1. A thermophilic organism which destroys cellulose at 65° C. has been isolated in pure culture.

2. The organism is motile, gram negative, forms spores in the swollen end, stains well with carbol fuchsin, poorly with methylene blue.

3. After growth on media without cellulose the organism is unable to ferment cellulose.

4. The range of fermentation is from 43° C. to 65° C. The organism lives at 38° C. and 72° C. but does not ferment at these temperatures.

5. The spores are very resistant to heat and withstand 115° C. for 35 minutes.

6. Heating the spores to 100° C. for 5 to 10 minutes causes an increased rate of germination.

7. Carbohydrates fermented: cellulose, starch, raffinose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, mannose, galactose, fructose, glucose, xylose and arabinose.

8. Organic nitrogen is necessary for the fermentation, and peptone is the best source.

9. The products from cellulose are: acetic acid, small amounts of butyric acid, ethyl alcohol, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The amount of cellulose destroyed in a 1 to 5 per cent, suspension varies from 70 to 95 per cent. Of the cellulose destroyed, 50 to 55 per cent, is regained as acetic acid, 5 to 25 per cent. as ethyl alcohol and the rest as small amounts of butyric acid, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and pigment. The pigment is a fatty substance soluble in ether.

1. Evidence is produced to show that the free water in a soil is 21.

2. Wilsdon's modification of the Briggs-Shantz equation is discussed, viz., M = xH + 21, in which x = the vesicular coefficient. From this equation the vesicular coefficient of any soil can be found from the values of M and H.

3. The values thus obtained agree for clay soils with those found by Hardy's method from the moisture at the point of maximum plasticity.

4. The vesicular coefficient of a soil is greater than that of its subsoil.

5. The total bound water = (M – 21), and the vesicular water = M – (21 + H). The vesicular water expressed as a percentage of the plastic soil is equal to the cubical shrinkage coefficient.

An account has been given of an investigation which was designed to test the efficacy of the process of ensilage in the stack for preserving hay crops which are in danger of spoiling in consequence of adverse weather conditions.

The character of the ensiled crops and the weather conditions at the time of ensiling, together with the process of building the stack, have been described in detail.

The results of continuous temperature readings in the stack have been given in graphical form. The significance of the two distinct temperature maxima which characterized the temperature curve has been discussed, and the importance of this method of investigation in regard to the elucidation of the processes which go on during ensilage has been emphasized.

The chemical character of the “sweet” silage samples obtained from experimental bags buried in different parts of the stack has been investigated. The losses of dry matter resulting from fermentation and drainage have been determined and the changes affecting the individual constituents of the crop have been followed quantitatively. The results so obtained have been compared with similar figures referring to the process of ensilage in the tower and the clamp.

It has been shown that the loss of dry matter in the “sweet” silage layers of the stack compares satisfactorily in magnitude with the losses accompanying the preservation of crops in the tower silo and is appreciably smaller than that associated with the production of “sour” silage in the clamp.

1. Sampling of single roots of swedes by means of cores is subject to errors of various kinds, of which one, due to the asymmetrical growth of the root in a north-south direction, has previously been overlooked. Cores should be taken horizontally in a north-south direction.

2. In the case of plants left standing in the field there is a marked decrease in dry matter content during winter and spring; this is presumably due to movement of food-material from the root into the developing flowering shoot. A detailed study of the metabolism of the swede during the winter is urgently needed, if only for the practical purpose of determining the “metabolic turning-point,” which is the ideal time at which to determine potential dry matter content.

3. The fresh weight of a core is a function of the weight of the whole root (except in Tankard swedes).

4. There is a well-marked negative correlation (autumn – ·66, spring – ·51) between dry matter content and fresh weight of core, and hence between dry matter content and size of root.

5. For one pair of strains of common parentage clear evidence of the inheritance of dry matter content has been obtained. In other instances the figures are inconclusive.

The exploitation of the herbage by means of the herbivora is a most ancient process. It seems at first sight that special nutritional problems are not involved, since flocks and herds are kept under conditions approximating very closely to the original environment of their species. In comparatively recent years, however, masses of herbivora have been in some cases either confined so that their range is greatly limited from that of their widely-grazing forbears, or transferred bodily to grasslands previously uninhabited by them, or transformed by the skill of breeders into creatures with a much higher output, and in consequence, a much higher intake. These novel factors have produced problems of their own which are not yet solved, though they have been, with some success, tackled by the practical man largely by empirical methods.

