SOUTH-WESTERN POLYTECHNIC, MANRESA ROAD, CHELSEA, S.W. The Day College Courses consist of 30 hours per week, and are in prepar ation for London University degrees of B.Sc. in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, in Chemistry, Physics and Natural Science. Session Fee, £15. The Evening Classes consist of similar courses at much reduced rates. The Technical Day Courses are arranged to extend over 3 years and prepare for Engineering, Electrical, Chemical and Metallurgical professions. *S. SKINNER, M.A. *W. H. ECCLES, D.Sc. *J. LISTER, A.R.C.S Mathematics and Physics Chemistry and Metallurgy Botany Geology Mechanical Engineering Electrical Engineering ... L. LOWNDS, B.Sc., Ph.D. * J. B. COLEMAN, A R.C.S. F. H. LOWE, B.Sc. C. W. HALE. W. E. OAKDEN. *H. B. LACEY. *T. G. HILL, A.R.C.S. A. J. MASLEN, F. L.S. (*A. J. MAKOWER, B.A. Recognised Teacher of the University of London. Full prospectus from the SECRETARY, post free, 4d.; at the office, price id. BIOLOGY Assistant Lecturer, H. HILTON, M.A. Assistant Lecturers and Demonstrators, D. FARRAR, Assistant Lecturers and Demonstrators, Miss A. E. Assistant Lecturer and Demonstrator, J. Zoology and Physiology-Prof. PHILIP J. WHITE, The Classes and Laboratory Courses of this College are arranged to suit the requirements of Students of Practical Science, as well as of Students preparing for University and other Examinations. The Lectures in Chemistry, Physics, Botany, and Zoology are recognised for the first year of medical study. The extensive Laboratories (Physical, Chemical, and Biological) are fully equipped for Study and Research. Inclusive Tuition Fee, £11 15. Laboratory Fees (per Term) on the scale of £1 15. for six hours a week, in each Department. A considerable number of Scholarships and Exhibitions are open for com. petition at the beginning of each Session, and several are awarded at the close of each Session on the result of the year's work. For full information as to Courses, apply for Prospectus to the Secretary and Registrar, J. E. LLOYD, M.A. LECTURES on VESUVIUS, illustrated by a unique series of slides taken during many years' residence, including many of the recent eruption, can be given during the autumn by Dr. JOHNSTON-LAVIS, late Prof. of Vulcanology in the R. Univ. of NORTHERN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, HOLLOWAY, LONDON, N. (Close to Holloway Stn., G.N.R., and Highbury Stn., N. L. R.) LONDON UNIVERSITY SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DEGREES. Day and Evening Courses in the above under recognised teachers inMATHEMATICS, PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, ENGINEERING. Separate Laboratories for Elementary, Advanced and Honours students, exceptionally large and well equipped. RESEARCH. MANCHESTER ROYAL INFIRMARY. ENTRANCE MEDICAL SCHOLARSHIPS. TWO SCHOLARSHIPS are offered, one for proficiency in Arts, and one for proficiency in Science. Each Scholarship is of the value of £10 and the successful candidates will be required to enter for the full medica curriculum in the University and the Infirmary. The Scholarships will be awarded to candidates who give evidence of . high standard of proficiency in Arts or Science respectively. Applications should be sent on or before July 1 to the REGISTRAR, ÍND whom further particulars may be obtained. UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER. A PLATT BIOLOGICAL SCHOLARSHIP of the value of £ offered for award. The Scholarship is open to persons who bave studied Zoology or Botany in any University or College Laboratory, and the successful candidate will be required to devote himself to research in the Zoological or Botanical Laboratory of the University during the tenure of the Scholarship. Applications should be sent on or before July 7 to the REGISTRAR, from whom further particulars may be obtained. INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY THE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC BIOLOGY. INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER. An EXAMINATION in BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY will be held at the Laboratories of the Institute, commencing on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1956 The Examination will be open to Fellows and Associates of the Institute, and to Candidates who are eligible for admission to the Final (A.I.C.) Exammation. The Syllabus will include Biological Chemistry with special reference to Fermentation, Enzyme Action, the Chemistry and Bacteriology of Foodstuff, Water Supply, and Sewage Disposal, and to the application of Biological Chemistry