quantity was always higher in the few parts of the field where the barley did not completely fail. A series of plots was treated with varying amounts of different calcium compounds, and with certain of the treatments complete barley plants were obtained on soil where the crop had previously failed.

Samples of the soil from each plot have been subjected to laboratory examination in order to ascertain the effect of the various treatments on the reaction and on the exchangeable bases of the soil. Special attention has been paid to the presence of soluble aluminium, and a certain degree of correlation was found between the amount of aluminium extracted from the soil by certain solvents and the failure of the crop growth, but no such definite relationship has been found between the amount of the exchangeable aluminium and crop growth as was found in the case of the exchangeable calcium.

MINERALOGICAL STUDY OF SOIL TYPES.

A grant was authorised to enable a mineralogical study of soil types to be conducted under the direction of the Soil Advisory Officer at the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture during the academic year 1926-27, and the work was begun on 1st October. A preliminary investigation of methods to be employed was carried out, and a set of slides of typical soil-forming minerals was made for microscopic examination. An examination of the fine-sand fraction of various soils, particularly those of the Boghall Experimental Farm, was started. The soil is divided by mechanical separation into various fractions :-gravel, coarse sand, silt and clay. minerals in the fine-sand fraction are separated by means of heavy liquids and by an electric magnet, and are then identified by microscopic examination. Satisfactory progress had been made at the end of the year.

WEST OF SCOTLAND AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.

SOIL SURVEY.

The

A detailed report on the soils of the south-west of Scotland has now been completed.

During the year work was conducted on the soils of Renfrewshire and western Ayrshire. A detailed survey was carried out of an area of six square miles between Howwood and Johnstone (Renfrewshire). The soils present in this area are representative of the county, and include (a) a complete series of the chocolatebrown ferruginous loams which cover three-fifths of the county; (b) deep alluvial soils; (c) purple-brown clay loams on heavy drift; (d) silt loams; (e) thin moor peat; (f) deep peat on grey silt; and (g) scree stony loams.

In addition, a general examination of soils over an area extending from Ardrossan to Renfrew and Paisley was conducted. Conferences were held with the Soils Advisory Officers of the Edinburgh and Aberdeen Colleges with a view to co-operation in a Soil Survey of Scotland.

SOIL ANALYSIS.

The analysis of soil samples from areas in the counties of Ayr, Argyll, Kirkcudbright, Dumbarton and Dumfries was completed, and work was done on samples from part of the county of Renfrew. The results are providing valuable information respecting the composition, properties and agricultural value of soils occurring in different geological horizons.

A considerable number of samples of soil was submitted by farmers, horticulturists and members of the county staff of the College for examination and advice regarding liming, manuring, cropping, etc.

WINTERING OF BEES.

The application of the West of Scotland Agricultural College, to which reference was made in the Board's last Report, was recommended by the Advisory Committee on Agricultural Science, and a grant of £140 was made to the College in aid of a scheme of research in the wintering of bees. The main points of investigation were the amount of food necessary to bring a bee colony through the winter and the best means of conserving the heat of the hive. In a specially erected bee-house equipped with electric fittings a study was made of food consumption at various temperatures by different strains of bees. The investigation will have to be continued during a number of seasons to permit reliable conclusions to be drawn.

INVESTIGATION INTO STRAWBERRY DISEASE.

A mycological investigation showed that possible causal agents may include (1) fungi of the following genera :Fusarium, Pythium, Rhizoctonia; (2) eelworms probably of the genus Aphelenchus. But owing to the fact that neither the fungi nor the eelworms are constantly present in diseased plants, it is not unlikely that they are secondary and that the health of the plant has previous to their attack been undermined by some other unidentified agent, possibly of the virus type.

Plots have been established at four centres-two on infected and two on non-infected land-for the testing of various methods of control, and a series of pot cultures on the same lines was set up at two centres. Soil insecticides, fungicides, deterrents, and manures were tried, and at the non-infected plots trials were made to see whether, and if so how, the disease might be transmitted from one bed to another or from plant to plant. The effect of variety and strain was also under observation. Some useful preliminary results were obtained from the experimental plots.

ENSILAGE EXPERIMENTS AND DEMONSTRATIONS.

In the North of Scotland College area experiments with tower silos in Skye and with pit or trench silos in Lewis, Orkney, Shetland, Skye, Sutherland and Ross-shire were continued

throughout the year. In most cases the silage crop was cut and the silo filled under favourable conditions, and in all cases where the silo has been opened the silage has been found to be satisfactory. The organiser in charge of the Skye experiment reports that cattle fed on silage in the early part of the year kept in good condition during the summer months, and obtained' the highest prices when sold in October.

In the West of Scotland College area two successful experiments were carried out-one at Kilmartin with a trench silo and one at Kintyre with a silo made from discarded distillery wash tuns. This latter experiment has aroused widespread interest among farmers in the district.

ANIMAL DISEASES RESEARCH ASSOCIATION.

Research Staff.-In April Mr W. A. Pool was appointed Director in succession to Professor Gaiger.

The Association suffered a severe loss in the death of Mr R. Bristow, Junior Research Assistant, as the result of a motor accident in January.

Mr H. Preston was appointed Junior Research Assistant in March, and in October was appointed to the vacant post of Senior Research Assistant.

Laboratories.-The new Institute at Moredun, Gilmerton, Edinburgh, and the extra accommodation at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, Edinburgh, were completed during the year, and on 1st June the work was transferred from the laboratories which had been occupied in the Glasgow Veterinary College to the Moredun Institute. It was not possible to start work in the laboratories at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College owing to shortage of research staff.

