Rothamsted and Indian soils were water-logged in the absence of freshly decomposing organic matter.

Nitrogen changes: Water-logging resulted in:

(1) A distinct increase in the free and saline ammonia content.

(2) A significant though only slight diminution in the nitric nitrogen.

(3) No marked loss of ammonia by volatilisation or otherwise in the gaseous form: nor considerable variation in the nitrites: nor any observable diminution in the total nitrogen.

Reaction: Water-logging resulted in an increase in alkalinity; the increase in pH value was closely correlated with the corresponding increase in ammonia.

Gaseous relations: Water-logging resulted in:

(1) No release of any soluble reducing matter capable of absorbing dissolved oxygen.

(2) No appreciable carbon dioxide production.

(3) An absorption of dissolved oxygen from the surface water. An equation has been worked out expressing the concentration gradient of dissolved oxygen with depth.

Bacterial numbers:

From bacterial counts on water-logged soils it was found that:

(1) There was significant though slight decrease in bacterial numbers on Thornton's Agar.

(2) Very few colonies were obtained by plating aerobically (and fewer still anaerobically) on Giltay's Agar. None of the organisms appearing on the plates brought about any nitrate reduction in soils.

(3) The total counts on gelatine plates also showed some decrease. The numbers of gelatine-liquefiers on the other hand did not vary. There was no evidence to suggest that the increased production of ammonia was due to the activity of the gelatine-liquefiers.

Agency responsible for ammonia formation:

The results indicate that the formation of ammonia in water-logged soils is not due to biological action. It is suggested that the action is due to an enzyme.

1. Records are offered of year old cattle reared to adult weight on rations of varying content in respect to calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium and chlorine. Minimal requirements for growth are higher in the case of phosphorus than in the case of calcium, and a ratio of P2O5 to CaO so high as three to one is not necessarily disadvantageous. Sodium requirements for growth are very low, 2 gm. Na2O being more than sufficient. Chlorine requirements are below 5 gm. per day. A relatively high ratio of potassium to sodium is not productive of specific disease. There is no good reason to suppose that excess of basic over acidic constituents is necessary in a dietary, and cattle can grow normally to full adult weight when the usual alkaline reaction of the urine is shifted to the acid side.

2. Explanation of certain observed abnormalities in calving is left open, except in the case of phosphorus deficiency, in which definitely abnormal calves may be born.

3. “Aphosphorosis,” or clinically recognisable phosphorus deficiency disease, is experimentally produced, and shown to be identical with the naturally occurring South African disease Styfsiekte.

4. The chemical composition of the milk of animals suffering from aphosphorosis meed not mecessarily be abnormal, but the “inorganic” fraction of the blood may drop to a quarter of the normal value even before the disease can be diagnosed clinically. Other phosphorus compounds of the blood remain normally high. Blood calcium remains practically normal.

5. Vitamine deficiency of the diets had no adverse effect. Exogenous requirements of cattle for vitamines A, B, and C are so low that they are covered by a few pounds of poor quality roughage, and therefore do not enter into consideration under any natural system of cattle rearing.

1. Two basic slags differing widely in solubility and phosphate content have been treated for long periods with boiling ammonium chloride solution.

2. The low-grade slag lost 70 per cent. of the total lime and very little phosphoric acid; a residue with nearly 40 per cent. phosphate was obtained from an 18 per cent. slag.

3. The high-soluble slag also lost a large percentage of the total lime but large amounts of phosphoric acid were also found in solution. The residue from the 30 per cent. slag after 24 hours' treatment contained nearly 46 per cent. phosphate.

4. It is shown that a silico-phosphate is present in the high-soluble slag, but not in the low-grade slag.

5. The solubility in citric acid of the phosphates in the various residues has been determined.

6. The value of basic slags in supplying exchangeable calcium is discussed.

7. The effect of hydrofluoric acid on the slag residues has been investigated.

8. Experiments with fluorspar slags are described which confirm the view that the phosphate present is fluorapatite of very low solubility in citric acid.

1. Sudan soils are very low in organic matter, the total organic carbon being usually less than 1 per cent. In the Gezira, the humus carbon is about 40 per cent, of that of the total.