to Industries and Manufactures. The List of Candidates will be closed on Tuesday, September 11, 1906. Forms of Application and further particulars can be obtained on applica. tion to the REGISTRAR, 30 Bloomsbury Square, London, W.C. EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT. The following post at the School of Medicine, Cairo, is vacant: ASSISTANT TO THE PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY. The appointment is for two years, and may be renewe at the end of that time. Applicants should forward copies of testimonials and such other particulars as are mentioned below. The way of the post is £E.320 per annum, the Egyptian Pound being worth 6d, more than the Pound Sterling. Private Practice is not allowed. It is to be distinctly understood that the appointment gives no claim to pension or indemnity. The Government reserves to itself the right to dismiss the assistant for misconduct or incapacity In the Government Schools, as in all State Administrations in Egypt, Sunday is a working day. The Schools are closed on Fridays. Leave will be granted on the same terms as to other Government Officials. The possibility of taking leave, and the period of the year at which it is granted, depend upon the exigencies of the service Pay commences from date of arrival in Cairo. On taking up his duties in Cairo, the Assistant will receive one month's pay in lieu of passage money. All applicants should attach a certificate from a legally qualified medical man, stating that in his opinion the candidate would pass as a first-class life for insurance purposes. All applicants should state: Their training and qualifications in Analytical Chemistry, Their age, What foreign languages they know, and If they can be in Cairo by October 1. The latest mail by which applications may be posted will leave London on Friday, August 31. Applications to be addressed :-THE Director, Government School of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt. COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. The West Riding Education Committee will require in September the services of : ONE ASSISTANT MASTER to teach English Subjects, French and Geography. Salary, 140 per annum. Edited by WALTER E. COLLINGE, M.Sc., With the co-operation of Prof. A. H. REGINALD BULLER, D.Sc., Ph.D., A. E. SHIPLEY, M.A., F.R.S. CONTENTS of PART III. (VOL. I.). The Biology of Polyporus squamosus, Huds., a Timber destroying Fungus. (Pls. V.-IX., and Figs. A-F.) By Prof. A. H. REGINALD BULLER, D.Sc., Ph.D.-Reviews and Current Literature. Annual Subscription (four parts), 16s. : LONDON DULAU & CO., 37 SOно SQUARE, W. EARLY LITERATURE of MAGNETISM The following_rare works, duplicates from the Library of Professor Silvanus P. Thompson, are offered for sale. The Collection is offered en bloc; but, if not disposed of before September, offers for individual books will be entertained. For full descriptive list apply to Professor Silvanus P. Thompson, Technical College, Finsbury, Leonard Street, London, E.C. Barlowe, Navigators' Supply, 1597; Barlowe, Magneticall Advertisements, 1616; Barlowe, A Breife Discovery, 1618; Bartoli, Del Modo di Misurare, 1546; Brugmans, Verwandtschaften des Magnets, 1781; Cabeus, Philosophia Magnetica, 1629; Galileo, de Systemate Mundi, 1635; Garcia ab Horto, Aromatum, 1574; Geuns, Sur les Aimans, Venlo, 1768; Gilbert, De Magnete, 1600 (first folio edition); Gilbert, De Mundo Nostro, 1651; Gyraldus, De Re Nautica, 1540; Klaproth, Lettre sur l'Invention de la Boussole, 1834; Kircher, Magnes sive de Arte Magnetica, 1643; Norman, Newe Attractive, 1596; Ridley, Magneticall Bodies and Motions, 1613; Taisnier, De Natura Magnetis, 1562; Theophrastus, History of Stones, 1746. Price of the Collection, £80 nett. THE BIO-CHEMICAL JOURNAL. READY IN A FEW DAYS. ONE ASSISTANT MISTRESS to teach English Subjects, Singing, JOHN WHELDON & CO.'S CATALOGUE Needlework and Drill. Salary, 100 per annum. ONE ASSISTANT MISTRESS to teach Mathematics and Latin. Salary, 120 per annum. ONE ASSISTANT MISTRESS to teach English Composition, History and Physical Exercises or Class Singing. Salary, £100 per annum. ONE ASSISTANT MISTRESS to teach Junior and Kindergarten Subjects. Salary, L100 per annum. ONE ASSISTANT MISTRESS to teach English, Class Singing and Drawing. Salary, 100 per annum. Applications for these posts must be made on forms to be obtained from the Education Department (Secondary), County Hall, Wakefield, where they must be returned not later than Monday, July 16, 1906. Copies of to more than three recent testimonials must be sent with the application. Canvassing will