at which representatives of the Geological Survey were present. It is hoped that the knowledge of the aims and requirements of agriculturists gained at this meeting may be of assistance to the Geological Survey in producing maps and memoirs containing information suitable for agricultural purposes.

In the laboratory the investigations concerning exchangeable bases in the soil have been continued, especially in relation to the cultivation of sugar beet. Questions with regard to the success and failure of the crop within small areas have arisen which would seem to show that there is some correlation between lack of exchangeable calcium and crop failure.

The work in connection with the drain gauges has been continued on the lines indicated in the Board's last Report.

A special feature of the advisory work has been the number of enquiries received regarding the suitability of particular soils for the cultivation of sugar beet. Assistance has also been given to County Organisers in connection with their experimental work or with farmers' enquiries.

Professor Hendrick attended the First International Congress on Soil Science at Washington and read several papers on different aspects of the work.

Entomology. The work of the Entomological Department in connection with bee diseases has increased steadily throughout the year. Most of the samples of diseased bees submitted for examination were found to be affected with Acarine disease, but out of sixteen, in which the disease was undetermined, thirteen appear to be affected with a form of bee paralysis which appears to call for further investigation.

Research into the pathology of Acarine disease was continued. A paper giving the results of this work is in course of preparation, but in the meantime the conclusions regarding the effect of the disease on the musculature have been published as a brief summary.

In the course of examination of insect pests found within the College area a new species of Cecidomyid fly was discovered.

ROYAL (DICK) VETERINARY COLLEGE.

During the season 1926-27 the number of students preparing for the diploma of M.R.C.V.S. was 112. In addition, 33 students attended post-graduate courses, and there was 1 non-professional student.

SCHOLARSHIPS.

AGRICULTURAL SCHOLARSHIPS FOR

STUDENTS INTENDING

ΤΟ

BECOME AGRICULTURAL ORGANISERS, LECTURERS, ETC. The two Scottish students who were abroad at the end of 1926 completed their studies during the year. The Scottish student who obtained a new scholarship in 1926 was awarded additional allowances to enable him to continue his studies in the United States during part of the years 1927 and 1928.

In 1927 a new scholarship was awarded to a Scottish student. For the first year it is tenable at the Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Oxford.

AGRICULTURAL SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS AND OTHERS.

Reference was made in the Board's last Report to the scheme for the provision of agricultural scholarships which was instituted in 1922 with the assistance of funds provided under Section 3 of the Corn Production Acts (Repeal) Act, 1921.

Treasury approval was obtained to the continuance of the scheme on a modified scale, provision for 1927 being made of an amount similar to that sanctioned for each of the five preceding years, but reductions to be made in succeeding years.

The total number of applications for scholarships in 1927 was 134, as compared with 111 in 1926. Twenty-four scholarships were awarded, the number of applications and awards in the various classes being as follows :—

Fourteen of the successful candidates were themselves bona

fide agricultural workers. The occupations of the parents or guardians of the remaining ten successful candidates were as follows-small holders, 4; gamekeepers, 4; estate carter, 1; housekeeper to crofter, 1.

The scholarships were awarded for the following courses :M.R.C.V.S., 2; B.Sc. (Agriculture), 2; College Diploma in Agriculture, 2; College Diploma in Dairying, 1; College Diplomas in Dairying and Poultry-Keeping, 4; Special Course for Farmers, 8; Craibstone School Course, 1; Short Dairying Course, 4.

The reports received on the work and progress of the scholars were satisfactory.

At the end of 1927 twenty-three scholars assisted from the funds set aside for the award of scholarships under Section 3 of the Corn Production Acts (Repeal), Act, 1921, were still in training. The reports received during the year on their work and progress were generally satisfactory. It was found necessary, however, in view of unsatisfactory progress reports to discontinue three scholarships-one awarded in 1924 and tenable at Glasgow University for the course for the degree of B.Sc. in Agriculture; one awarded in 1926 and tenable at the West of Scotland Agricultural College for the course for the College Diploma in Agriculture; and one, awarded in 1926 and tenable at the

West of Scotland Agricultural College for the course for the College Diplomas in Dairying and Poultry-keeping.

One student was unable, for private reasons, to continue her studies at the West of Scotland Agricultural College, and her scholarship was accordingly withdrawn.

NATIONAL POULTRY COUNCIL.

A grant of £7 was made to the National Poultry Council in aid of the expenditure incurred by the Council in conducting the examinations held in 1926 for the National Diploma in Poultry Husbandry.

SCOTTISH COUNCIL FOR WOMEN'S TRADES.

The Board made a further grant of £50 during the year to the Scottish Council for Women's Trades in aid of the Council's scheme for placing unemployed women on farms for training in agricultural occupations.

INTERCHANGE OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN AGRICULTURISTS. Under the arrangements made with the Danish Agricultural Commissioner in London for the exchange of agriculturists between Scotland and Denmark, three Danish students were placed on farms in Scotland during the year. No Scottish student has so far taken advantage of the scheme.

VII. AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH.

JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN AND THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE.

THE ROWETT RESEARCH INSTITUTE.

Research work during the past year has been mainly along the lines indicated in the Board's last Report.

