Bracken cut in June was ensiled in various ways, and some of the products were examined for chemical composition, digestibility and palatability. The main findings were:

1. Overheated silage was moderately palatable to sheep and cattle, but its digestibility was low and it approximated to wheat or barley straw in feeding value.

2. Silage subjected to less heat was unpalatable, and in some cases was absolutely refused by sheep. The ensiled stems were preferred to the leaves. The digestibility was low but slightly better than that of the overheated silage.

3. Ensiling seriously affects the digestibility of bracken protein. In two silages none of the true protein was digestible, and in one the digestibility of this constituent was only 12·9%.

It is concluded that the ensiling of bracken is unlikely to prove profitable.

The examination of 108 first year seeds hays showed the average crude protein content to be 9·0 ― and the average crude fibre content 25·7 ―. The crude protein content varied from 5·0 to 13·5 ― and was directly associated with the clover content.

Figures obtained on hays cut in the second and third years of the ley suggest that the protein content falls, and the crude fibre content rises, with increasing age of ley.

The composition and digestibility of twenty first year hays were determined and the average figures quoted for hays of high, medium and low clover content. The starch equivalent values of these hays were high and moderately constant, varying from 33·3 to 41·2, average 36·8. The protein equivalent values varied from 1·8 to 8·4 ―, average 5·1 ―.

The composition and digestibility of four samples of second year seeds hay, two samples of third year hay, one sample of second cut hay in its first year and one sample of lucerne and cocksfoot hay were also determined.

1. An experiment has been carried out with dairy cows to find whether feeding the same ration in different ways has any effect on milk yield or milk composition.

2. No differential effect on milk yield or milk composition of the three methods of feeding which were used could be demonstrated, in spite of an extremely accurate experimental technique. It was therefore concluded that there is no advantage in increasing the number of meals into which a ration is divided, or spreading the ration over a longer period.

An investigation has been made into the effect of time of application of nitrogen as sodium nitrate to the turnip. Experiments were arranged on a statistical basis, and were carried out in sand culture. The life of the turnip up to harvest was arbitrarily divided into three equal light periods, and the fourteen possible combinations of high and low nitrogen applied in these periods constituted the treatments. The absolute amount of growth was largely determined by the level of nitrogen, but the relative proportion of growth was independent of this level. Tops developed earlier than roots, and the effect of difference in nitrogen level was more marked with the roots than the tops. For a high yield of roots it seems desirable to apply nitrogen, early, but for a high yield of tops it would be preferable to apply the nitrogen as post-seedling dressings. The chief effect of level of nitrogen on moisture content was confined to the period in which the harvest took place. A comparison of top/ root ratios also showed that high nitrogen in the early stages of growth stimulated root development.

We thank Mr J. F. N. Leonard for his help during this experiment.

It has been shown in these breeding investigations that it is possible to combine the winter hardiness of low-yielding varieties possessing characters unsuited for cultivation in this country, with many of the desirable features of the best two-row spring varieties at present grown for malting purposes. Although, with the production of the new hybrid variety Pioneer, a definite advance has been made in the production of a two-row winter barley for malting, there is no reason to suppose that further improvements cannot be made, and work is proceeding with this object in view. But in addition to the special problem of malting barley, the results so far obtained indicate that there is considerable scope in this hybridization of winter and spring varieties for the production of forms suitable for growing as feeding barleys. The hybridization of varieties differing so widely in their morphological and physiological characters, and also in their ecological adaptation, gives a wide basis for the selection of a great range of forms. On the other hand, distant hybridization of this type is liable to result in the production of a very high proportion of worthless material, involving the loss of the highest expression of the very specialized characters necessary in a barley possessing the attributes of a high-yielding malting variety with satisfactory field characters.

1. Cut potato tissue possesses strong inherent powers of healing which are impaired by treatment with salts of copper, cobalt, nickel and iron. Treatment is followed by mould growth, particularly by Penicillium spp., this being most profuse with copper salts and least with those of iron.

2. Association between mould growth and treatment with salts of copper, cobalt, nickel and iron suggests a periodic relationship.

3. Development of Penicillium on potato tissues following treatment with salts of copper is greater than may be explained solely on the basis of saprophytic growth following phytocidal action and. the prevention of suberization.

4. Under moist conditions, treatment of nonliving substrata such as straw, leather and skin with copper sulphate tends to prevent mould growth whilst considerable growth develops on these materials when untreated.

Ewes. There was some variation from year to year in the times of onset and end of the breeding season; on the average it was evenly spaced on either side of the shortest day. Occasionally ewes were served and became pregnant at times well outside the normal limits of the breeding season. Lambs were allowed to suckle the ewes for as long as they would; when lambing occurred more than about 100 days from the start of the season there was no delay in onset of heat in the ewe. When lambing was later there was some delay, but the duration of the lactation anoestrum shortened to a minimum near the middle of the season and then lengthened again.

In the first half of the season the period of the oestrous cycle lengthened slowly and steadily; in the second part it became more variable, there was first a slight shortening, but upon the whole it continued to increase in length. From the start of the season the frequency of twinning increased quickly to a peak in about November and then declined for the rest of the season. At the end of the season there was a high proportion of services not fertile.

Lambs. Growth in the first 2 months was greatest in those born in May; in the fourth to sixth months it was greatest in the earliest born and least in the latest, the highest weight at 6 months old being reached by those earliest born.

1. An accurate method of estimating the density of spermatozoa in a suspension by the haemocytometer is described.

2. A rapid method of estimating the density of a semen sample by the use of Brown's opacity tubes is given. There is a simple linear relation between opacity and density, the latter expressed in terms of millions of spermatozoa per ml. being approximately five times the opacity standard.

3. The rapid method is sufficiently accurate for use in insemination centres.

An attempt has been made in the present communication to assess the value for pigs of urban swill collected during the winter months, when the main ingredients are potato peelings, cabbage leaves and other vegetable residues, and also during the summer months, at which period of the year the quality of the swill is at its lowest level, the product containing substantial proportions of pea pods, cabbage leaves and cabbage stalks. The form known as concentrated swill was used in the digestion trials, since regular and adequate supplies of this could be guaranteed, and, being already cooked, it did not require any heat treatment before feeding.

Chemical analysis showed that the winter swill, on account of the presence of the potato peelings, was distinctly richer in N-free extractives than the summer product. The latter, however, was richer i n protein and lime, and, as a result of the replacement of potato peelings by pea pods as the main ingredient, displayed a much more fibrous character than the winter swill.

Digestibility trials with poultry were carried out with dura, carobs and hide-fleshings.

1. Dura equals the feeding value of corn and exceeds that of wheat, barley and oats. The high feeding value of dura is due to the large amount of easily digestible starch, and to the very small percentage of crude fibre.

2. Carobs. The main nutrient factor in carobs is represented by the totally digestible sugars contained in the N-free extract. Protein and crude fibre are not digested to any appreciable extent. The feeding value of carobs was compared with that of grain foodstuffs.

3. Hide-fleshings are a by-product of the tanneries. They contain 66·25 % of protein, which is digested by poultry like meat-meal protein (89·9 %).

The authors wish to thank Mrs Gnessia Rabinovicz for her untiring assistance in the execution of these experiments.