be a disqualification. COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE WEST EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. The West Riding Education Committee require the services of an ORGANISING MASTER, qualified in Science and Mathematics, for the purpose of taking Courses of Instruction for groups of Elementary Teachers (Uncertificated and Supplementary), and of undertaking some teaching in Secondary Schools. Salary, £200 per annum. Applications must be made on Forms to be obtained from the Education Department (Secondary), County Hall, Wakefield, where they must be returned nut later than July 18, 1906. Copies of not more than three recent testimonials must be sent with the application. Canvassing will be a disqualification. For other Scholastic Advertisements, see page lxxiv, and (No. 35) of OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS. CARL ZEISS, JENA. KNUTH'S FLOWER POLLINATION. Authorized English Translation By J. R. AINSWORTH DAVIS. Vol. I., royal 8vo, cloth, 18s. net; leather back, 21s. net. LECTURES ON THE METHOD OF SCIENCE. Edited by the Very Rev. T. B. STRONG, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d. net. CONTENTS: Scientific Method as a Mental Operation (T. Case).— On some Aspects of the Scientific Method (F. Gotch). -Physiology; its Scope and Method (C. S. Sherrington). Inheritance in Animals and Plants (the late W. F. R. WELDON).-Phycho-Physical Method (W. McDougali). The Evolution of Double Stars (A. H. Fison).-Anthropology: The Evolution of Currency and Coinage (Sir R. C. Temple, Bart.).-Archaeological Evidence (W. M. Flinders Petrie).-Scientific Method as applied to History (the Very Rev. T. B. Strong). PROSPECTUSES ON APPLICATION. London: HENRY FROWDE, Oxford University Press Warehouse, Amen Corner, E.C. NEW NAUTICAL WORKS. LECTURES ON COMPASS ADJUSTMENT, as given to the Navigating Officers of the Royal Navy. By Capt. W. R. MARTIN, R.N. With 3 Charts and 59 Diagrams. Just ready. 5s. net. THE A.B.C. OF COMPASS ADJUSTMENT, being a thorough explanation in Simple Language of a Complex Problem. By E. W. OWENS, F.R.A.S., Examiner of Masters and Mates, London and Southampton. With numerous Coloured Diagrams. Demy 8vo, cloth. 5s. net. PRACTICAL METHODS IN MODERN NAVIGATION. A Handbook for the Ready Solution of Daily Problems at Sea. WRINKLES IN PRACTICAL NAVIGATION. Master Mariner, Commander R.N.R. Royal 8vo, cloth. Fourteenth edition. With 130 illustrations. 25s.net. MAY BE OBTAINED THROUGH ANY OPTICIAN. N.B.-If any difficulty in securing our Instruments through your Dealer kindly communicate with the Manufacturers, PASTORELLI & RAPKIN, (Established 1750), Contractors to H.M. Government, LTD 46, HATTON GARDEN, LONDON, E.C. Telephone No. 1981, Holborn. Telegrams-"Rapkin, London." ACTUAL MAKERS OF ALL KINDS OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1906. THE ORGANISATION OF AGRICULTURE. (:) The Transition in Agriculture. By Edwin A. Pratt. Pp. x+354. (London: John Murray, 1906.) Price 5s. (2) An Introduction to the Study of Agricultural Economics. By Henry C. Taylor. Pp. viii+327. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1005.) Price 58. (3) The Development of Agriculture in Denmark. By R. J. Thompson. A paper read before the Royal Statistical Society, May 15, 1906. THIS is the work of an author whose previous writings on subjects of agricultural economy have attracted considerable attention. The present volume has a three-fold purpose-to describe recent developments of subsidiary branches of agriculture, the progress of agricultural cooperation, and the principles on which small holdings may have the best chance of success. Mr. Pratt states that "it is open to consideration whether the bitter cry of the distressed British agriculturist has not been persisted in with undue energy of late years." It is certain, however, that the last period of agricultural depression, which reached its culminating point about 1892, was terribly acute, and the subsequent recovery has been correspondingly slow. That there has been recovery few authorities will deny, and we believe that the general agricultural outlook is more hopeful than it has been for some time. This is certainly the impression we gain from a careful perusal of Mr. Pratt's book; yet at the same time the author scarcely touches upon the main features of British agriculture, and in this respect the title of the work is not altogether justified. Wheat-growing has declined, it is true, to a very marked extent, and a great deal of arable land has been converted into pasture during the last quarter of a century. On the