Mineral Content of Pastures.-Much of the hill pasture in this country is markedly deficient in mineral content as compared with cultivated pasture, although there is apparently little difference in the energy-yielding value of the two types of pasture. An attempt has accordingly been made to feed to sheep grazing on poor hill pasture small amounts of a mixture rich in the minerals in which the pastures are deficient. Tests have been carried out on ten hill farms in Scotland for the purpose of ascertaining the effect of such feeding on the health of ewes, the mortality of both ewes and lambs, the weight of lambs at birth, and the weight of fleeces.

In some areas there appears to be, in addition to a general shortage of minerals in the pasture, a marked deficiency in one particular mineral element, due either to a deficiency in the soil or to some factor which prevents the absorption of the mineral by the plant. Thus in the border counties of Scotland, where pining" in sheep is prevalent, beneficial results have been obtained by administering an iron salt. There is no evidence, however, of a deficiency of iron in the soil.

Investigations on similar lines are being carried out by members of the staff of the Institute in different parts of the Empire. With the aid of a grant from the Empire Marketing Board experiments are being carried out in Kenya Colony, and the results so far obtained have been found generally to accord with those obtained at home.

Iodine. A systematic investigation of the iodine content of the herbage and of animal products, such as milk and eggs, in areas where goitre is prevalent and in others where it is absent is at present being carried out. This work is of as much importance in human nutrition as in stock-farming, and assistance and guidance is being obtained from the Nutrition Committee of the Medical Research Council, which has made a grant to defray the cost of that part of the work which has a direct bearing on human nutrition.

Milk.-Under the auspices of the Scottish Milk and Health Association an investigation has been carried out to test the effect on the health and growth of school children of supplying them with an extra ration of milk. Experiments were carried out at seven different centres in Scotland. It was found that the addition of from to 1 pint of milk per day during school days was followed by a definitely increased rate of growth, and in most cases there was a distinct improvement in the children's condition. This beneficial effect was obtained with either whole or separated milk; but the eating of biscuits of caloric or energy-yielding value equal to that of the separated milk had no such effect.

These findings confirm the results of experiments on farm animals which have been previously conducted at the Institute, and are of importance both from the point of view of children's health and from that of the milk industry in this country. The tests will be repeated by the Scottish Board of Health during 1928.

Human Dietetics.-In connection with the investigation of deficiency diseases in stock in Kenya, which is being directed from the Institute, certain problems arose in connection with the feeding of natives, in the investigation of which the Institute has co-operated with the Kenya Medical Service. Chemical analysis of native foods has shown that they are deficient in certain nutrients, and the adjustment of the rations consumed by prisoners and labour gangs appears to have been followed by beneficial results.

Other Work.-The effects of various dietary constitutents on the movements of the intestine are being investigated. It has been found that diets deficient or excessive in certain constitutents lead to abnormal intestinal movements, and it seems probable that this derangement of the function of the intestine may be an important predisposing cause of disease.

Work on the influence of minerals, vitamins, and ultra-violet rays on the composition of the circulating fluids of the body is

с

yielding information of interest in connection with certain diseases originating in faulty diets. The question whether the abnormal composition of the blood due to defective diets is a predisposing factor in rendering the animal more susceptible to certain infectious diseases is being studied.

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY AND EDINBURGH AND EAST OF SCOTLAND COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE.

JOINT COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH IN ANIMAL BREEDING.

1. Administration and Development.

Reference was made in the Board's last Report to the offer of £30,000 made by the International Education Board of New York towards the cost of buildings and equipment for the Department and the endowment of a Chair of Animal Genetics, and to the gift of £10,000 by Lord Woolavington for the latter object. During the year a grant of £16,000 was promised from the Development Fund for capital expenditure, and a grant of £10,000 from the Empire Marketing Fund for endowment. Plans for the new buildings were under consideration at the end of the year.

2. Research.

Sheep. A study has been made of kemp in the fleece of the Welsh Mountain sheep. The possible association of kempiness with other qualities of the sheep, such as hardiness, fineness of fleece, etc., and a possible line of wool improvement in breeds such as the Welsh Mountain, where the elimination of kemp is the chief problem, were studied.

A new method of determination of the fineness of wool and of the fleece has been devised. The value to be determined is the mean diameter of a sample of wool, and any method for its estimation must be judged from the point of view of the simplicity and convenience of the actual determination. It is suggested that the value of mean diameter can best be obtained. by the calculation of a weight-length ratio, involving the estimation of the number of centimetres of fibre that weigh a milligram.

The study of colour inheritance was continued, and data relating to more colours and more patterns have been collected. The results of the preliminary investigation of the fleece of Suffolk sheep suggested that an extension of the scheme for recording the colour changes of Suffolk lambs from birth to maturity should be made. A greater number of lambs was included in the series of observations and, in addition to changes in coloration of face and body, head-tuft changes were recorded. Analysis of the data shows that the total changes in tuft colour in about 100 days is probably the most satisfactory indication of the subsequent freedom of the fleece from dark fibres, as judged by the degree of admixture of pigmented fibres with non-pigmented fibres in the lower thigh region.