable 
them to obtain supplies of local clays more suitable than 
those previously used. | 
It may be mentioned, moreover, that the Committee has succeeded 
in making highly: satisfactory Segar Cones, which before the war were 
manufactured almost entirely in Germany. These cones are used by 
potters for measuring the temperatures of their furnaces, and are essen-_ 
tial for carrying out experimental work in pottery. | 
| 
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ELECTRICAL STERILIZATION OF MILK. 
The Committee dealing with this subject consists of Dr. J. BL 
Cleland and Mr. W. H. Myers. Amongst the investigations which they 
propose to carry out in the near future is the application of direct 
current to the sterilization of ripened cream—a method which was 
found inapplicable by present methods in the sterilization of milk, 
owing to the precipitation of casein. This experiment was actually 
planned, and the cream obtained for carrying it out, when the outbreak 
of influenza necessitated temporarily abandoning it. Experiments are 
also being planned for the sterilizing of milk in thin sheets by actinie 
rays. The apparatus for this experiment has been obtained, but the 
experiment itself was likewise held up. 
WHEAT-BREEDING. 
A Special Committee on Seed Improvement, with members in each 
State, was appointed as an outcome of the Conference of Agricultural 
Scientists convened by the Advisory Council in November, 1917. The 
Committee has started work, with head-quarters at the National Her- 
barium, Melbourne, on preparing standard types of wheat, and a large 
number of specimens has been sent in from the various States. 
A provisional scheme of classification is ‘being used in the work of 
sorting the material, and its practical value tested in comparing wheats 
of the same variety from different localities. In addition, comparisons 
are being made between wheats grown under the same name in different 
localities, and in some cases striking discrepancies have been noted 
between similarly-named varieties from different districts, showing 
the importance of a central office or museum, where wheats from all 
parts of Australia can be compared and standardized from time to 
time. In properly-managed Experimental Stations sets of such stan- 
dards are kept, but at present there is no regular channel by which the 
standard sets in different parts of Australia can be compared and kept 
true to type. This is a very important point when scientific breeding 
is carried on, otherwise, owing to local variations, the appearance of 
“yooues,” &e., hopeless. confusion might result when exchanges of seed 
are made between growers in different localities. Seven standard sets 
will, eventually be prepared. by the Special Committee. One! set of 
the leading standards will be sent to the Agricultural Department in 
6 
