The ‘ripening’ of cheese consists of a number of chemical changes affecting the fats, proteins and carbohydrates. The protein changes are of the general proteolytic character and are produced by bacteria, fungi, rennet-enzymes and other enzymes formed by bacteria and fungi during their growth in the cheese. The products derived from casein—the main protein-constituent of cheese—are intermediate digestive substances together with aminoacids, and secondary products formed by bacteria from the aminoacids. In a thorough study of the cheeseripening process it is of fundamental importance to ascertain what specific compounds are formed. Such knowledge must be possessed before the actual working of the process can be fully understood. It is well known to everybody connected with the manufacture of cheese that the quality of the final product depends on the nature of the ripening process.

The coast of Kent and Sussex is to a great extent bordered by flat areas of alluvial land, elevated but little if at all above high water mark, known as the Marshes. Though certain portions are under the plough this land as a rule lies in permanent grass and affords some of the best grazing known in the south of England. The largest of these areas is Romney Marsh which with the adjoining Walland and Denge marshes forms a single area extending about 20 miles from east to west, and 10 miles or so broad. All the marshes possess very similar characteristics and the description which follows of Romney Marsh may be taken to apply, with certain local differences, to the others. The whole of the land has been reclaimed from the sea comparatively recently.

The magnitude of experimental error attaching to one or more field plots is a question of extreme importance in Agricultural Science, because upon its proper recognition depends the degree of confidence which may be attached to the results obtained in field work. A very cursory examination of the results of any set of field trials will serve to show that a pair of plots similarly treated may be expected to yield considerably different results, even when the soil appears to be uniform and the conditions under which the experiment is conducted are carefully designed to reduce errors in weighing and measurement.

§ 34. 1. The permeability and capillarity constants of soil have been defined.

2. The movements of air and water through three types of soil have been measured and shewn to conform to equations connecting the rate of motion with the above constants.

3. It is suggested that the measurement of S, Pα, Pω and K is of more importance than, and should replace, the determination of the sizes of the soil particles as in the usual “mechanical analysis” of soils.

In conclusion, we have to acknowledge our indebtedness to Professors T. R. Lyle and R. J. A. Barnard for valuable advice and suggestions and to the Victorian Government for financial assistance towards the expenses of this research.

1. The distribution of Silver-leaf disease is described.

2. Inoculations of branches of Plum trees with sporophores of Stereum purpureum have almost invariably resulted in silvering.

3. The mycelium of Stereum purpureum has been cultivated in pure culture from spores and inoculations with this mycelium have caused silvering.

4. A small number of inoculations with the spores of Stereum purpureum have resulted in silvering.

5. Various series of control experiments have given negative results.

6. The investigations strengthen the view that Stereum purpureum is the active agent which causes Silver-leaf disease in this country.

The following pages contain a summary of investigations and observations that have been made during the years 1906—1910, in part at the Manor Farm, Garforth (Experimental Farm of the University of Leeds and Yorkshire Council for Agricultural Education) and also in various parts of the city of Leeds.

The writer has pointed out the influence that some agricultural plants have on others when grown in close proximity to them. It was demonstrated (inter alia) that a row of Sesamum indicum (gingelly), when sown at a distance of two feet from a row of Sorghum vulgare (great millet), will not mature, the plants dying after reaching a height of a few centimetres. These experiments were made at Surat (India) on black cotton soil of a very retentive nature; this character of the soil combined with a rainfall of 42 inches per annum all falling in 3½ months, doubtless emphasized the deleterious effect of the sorghum on the sesamum since the washing of the soil was a minimum.

During the renneting process in the manufacture of Cheddar cheese a retardation of the time of coagulation has often been noticed though the acidity had reached the required strength before the rennet was added to the milk. The cause or causes of this retardation are of great technical importance as they lead to infection of the milk with consequent production of taints. As the two main factors of coagulation are (i) the acidity of the milk when renneted, and (ii) the calcium salts of the milk, we approached the inquiry from these two points and tried to answer the following questions:—

The chemistry of the sugars of foliage leaves and the successive transformation undergone by the various carbohydrates has been the subject of considerable speculation. Reducing substances have been known in foliage leaves for a number of years.

The important part played by calcium carbonate in maintaining the fertility of the soil makes it of interest to investigate all the causes which determine both its formation and decomposition. A number of processes which are continually going forward in the soil tend to diminish the stock of calcium carbonate present; yet, in spite of this, and without frequent additions of chalk or lime from other sources, most soils, under normal conditions, remain more or less in a state of fertility. An equilibrium is set up by which the withdrawal of calcium carbonate is balanced by the results of another set of actions which restore base to the soil. This enables many soils which contain only very small quantities of lime to retain their neutral reaction and so to produce fair crops.