2. Humus preparations purified as far as possible could not be obtained ash-free. Specimens of humus from widely different sources contain nearly the same proportion of carbon.

3. Humus solutions (in very dilute alkali) keep fairly well in the dark. They also keep in bright sunlight if air is excluded. The use of standard solutions for colorimetric purposes is justified if not kept too long.

4. Field studies show that the humus content of good soil is greater than that of poor, and that there is a marked inverse connection between salt and humus content.

5. The above conclusion does not apply to the depth distribution of these constituents. In the Gezira, the maximum humus content is found at the fourth foot and the maximum salt content is found at about the same depth.

6. The total nitrogen content of the soils studied is low, usually about 0·03 per cent. About one-fifth of this is humus nitrogen, and the carbon-nitrogen ratio is about twelve to one.

1. The Valmari-Devarda method of estimating nitrates (i.e. distillation with magnesium oxide and Devarda's alloy) is unsatisfactory in presence of organic matter. Attempts to make it quantitative under these conditions by modifications of alkali and temperature proved unsuccessful.

2. Two new methods for the estimation of nitrate in plant juices are described. The first depends on the use of Devarda's alloy in cold weakly alkaline solutions, the second on the reducing power of titanous hydroxide, under conditions suitable for use with plant products.

(1) The ammonia formed in water-logged soils was present mostly in the soil sediment. The surface water contained only a very small portion of the total amount produced.

(2) Added ammonia was in a similar manner retained mostly in the soil itself. It could not be leached out by extraction with water nor volatilised with increase of temperature. There is evidence to show that the ammonia exists in the soil as an exchangeable base.

(3) On allowing the soils to dry out the ammonia disappeared rapidly and corresponding amounts of nitrates were formed. Very little ammonia was lost by volatilisation.

(4) The production of ammonia took place even in presence of volatile antiseptics. The reaction was shown to be brought about by a deaminase.

(5) Studies with a number of proteins and ammo acids showed that only very simple amino compounds (glycine aspartic acid and asparagine) were deaminised. Witte's peptone, which contains amino acids, was also attacked.

(6) An active preparation of enzyme was extracted from the soil with an aqueous solution of glycerin saturated with toluene.

(7) Significant deaminising action was shown by the enzymes from cultures of the mixed microflora of the soils.

(8) By acting on amino bodies that are otherwise resistant to biological action the deaminase probably helps to release readily available plant food. Its action should be of great importance in tropical swamp soils.

1. The moisture equivalent of pure clay preparations varies with (a) the chemical composition, (b) the method of separation if centrifuged, (c) the replaceable bases.

2. The imbibitional water content also shows a close connection with the above variables.

3. Good additive relationships can only be obtained from series of soils of the same nature and in some cases, if taken at the same depth. This is, at any rate in part, due to differences existing in composition and properties between clay separated from soils and subsoils.

4. Pure silt fractions from different soils showed marked differences in their chemical composition and moisture equivalent.

The determination of dissolved oxygen by Thresh's method may lead to discordant results because of the loss of iodine, which is carried away by the gas passed through the apparatus during the titration.

A modified method is described, which eliminates the above error and obviates the necessity for making separate determinations of the dissolved oxygen of the reagents used.

Correction for the nitrites present in the water can be made by making separate determination by the Griess-Ilosway colorimetric method.

An attempt has been made to ascertain the best interval between calvings, so that the cow's average weekly yield over a long period may be at a maximum. It was only possible to consider the case of the “average cow,” but it is claimed that the general principle has been established, that cows should calve at intervals of not less than a year, and not more than thirteen months; this optimum will probably be subject to a slight variation in particular cases. This is approximately the state of affairs in practice—though Norfolk farmers appear to err on the side of serving too early in the lactation, rather than too late.

1. The toxicity of 3:5-dinitro-o-cresol and its sodium salt to the eggs of several species of moths has been determined under laboratory conditions. Both substances are toxic to eggs of the species tested at concentrations varying from 0·1 to 0·025 per cent.

2. With eggs of some insects, hatching is not entirely prevented by the action of low concentrations of dinitro-cresol and sodium dinitrocresylate, but the majority of the larvae which emerge succumb within a few hours.

