SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, that it has now been deter- 
mined to proceed to the practical use of explosives in agriculture on a 
large scale. In addition to preparing the land for cultivation, it is 
claimed that the use of certain explosives not only destroys parasites, 
but also, ‘to a certain extent, reduces the necessity for fertilization. 
It is proposed to establish in all districts of Italy demonstration fields 
where trials of the system which has been adopted will be carried out; 
such fields have already been created in Umbria, Puglia, Tuscany, and 
the liberated provinces. At the same time, the Ministry of War will 
turn over the large quantities of available explosives at favorable 
prices. 
LIGNITE CARBONIZATION, RESEARCH PLANT. 
The United States Bureau of Mines has completed arrangements for 
a co-operative plan to carbonize lignite, and develop. the necessary 
information that it is hoped will “make possible a favorable technical 
and business report which shall stimulate duplication of such plants 
throughout lignite areas.” To this end a co-operative agreement has 
been made between the Bureau of Mines and Messrs. J. B. Adams and 
FF. Bremier, under which an appropriation of £20,000, and an addi- 
tional £40,000, which is to be furnished by Messrs. Adams and Bremier, 
will be used for the construction of the plant required and as a working 
capital for its operation. The plant will be installed at New Salem, 
N.D. The plant contemplated will consist of a battery of ovens of new 
form, which have been designed by the engineers of the Bureau of 
Mines, under the direction of Mr. O. P. Hood, Chief Mechanical 
Engineer. This battery will, it is estimated, coke at least 100 tons 
of raw lignite per day, and provide for complete recovery of the liquid 
and gaseous by-products, as well as for the handling of the char, from 
which it is planned to produce briquets.. The briquetting plant will 
also be of special design, and it is to be an integral part of the plant, 
so that the char will be handled direct from the battery to the 
briquetting machine hoppers. 
NEW BRITISH DYE. 
After experiments extending over a period of two years it is 
reported, says the American Chamber of Commerce in London, that 
the British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd. has now discovered, at its 
Huddersfield laboratories, the secret of manufacturing alizarine 
cyanine green dye on a commercial scale. This green dye was first 
Behrend in Germany at the works of Bayer & Oo., in 1894, and was 
manufactured exclusively by,Germany before the war. The exact 
chemical details were jealously guarded, and no information was given 
to chemical associations, or allowed to appear in German technical 
journals. The special characteristics of the dye are that, when applied 
to wool, chromed or unchromed, fine green shades are produced which 
remain fast. Since the outbreak of war, woollen manufacturers have’ 
not been able to produce varying shades with the fastness of this dye, 
which is used particularly for tweeds and ladies’ dress goods. 
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