An account of these new laboratories was published in the Scottish Journal of Agriculture for October.

Finance. As a result of representations made to the County Councils of Scotland, seven Councils made contributions during the year to the amount of £600, while promises of support were received from six others. These donations, together with one of £200 granted by the Highland and Agricultural Society and smaller sums given by Agricultural Societies and branches of the National Farmers' Union, ensured the proportion of the expenditure which the Association is required to raise from sources other than the State.

Library. Mr Falconer L. Wallace of Candacraig and Balcairn, the President of the Association, presented £500 and the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust presented £250 for the foundation of a library. A systematic method has been adopted of indexing and abstracting the relevant literature of the subjects with which the staff of the Association are called upon to deal.

Motor Laboratory.-Mr Falconer L. Wallace also presented £1,500 for the purchase of a motor laboratory. Plans and estimates were practically ready for final consideration at the

close of the year for a vehicle which has been designed to provide ample accommodation and facility for the very special type of work which the Association undertakes in the field.

Braxy.-Tests with the preventive vaccine have been continued. There is now no doubt that inoculation with a vaccine prepared from the Vibrion septique saves losses on infected farms, but there is still a good deal of room for improvement in the form of the vaccine.

A special brew of 2,000 doses of vaccine was prepared and dispatched early in the year to Western Australia, where Braxy is believed to cause very heavy losses in sheep.

Lamb Dysentery.-The whole study of this disease suggests that a specific infectious agent must be the cause. Yet nearly every one who has dealt with it has been compelled to admit that he has failed in small but carefully controlled experiments to infect healthy lambs either with diseased tissues or with cultures obtained from sick lambs. In the circumstances there is great difficulty in estimating the real importance of various micro-organisms which have been demonstrated in diseased lambs. The Association's work has been hampered in the past by lack of facilities for keeping sheep in natural conditions. The acquisition of the Moredun property has relieved this difficulty. As soon as it was taken over, a small flock of ewes and a tup were obtained from definitely clean farms and will be available for work in the 1927 season.

Work is in progress which is designed to show whether infection occurs before or after birth, and thus to demonstrate the real importance of the micro-organisms obtained from lambs suffering from the disease.

Mammitis in Cattle.-The knowledge of the streptococci which cause at least the majority of outbreaks of this disease is very incomplete. In several instances autogenous vaccines were prepared for veterinary surgeons who were dealing with outbreaks. They appeared to give satisfactory results, and together with sanitary precautions controlled the infection.

Calmette and Guerin's Anti-Tuberculosis Vaccine.-The experiments mentioned in the Board's last Report were continued. It is not yet possible to form an opinion of the value of the method. The vaccine appears to be quite safe for use.

Miscellaneous Enquiries.-The diagnosis of material sent for examination and the preparation of miscellaneous vaccines received considerable attention.

WOOL BREEDING COUNCIL.

In August the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries appointed a Wool Breeding Council "to consider, and advise the Ministry of Agriculture and "Fisheries and the Board of Agriculture for Scotland on, ques"tions relating to the improvement and utilisation of wool "grown in Great Britain." The Council comprises representa

tives of English, Welsh and Scottish sheep breeders, the textile industry, and scientific investigators.

At the same time the Secretary of State for Scotland appointed a Committee, consisting of Dr. F. A. E. Crew, Animal Breeding Research Department, Edinburgh University; Sir Robert Greig, Chairman, Board of Agriculture for Scotland; Mr H. G. Richardson, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; Professor J. Lorrain Smith, Edinburgh University; and Professor R. G. White, University College of North Wales, to supervise Research in Wool Breeding. The members of the Supervising Committee are also members of the Wool Breeding Council, of which Sir Robert Greig is Chairman.

The first meetings of the Council and of the Supervising Committee were held in December.

GLASGOW VETERINARY COLLEGE.

Inguinal Hernia in Horses.-With the aid of a grant of £50, as previously reported, Dr A. W. Whitehouse, Principal of the Glasgow Veterinary College, carried out experimental tests of a new method of operating on the horse for Inguinal Hernia. He proposes to carry out further experiments before offering his new method to the veterinary profession.

SCOTTISH SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH IN PLANT BREEDING.

PLANT-BREEDING STATION.

The work during the year has been mainly concerned with Oats, Potatoes, Herbage Plants, and Swedes and Turnips.

Oats. The object aimed at is to evolve stiff-strawed, earlyripening, high-yielding varieties of desirable types. About 200 unfixed hybrid selections were grown, carefully observed throughout the season, and further selected for future trial. Of truebreeding hybrids, twenty-seven selections were grown along with control varieties and compared with these in respect of yield of grain, ripening period and strength of straw. Certain fixed selections were reserved for extended trials. The new variety "Glebe was tried in twelve districts of Scotland and the results were considered to be satisfactory. Arrangements are to be made for distributing this variety commercially.

Potatoes.-Over 300 seedling selections, one or more years from seed, were included in this year's trials along with three standard varieties-Great Scot, British Queen and Kerr's Pink. Many of the selections were affected with virus diseases, and accordingly selections of apparently healthy plants within certain promising strains were made by lifting the plants early in the season. The progeny of these early-lifted plants exhibited on the average greater vigour than plants of the same variety grown from late-lifted tubers. Experiments indicate that disease may be transmitted through the seed.