other hand, the decline in the wheat acreage has been somewhat balanced by an increase in the acreage under oats. The increases in the areas of those subsidiary branches of agriculture, as Mr. Pratt calls them, with which his book mainly deals, are relatively unimportant. The breeding of live-stock, and especially the home and export trade in pure-bred pedigree animals, the fattening of cattle, sheep and pigs, grazing and dairying, all involve operations upon such a large scale, and require individual skill of such a high order, that we cannot conceive of any "transition in agriculture" which would seriously interfere with the size of the holdings, the acreage of the crops, or the capital necessary to maintain them. But if we except agriculture on the large scale as it has been and in all probability will continue to be carried on, we admit that Mr. Pratt has done useful service in bringing under review those important developments of comparatively minor industries which are not only of benefit to agriculture, but are nationally advan tageous by helping to create and maintain a sturdy, independent race of Englishmen. An interesting account is given of the commercial aspects of milk selling. The facts related are not new, though it may well be that they have not attracted much attention outside the districts affected or on the part of persons not immediately concerned. Farmers in the dairying districts have found it pay much better to sell fresh milk than to turn it into butter and cheese. The sale of fresh milk and cream is, in fact, practically our only agricultural monopoly, and it is not likely that foreign competition will seriously threaten it. But whereas formerly the milk producer was an individual unit at the mercy of the urban wholesale dealer or middleman, judicious combination amongst dairy-farmers has enabled them to protect their interests, and especially to secure a uniform and equitable price for the milk produced. In Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Essex, and Somerset, associations have been formed with this object in view, and their success has been remarkable. In one case, Mr. Pratt states, the financial gain thus secured through combination amounts to from 30,000l. to 40,000l. annually, or an average annual gain per member of from 30l. to 40l. The descriptions of fruit-farming and the production of flowers, bulbs, vegetables, poultry, and eggs will repay careful study, and they may well encourage the further extension of similar crops in districts suited to them upon the cooperative principles that have proved successful. We come finally to the author's views on small holdings. This question is now under consideration by a Departmental Committee of the Board of Agriculture, and it is well known that the new President of the Board, Lord Carrington, is deeply interested in the subject, his own experiments in that direction in Lincolnshire and elsewhere having met with striking success. Mr. Pratt discusses the question as to whether ownership or tenancy is the more expedient form of tenure, and he pronounces unhesitatingly in favour of tenancy. We believe that his conclusions on this subject are sound, and that the example of countries where freehold occupancy has resulted in heavy mortgages with the payment of "rent" in its most odious form should be avoided. on (2) Dr. Henry C. Taylor, the author of the book 'Agricultural Economics," is assistant professor of political economy in the Wisconsin University, and an expert in the Office of Experiment Stations of the United States Department of Agriculture. His work forms part of the "Citizen's Library of Economics, Politics, and Sociology," and is in effect a studious effort to apply to practical agriculture the principles of political economy. As such it should prove useful to young agricultural students in connection with their ordinary course of "political arithmetic." Dr. Taylor himself states that one of the aims of his book is the setting forth of “fundamental economic principles, which, when carefully followed, lead the way to success in agricultural production." In thirteen chapters the author deals with the factors of production, the organisation of the farm, the size of farms, the prices of agricultural products, the distribution of wealth, the value of land, the methods of its acquisition, and the relations between landlord and tenant. He uses the term "capitalgoods to represent the live-stock and implements essential to agricultural production, and the word "capital to represent the money-value of capitalgoods. Land, capital-goods, and labour