3. The eggs of “red spider” are very resistant to the action of dinitrocresol.

4. At equivalent concentrations, dinitro-cresol and sodium dinitro-cresylate have approximately the same toxicity to insect eggs.

5. Washing eggs with water after spraying has no appreciable effect on the toxicity of dinitro-cresol, if the liquid is first allowed to dry on the eggs. Sodium dinitro-cresylate is more affected by washing after spraying.

6. Field experiments on apples and black currants with spray fluids containing dinitro-cresol at a concentration of 0·25 per cent. and sodium dinitro-cresylate at equivalent concentration showed that both materials were completely effective against Psylla and Aphis eggs and greatly reduced the numbers of caterpillars. There was no evidence of any effect on Capsid eggs.

7. Both fluids had a cleansing effect on the bark of the trees, killing algae, lichens, etc.; they caused no injury to the trees themselves. The results demonstrate the practicability of using dinitro-cresol and sodium dinitro-cresylate as winter spray fluids on dormant trees and bushes under field conditions.

During the carrying out of the series of researches which led to the formulation of the well-known expression for calculating the starch equivalent of a feeding stuff, Kellner(1) was led to investigate the value of crude fibre in the fattening ration of oxen. For this purpose he used material which had resulted from the boiling of rye straw with an alkaline solution under pressure, the object of this treatment being to free the cellulose of the straw from incrusting substances. This fibre-rich preparation was added to a basal ration which was slightly in excess of maintenance requirements. The result produced by the addition to the basal ration of the digestible matter derived from the fibre of the treated straw was found by Kellner to be equal to that produced by the addition of an equal weight of pure starch. The conclusion was therefore warranted that the digestion products of cellulose in the ruminant organism are equal, for purposes of fat formation in the body, to those derived from the digestion of starch. This finding is given practical expression in Kellner1s formula for calculating the starch value of a feeding stuff, an equal value being attached to digestible fibre and digestible carbohydrate.

It is clear that any theory which is put forward to explain the breakdown of cellulose in the ruminant tract must be compatible with the experimentally demonstrated fact that the products of such digestion of a given weight of digestible fibre are equal in nutritive value to the products derived from the digestion of the same weight of starch.

1. The various classes of insecticides are outlined, and the sense in which the term “contact insecticide” is used is denned as one which is brought into external contact with the insect, either as solid, liquid or vapour.

2. An analysis is made of the relationships between chemical constitution and insecticidal action in the vapour phase. There is rough correlation between both the molecular weights and volatilities of organic compounds and toxicity, but it is probable that these relationships are only indirectly involved and that they indicate a connection of a more direct kind with some other property such as adsorption.

3. An account is given of the toxicity to insects of certain plant products. The most potent of these are certain tropical leguminous plants used as fish-poisons. A brief account is given of the chemical derivatives found in these plants. One of them, “tubatoxin,” is one of the most potent contact insecticides known.

4. A list of the groups of organic chemicals tested for their toxic action on Aphis rumicis and the eggs of Selenia tetralunaria is given. A more detailed account is given for each group of the relationships between chemical constitution and insecticidal action. It is shown that the substitution of certain radicals in the benzene ring profoundly affects toxicity, but that toxic action depends not only upon the radicals but the number substituted and in certain cases upon their relative position.

5. 3 : 5-Dinitro-o-cresol is shown to have a most powerful ovicidal effect.

6. An examination of the toxicity of the fatty acids is made. It is shown that as the series is ascended toxicity increases up to undecylic acid, after which it declines.

Although the primary object of recording cows' milk yields is to provide a means of comparing one individual with another, it is not satisfactorily achieved when the records have been obtained, since yields are influenced to a large extent by environmental factors which vary from cow to cow. The lactation record is the result of two sets of factors—genetic and environmental—and for purposes of selection and breeding it is important to be able to make accurate allowance for the one, so as to arrive at a good estimate of the other.

Leaving aside the variation due to feeding and management (which, whilst undoubtedly large, is minimised for the cows of the same herd, and which it is hardly possible to study statistically in the existing data) the chief factors operating on the lactation yield (i.e. the measurable environmental factors) are the following:

(1) Season of the year; the lactation yield is influenced to a certain extent by the month of the year in which the cow calves.

