J. B. Orr and J. P. Kinloch. R.A.M.C. Journal, February 1921. "On the Estimation of the Physiological Cost of Muscular Work," by J. B. Orr and J. P. Kinloch. British Medical Journal, July 1921. "The Importance of the Inorganic Constituents of the Food in Nutritional Disorders," by Walter Elliot, M.P., Arthur Crichton, and J. B. Orr. British Journal of Experimental Pathology, February 1922.

In addition to the above, five papers dealing with the work of the Institute which were read at the British Association Meeting in September 1921 are being published.

Soils and Drainage.

Soil Work. An investigation into the mineralogical nature of the mechanical fractions of typical local soils is being conducted. This investigation is being made in order to throw some light upon the remarkable difference between the soils of the NorthEast of Scotland and the soils of the South-East of England. Enquiries into the soil types of the neighbourhood of Craibstone are also being continued with the intention ultimately of leading up to a soil survey.

Drainage. Interesting results have been obtained from the drain-gauges during the past very dry year. Practically no drainage came through the soil for seven months, and it was only during the last few days of the year that drainage began to flow again. The total drainage from the middle of May to the middle of December was less than one-twentieth of an inch.

A table has been issued showing the rainfall and drainagə for each month of the year as compared with 1920.

During the year a crop of turnips was grown on the draingauge plots and numbers 2 and 3 have now been manured for the first time. This introduces a difference in the treatment of the plots, as No. 1 is neither manured nor limed, and No. 2 is manured while No. 3 is both manured and limed. The monthly analysis of the drainage and rainfall, together with analyses of the crops and manures, is being continued.

One paper was published during the year, "The Measurement of Soil Drainage." Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society, Vol. XXXIII. 5th Series, pp. 56 to 75.

Bee Disease Investigation.

Continuous attention has been given to the characteristics of acarine disease produced by means of infection experiments, and also in a large number of naturally infected colonies. The following, amongst others, are lines of work which have been and continue to be the subject of experimental study :

--

1. The search for the parasite of acarine disease, Tarsonemus woodi, in "wild" insects.

2. Investigation of the means of dissemination of the causal parasite amongst bee colonies.

3. Biology of the causal parasite-the conditions affecting its breeding, migrations, normal mortality.

4. Study of the various factors which influence the persistence of disease in affected stocks.

5. Treatment of affected stocks with various acaricides, acarifuges, fumigants, sprays, etc.

A Report on the work under (4) and (5) will be issued on the conclusion of the experiments at present in progress and outlined for the forthcoming season.

A considerable amount of advisory work in diagnosis and control measures has been continued throughout the year.

WEST OF SCOTLAND AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.

Dairy Research.

Cheese Research.-Three new organisms were used as starters in the manufacture of cheese of the cheddar type, viz. :-(1) Bacillus of Laban Rayeb; (2) Strepto-bacterium casei (11 and 32) of Jensen (3) Bacillus Samarani. These organisms, which are all quite distinct, are related to the B. Bulgaricus type.-The first two produced in the cheese a good flavour and a satisfactory texture, but they did not appear to be so vigorous as Streptothrix dadhi, with which the control cheeses were made, and hence necessitated a larger inoculation in the cheese milk. The third was less satisfactory.

Some experiments were made with over-acid milk, the neutralising agent being precipitated chalk. While the chalk corrected the over-acidity and allowed of the manufacture of a normal type of cheese excess of carbonate of lime produced a tough curd which did not ripen properly. Further work in this direction is contemplated.

The utility of pasteurised milk in cheesemaking was again examined. It was found that pasteurising the milk in the vat by the holding method to a temperature of 140 for 20 minutes (using a standardised solution of pepsin as the coagulating agent and Streptothrix dadhi as a starter) a cheese of an unusually fine flavour and texture was obtained.

Some experiments with blue-veined cheese were made, the lacto-bacilli which normally give a fine flavour being used as starters and the curd being inoculated with a pure culture of the blue mould Penicillium glaucum.

Buttermaking Investigations.-The results obtained last year on a small scale were confirmed on a large scale under semi-factory conditions. The flavour and keeping qualities of the butter were excellent. The utility of pasteurising whole milk in buttermaking was determined. This procedure gives a well-flavoured butter and a specially fine quality of butter-milk, but a good starter is essential.

Soil Investigation.

Geological Soil Survey.-Mr Monie examined the soils and subsoils of Bute, the Cowal District of Argyllshire from Dunoon to Loch Fyne, and the island of Islay. He also ran sections across Flanders Moss in Stirlingshire and South Perth, and made a drainage survey of 2,500 acres of Flanders Moss, East.

An introductory article on the general results of the survey, under the title "The Field Study of Scottish Soils," is to be published in the Scottish Journal of Agriculture.

Chemical Investigation.-An investigation of the chemical and physical properties of the early potato soils in the West of Scotland was commenced in the spring of 1921. These soils have been reclaimed from sea sand and have been brought to their present high state of fertility by heavy annual applications of seaweed and farm manure, and by frequent ploughing in of green crops or feeding off by sheep. Artificial manures are liberally used. The intention is to make these comparatively simple soils a starting point for a chemical and biological examination of the soils in the West of Scotland, in order to obtain data respecting the suitability of soil for different crops and systems of cropping, manuring, and liming requirements, systems of cultivation, losses from drainage and other sources, soil temperatures, etc., all of which are of direct practical scientific value.

Papers dealing with research were published in the Journal of Agricultural Science as under :-

"Composition and Properties of Oat Grain and Straw," by Professor R. A. Berry.