Throughout the whole history of agricultural chemistry attention has been fixed upon. the ammonia in the atmosphere as a possible source of the nitrogen of vegetation, and without reviewing the early controversy that centred round Liebig, we may agree that the dispute was largely due to the exaggerated opinions then prevailing as to the amount of ammonia in the atmosphere. The most trustworthy determinations are the long series that have been carried out by Lévy at Montsouris, and they agree with other determinations by Ville, Schloesing and Muntz and Aubin. showing only from ·01 to ·02 of nitrogen as ammonia per million of air even in Paris, with a still smaller proportion in the air of the country.

The per cent. of nitrogen in a wheat is no direct index of the amount which its flour will contain. The per cent. of a wheat's protein recovered in the flour varied from 56·84 per cent, to 65·56, while the per cent. of protein occurring in the bran varied between 25 per cent. and 32·77 per cent., and that occurring in the shorts from 8·90 to 10·82 per cent. As an average of these determinations, the protein of the wheat was divided between the flour, bran and shorts in the proportion of 61·87 per cent., 27·98 per cent., and 9·92 per cent. respectively.

The investigation to be described was instigated by Professor Wood and Mr Warburton of the School of Agriculture, Cambridge, in the beginning of the year 1911. Its object was to determine whether or not certain birds were harmful to agriculture; as some naturalists and others considered them to be distinctly beneficial, while farmers were complaining of the damage done to their crops.

It is a matter of common experience in dairy work, that different creams vary in their behaviour during the operation of churning; and many theories have been adduced to explain the factors which possibly affect, adversely or otherwise, what may be termed, for want of a more suitable word, churnability

For several years observations have been made on the composition of rain-water, collected by Mr H. Welt, at Uithuizermeeden, a village in the northern part of the Province of Groningen. These observations were made as a part of a research on nitrification in a light clay-soil, by the method of drainage-plots such as are well known from the Rothamsted investigations. The results of these researches appeared in a Dutch journal. In the meantime it seems desirable to publish the results relating to the composition of rain-water.

The fungicidal properties of the insoluble copper compounds, present in Bordeaux mixtures, have long been known, and it is an important point to ascertain the precise manner in which the poisonous action is exerted. A variety of theories have been put forward, but the matter cannot be regarded as settled. It has been generally accepted that, in order to account for the fungicidal action, it is necessary to look for some means by which the insoluble copper in Bordeaux mixture is rendered soluble when the material is sprayed on to foliage. Atmospheric carbon dioxide has frequently been suggested as the most important agent by which this is effected, and recently this view has been urged by Mr S. U. Pickering, F.R.S., who has also investigated in detail, the chemical nature of the compounds found in Bordeaux mixtures.

One of the commonest grasses found in hedges and thickets in this country, more especially on the lighter soils, is the Tall Oat Grass (Arrhenatherum avenaceum, Beauvais). In meadows it is generally present, abundantly on some soils, while occasionally it forms part of the “seeds” mixture put down for temporary or permanent pasture. In some localities a form of this grass known as “Onion Couch” becomes a dangerous weed on the arable land—this plant is identical in outward appearance with the Tall Oat Grass except at the base of the stems where the nodes swell and form chains of bulbs each of which is capable of breaking off and giving rise to a new plant. This habit of growth together with a liberal supply of seeds formed in June and July make it a very difficult weed to eradicate. Its occurrence is usually reported from the lighter soils, but in the West of England the heavy land is equally badly affected.

The mixture of copper sulphate and lime universally known as Bordeaux mixture has been in common use as a fungicide in many countries for some time; but it is still uncertain by what means such a mixture, containing no soluble copper, is effective. It has undoubtedly a physiological effect upon plants on to which it is sprayed, and may increase their powers of resistance to the attack of parasites; but in addition to this, there appears to be a direct fungicidal action which requires explanation.

The gradual loss of efficiency of certain alkaline arsenite dipping baths has been traced by Brünnich to the oxidation of the arsenite to arsenate (Australian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1909). In this latter form, arsenic is not nearly so efficacious for the eradication of ticks, as in the reduced condition.

(1) Distinct changes take place in the tissues of the mammary region in sows during the period of heat. These changes consist mainly of congestion of the glands. Moreover the part affected is in the pig of much commercial value.

(2) The black pigment often found in the mammary tissue of black sows is not associated with the recurrence of heat, and the bacon manufacturer who wishes to differentiate between sows slaughtered at this period and other sows must not rely on this pigment as a guide.

(3) Since ovulation occurs during oestrus and not during prooestrum it is advisable to “hog” the sow towards the end of her heat period.