(2) Service; i.e. the stage of the lactation at which the cow again becomes pregnant. The interval between calving and the next fertile service is here termed the Service Period (S.P.); thus if a cow calves on June 1st, and becomes pregnant again on July 1st, her S.P. for that lactation is 30 days.

The heavy yields of sugar beet tops which remain on the land after the removal of the sugar beet crop may be utilised in two ways. They may either be ploughed into the land as manure, or they may be fed to stock. Where large areas of sugar beet are grown, and where in consequence it may not be possible to secure consumption of the whole of the tops before decomposition of the material sets in, a combination of these two methods of utilisation may be resorted to. In other words, the feeding of the tops may be continued so long as they remain wholesome, after which the remainder may be ploughed into the land.

In view of the present importance of the sugar beet crop in English agriculture, and the urgent necessity of making the fullest possible use of all the various by-products arising in connection with this crop both in the field and in the factory, it is of importance that data should be available relating to the value of sugar beet tops both as a feeding stuff and as a manure. The purpose of the present communication is to detail the results of investigations which have been carried out with a view to securing such information.

In a previous paper (Davies, 1926) the author studied the differences in the compositions of protoplasmic proteins of plants within a Natural Order (Leguminosae). The Natural Order Cruciferae afforded a means of developing the study in the direction not only of ascertaining differences, if any, of protoplasmic protein of plants within a genus, but also of differences possible within a species. Thus proteins were studied from the following varieties of the cabbage species (Brassica oleracea L.): Cabbage (B. oleracea var. capitata), Marrow stem kale (B. oleracea var.) from the stems and leaves separately, Kohl rabi (B. oleracea var. caulorapa). Also, the proteins from the leaves and roots respectively of white turnips (B. napo-brassica) were isolated and studied. In order to compare the protoplasmic proteins with those of seed of a plant of the same species, a globulin from rapeseed (seed of Brassica Napus L.) was prepared and analysed.

Dried spent hops possess a high absorptive capacity, and attention is drawn to its use as a “filler” to absorb such by-products as molasses and treacle.

The material possesses a high crude protein value and its ether extract is very high for a fibrous food, while the amount of crude fibre is the same as in good meadow hay. There is a high percentage of mineral matter present.

The digestibility of the material has been determined by feeding with hay chaff and linseed cake meal to three sheep. The spent hops were not readily eaten and could only be included in a ration in an amount equal to one-seventh of the dry weight of the total ration.

Its digestibility is low, a fifth of the crude protein and the nitrogenfree extractives, one-half of the ether extract, one-twentieth of the crude fibre and one-fifth of the total organic matter only being digestible. The production starch equivalent was 24.5.

The plants worked on in this Natural Order were the Carrot (Daucus carota L.) and the Parsnip (Peucedanum sativum Benth.). Both these plants store up reserve food in their thickened root and hypoeotyl, the disposition of the tissues being similar in both “roots.” For the extractions of their proteins, members of “races ” of these plants containing the minimum amount of core and fleshiest annuli of bast were taken, healthy, uniformly well-grown specimens being selected.

The investigation which has been dealt with in this communication was essentially a continuation of earlier work carried out in 1925 and was primarily designed with the object of ascertaining whether, under greatly differing conditions in respect of soil, herbage and weather, the striking results obtained in the 1925 investigation concerning the chemical composition, digestibility and nutritive value of pasture herbage, under a system of cutting resembling the conditions of close grazing, still held good.

The results of the investigation may be summarised as follows:

(1) In Egypt, during the periods of germination and increase in height of the cotton plant, the soil temperatures are rising and the amplitude of the temperature wave is at its maximum.

(2) In Egypt, the maximum soil temperatures decline while the minimum soil temperatures remain constant, thus resulting in a gradual decrease in the amplitude of the daily temperature wave during the branching and flowering periods.

(3) In Egypt, throughout the soil zone occupied by the roots of the plant, the temperature is the same, the amplitude of the daily temperature wave small, and the temperature is constant during the boll development and maturation periods.

(4) The main effect of irrigation on soil temperatures is to reduce the amplitude of the daily temperature wave, no sudden change of temperature in the root zone taking place.

(5) From a consideration of the range of air temperature in other cotton producing countries, it seems probable that the characteristics of the soil temperatures during the boll development and maturation periods are the same for all countries.