"Wet and Dry Feeding of Concentrates to Dairy Cows," by Professor Berry.

61

Errors in Feeding Experiments with Cross-bred Pigs," by Professor Berry and Mr D. G. O'Brien.

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY AND EDINBURGH AND EAST OF SCOTLAND

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE.

Joint Committee on Research in Animal Breeding.

The preliminary arrangements for research work were completed in 1920, but little progress with the actual work of research could be made until 1921. During the year Dr. Crew was occupied in investigating problems connected with :

The Inheritance of Wool Characters.-This investigation, with which the British Research Association for the Woollen and Worsted Industries is associated, has for its object the improvement of the fleece of the Blackface sheep. Two methods are being employed. In the one case Blackface ewes are crossed with Southdown rams, and the resulting crosses will be interbred. It is hoped that among the second cross-bred generation there will appear a sheep with the constitution of the Blackface but with a fleece equal to that of the Southdown, when by selection this type will be fixed. The second method is that of

selection within the breed. A pure-bred Blackface tup with an excellent fleece was selected by a recognised authority on wool, and has been placed with selected ewes provided by a Blackface breeder. Continued selection will be practised, as a result of which it is hoped to grade up the fleeces of the flock.

A microscopic study of the fleeces of certain primitive sheep has been made, and the fleeces of the Blackface and Southdown, and of the first-cross lambs, are being studied.

Sterility in the Domestic Animals.-The cause of the a-spermatic condition of the undescended testicle of the horse has been investigated, and the effects of ovarian disease in the domestic fowl are being studied.

The Significance of the Monstrous Calf of the Dexter Breed of Cattle. The condition has been shown to be that known as achondroplasia, a growth-disease which affects particularly the cartilages. The mode of inheritance of this disease is being investigated.

The Inheritance of the Fur Characters of the Rabbit.-Champagne Silver Rabbits have been crossed with Havanas, and the characteristics of the offspring studied.

As in the previous year, a grant of £200 was made by the University of Edinburgh, the balance of the expenditure being met equally from the Development Fund and from the Agriculture (Scotland) Fund.

ANIMAL DISEASES RESEARCH ASSOCIATION.

Reference is made to the Board's Report for the year 1920, in which particulars were given of the steps which had been taken towards the establishment in Scotland of a Research Institute in Animal Diseases.

The Treasury have now sanctioned a grant not exceeding £2,300 from the Development Fund in aid of maintenance during the first twelve months from the date of commencement of work by the Association, and the Board have agreed to contribute a grant of £3,500 in aid of capital expenditure.

A small Sub-Committee charged with the actual direction of the researches has been set up, and the Association have appointed Professor S. H. Gaiger, F.R.C.V.S., and Mr Thomas Dalling, M.R.C.V.S., as Chief Investigators. The date fixed for the commencement of the work is 1st April 1922.

SHEEP DISEASE INVESTIGATION.

Work on Braxy was carried on throughout the year at the Glasgow Veterinary College by Principal Gaiger and Mr Dalling. This work was mainly concerned with the study of an organismwhich the investigators believe to be causal-with the object of finding a preventative. The organism was first grown at Barguillean, Taynuilt, in November 1920 from live cases of braxy which were destroyed for the purpose of bacteriological examina

tion. It seemed highly probable that immunity might be conferred on healthy hoggs by inoculating them with the toxin of the bacterium. A minute study of the organism in its cultural characteristics was first made; then as regards its pathogenicity for sheep and other animals; and, finally, on the best means of securing a high production of toxin from the growth of the bacterium in artificial culture. In providing a quantity of the toxin for use in the field in the braxy season of 1921, great care was necessary in its preparation, filtering, testing, and re-testing for safety, as it was essential, in order to secure the continued cooperation of the owners of flocks, that no casualties should occur as the direct result of field inoculation. Flockmasters readily agreed to have their hoggs inoculated, and between three and four thousand were treated in different parts of the country. Of this total, several hundred were inoculated with a sero-vaccine kindly supplied for trial by Professor Jensen of Copenhagen, being the bradsot vaccine for which success has been claimed in Iceland. A method of inoculation was used whereby the sheep were dealt with at the rate of two hundred in an hour. Two inoculations were given, the first weak, the second strong, and the intention was to have these at two weeks' interval, but in deference to the wishes of flockmasters the period was extended to six weeks in order to avoid two gatherings at so short an interval as two weeks.

due course.

A report of the results of the inoculation will be made in It is intended to make a serum for use along with stronger vaccine next season. In December, cultures were obtained from live braxy cases at Langholm, and the same organism as was obtained in Argyllshire in the previous winter has also been cultivated.

Lamb Dysentery has been studied since 1919. This is one of the most serious scourges experienced by sheep breeders, and it appears to be spreading annually further North in Scotland and further South in England. It shows signs of abatement only on farms where it has been in existence for seven or eight years. The loss of life amongst lambs under two weeks old is about 30 per cent. If they live to be 15 or 18 days old they do not take the disease. Principal Gaiger regards it as proved that the cause is the organism first cultivated by him in the lambing season of 1919. This organism is of the Bacillus Coli type and it invades the body from the inflamed and ulcerated bowel. A preventive serum was made and was used on the lambs on the day of birth. While it appeared to immunise them, it did not in all cases give long enough protection to carry them over the

susceptible age. Further work is contemplated for next season and will begin in January with work on pregnant ewes. The Occupiers of infected farms have been recommended to take certain precautions with a view to preventing the spread of infection at lambing time.