EDITORIAL. 
shortage of funds no scientific investigation is now in progress. | Com- 
menting upon this fact, Professor Stewart states, “ The establishment 
of the permanent Institute with its full Scientific Staff would no doubt 
have solved this and other difficulties.” It is generally recognised thet 
sick and weak sheep are prone to suffer severely from blow-fly attack, 
and some members of the Special Inquiry Committee are desirous of 
having scientific inquiry made as to the possibility of fortifying such 
sheep by the administration of medicinal licks. It is known that the 
general health of sheep can often be improved by the allowance of salt 
combined with certain medicaments, but no precise knowledge is avail- 
able as to the best combination for the different districts of the State. 
As the funds made available by the Institute are almost exhausted, the 
question of further subsidizing the State expenditure will shortly be 
considered by the Executive Committee. Elsewhere in this issue is 
published the report of the investigations: of the Queensland Blow-fly 
Committee, and important recommendations are made for the treatment 
of sheep in mitigation of the pest. 
RAILWAY TRANSPORT V2£RSUS MOTOR LORRIES. 
In the July issue of the Engineering News Record a special report is 
given on the relations of the railway and the road as a means for 
economic transportation. The report shows that this question is not 
capable of a single answer. The problem must be studied and solved 
by engineers for each individual locality. At the same time it is pointed 
out that there is a widespread belief in the U.S. America that the good 
road and the motor lorry are destined to supersede the light traffic rail- 
way. The motor lorry for freight transportation is now carrying on a 
lively competition with the railway in handling freight on many roads. 
While the building of -branch-line railways is at a standstill, the con- 
struction of good roads is proceeding on an enormous scale. Loans of 
£10,000,000 and -£12,000,000 for good roads have been approved in 
Illinois and Pennsylvania respectively, and other States are following 
into line. It is agreed that roads must now be built heavy enough and 
costly enough to withstand motor lorry traffic. 
SYNTHETIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS IN GERMANY. 
Lieutenant R. E. McConnell has recently inspected the Haber plant 
at the Oppau works of the Badische Soda u. Anilin Fabrik, near Lud- 
wigshafen, on the Rhine. As the Germans raised strong objections to 
detailed examination, he was only able to spend three days at the factory, 
and was not permitted to view the plant in actual operation. During 
the year ended 1st November, 1918, this plant produced 90,000 long tons 
of fixed nitrogen, t.e., its capacity was equal to one-fifth of the total 
3,000,000 tons of nitrate supplied by Chile to the entire world during 
the same period, and ten times that of the Haber plant installed by the 
U.S. Government at Sheffield, Alabama. If to this output be added 
the reported production of 125,000 tons at a factory near Halle, the 
combined output would be equal to one-half that of the total supply 
from Chile. It has been officially stated in the Reichstag that 400,000 
tons of combined nitrogen was produced in Germany in 1916. How- 
ever this may be, it seems certain that Germany is capable of exporting 
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