(1) Bent-leg appears to be due to a mineral deficiency and can be prevented by a mineral supplement.

(2) Bent-leg appears, by the growth curves, to be correlated with a general lower nutrition.

(3) The occurrence of bent-leg on pasture grass would indicate theoretically that an extreme lack of some mineral constituent has become evident in the grass itself.

(4) Pasture analyses show that these grave mineral deficiencies do actually occur in large pastoral areas, and that these areas are correlated with high stock death-rates.

(5) The mineral elements of the ration are therefore no less important to the pastoral farmer than to any other stock feeder.

(1) The herbage of the hill pastures in Great Britain is, in general, markedly poorer than that of the cultivated pastures in respect to silica-free ash, and each of the individual ash constituents, with the exception of sodium. It is also poorer, but to a less extent, in nitrogen.

(2) The percentage of silica-free ash in the “not eaten” grass from the hill pastures is only approximately 50 percent of that in the “eaten” grass. This deficiency is fairly uniformly distributed over the ash constituents with the possible exception of sodium.

(3) Despite these marked differences in the mineral content of the different types of pasture, there is very little difference in their caloric value as calculated by the method indicated.

(4) Wherever sheep have a free choice in grazing they appear to eat, by preference, that herbage which contains the higher percentage of mineral ingredients.

(1) There is a definite seasonal variation in the mineral content of the pastures examined between the months of May and October, which is most clearly shown by the CaO, which rises to a maximum and then steadily falls; and to a less extent by the silica-free ash, P2O5 and Na2O.

(2) The chlorine content did not show a corresponding variation; its tendency being to maintain its high percentage through the later part of the season.

(3) The nitrogen, on the whole, showed a variation corresponding with the calcium, though the range was markedly less.

Analytical data are recorded which indicate that the application of artificial fertilisers to grass land may result in considerable modifications in the mineral content of the herbage of these pastures. The constituents which appear to show the biggest variations are calcium and potassium and, to a lesser extent, phosphorus. Coupled with any marked increase in the calcium content of the herbage, there is generally to be found an increase in the percentage of nitrogen.

Some recent researches on the evaporation of water from soil are reviewed.

Experiments on the evaporation of water from a soil paste spread in shallow pans showed that the drying proceeded very irregularly over the soil mass. Considerable portions became almost completely dry whilst other portions remained very wet. There was a rough relationship between the form of the dry patch and the shape of the corresponding evaporation rate curves.

An improvement in technique was effected by exposing the soil in thin layers below glass plates. Under these conditions, reproducible results were obtained. Soil and kaolin, but not sand, gave considerable linear portions over the region of decreasing rate of evaporation. Tests on soil exposed as central discs, or peripheral rings, and on partially covered full plates, showed that, owing to the type of air currents set up, the drying was largely confined to the outer edges during the early stages.

In the summer of 1923, the Agricultural Education Association appointed a sub-committee to report on the present position with regard to the mechanical analysis of soils. This committee has now reported to the Association, which has adopted its recommendation that the former Agricultural Education Association method(1) of sedimentation in a beaker shall be replaced by one depending on the depth concentration relationship in a settling suspension. The reasons for this recommendation and the experimental work on which it was based will be of interest and use to soil workers generally. The salient features of the report have therefore been presented in the present paper, and an appendix of methods has been added. The full details of the official method will be published in Agricultural Progress, the journal of the Agricultural Education Association.

During the past five years many appeals for assistance have been received at this Institute from cheesemakers in various parts of the country, who from time to time have found, themselves unable to secure satisfactory coagulation of their milk by rennet by reason of some abnormality which is not patent to the eye.

Difficulties are also encountered in the liquid milk trade from causes which appear to resemble those which trouble the cheesemaker.

In view of the necessity for detecting milk such as this, use has been made of di-brom-ortho-cresol-sulphon-phthalein or brom cresol purple, which indicates colorimetrically the reaction or hydrogen-ion concentration of milk, and provides a starting point for the further investigation of those samples of which the reaction is abnormal.

1. Healthy tubers and “primarily infected” tubers, at time of lifting, appear to be similar both in external appearance and chemical composition.

2. On drying at laboratory temperature (about 60° F.) healthy tubers lose weight much more quickly than “primarily infected” tubers. In addition, the latter remain in a “hard” condition which persists even after sprouting whereas the former become soft and flabby.

3. It is suggested that healthy “seed” may be separated from “primarily infected” seed on this basis.