being the three factors of agricultural production, he discusses the economic properties of each. In regard to labour, which includes the work of the farmer himself, he advances some interesting economic propositions, especially as to the " qualitative and quantitative efficiency of farmers "-qualitative efficiency relating to the return a man can obtain from a given piece of land with a given supply of capital-goods, and quantitative efficiency to the quantity of land and capital-goods which a man can operate. He shows that the farmer with the highest degree of qualitative efficiency can make not only more than a living upon land of any grade, but that he can make the largest net profit on the most productive land after outbidding all competitors for its use. Thus, "owing to the higher rents which the more efficient are willing to pay for the better grades of land, the farmer can secure the largest net profit by employing that grade of land which corresponds to his degree of qualitative efficiency.' In discussing the principles which determine different methods of farming, the author points out that whereas formerly agricultural conditions demanded that farms should produce all that was required by the cultivators, modern conditions of increased population and improved facilities of transport have given rise to what is described as commercial agriculture, the system under which agricultural produce is grown in bulk, and marketed in return for other commodities required but no longer produced by the seller. In this country we pride ourselves upon the superior yield of our agricultural crops. This is, however, due to a system of intensive cultivation, and Dr. Taylor shows that the extensive system of cultivation as pursued in the United States is that which is at present best suited to the economic conditions of the country. Pressure of population in the older States of the American Union is already causing a more intensive cultivation than that previously followed. "In new countries," Dr. Taylor writes, "where land is relatively abundant, extensive culture is generally most profitable, and the average size of farms is usually greater than in older countries where land is scarce, land values very high, and intensive culture most profitable." Incidentally, the book contains many statistical details relating to the United States that are not readily accessible to the general reader. For instance, the land area of the United States is given as 1,900,947,200 acres. The area of the United Kingdom is 77,671,319 acres. The percentage of improved land, or, as we describe it, "land under crops and grass," is in the United States about 22, in England about 76, and in Germany about 60. Again, with regard to the size of farms, in the United States the average is given as 146.6 acres. In England it is about 65 acres (or 85 acres if holdings above one acre and not above five acres be not included); in Germany it is 19.2 acres, and in France 21.4 acres. This variation in the average size of holdings is, of course, significant of the different systems of land tenure, tenant-farming prevailing in England and peasant-proprietorship in France and Germany. In the United States most of the land is either cultivated by its owners or on the sharing principle. According to the census of 1900, the different classes of farmers in the United States are represented in the following proportions:-- An interesting description is given of the American system of share-tenancy," which is scarcely, if at all, practised in this country. The principle of it is something akin to métayage, as adopted in France, Italy, and Spain. A share-tenant in America pays for the use of the farm a proportion (such as onethird or one-half) of the crops cultivated. The share is delivered to the owner in kind. The owner participates in the management of the farm, and, in fact, directs all the more important operations. Under this system the landlords are usually the older and more experienced men, who own more land than they can well cultivate, whilst the tenants are younger men who prefer share tenancy to fixed rent, because their risk of loss is less. (3) Denmark is a concrete example of the success ful development of "commercial agriculture." Mr. Thompson has made an elaborate statistical study of the agricultural conditions prevailing in Denmark, and his facts and figures are well worthy of careful study on the part of economists. Most authorities agree that the prosperity of Denmark is attributable to three causes-the system of land tenure, education, and cooperation. Thrift, the art of wisely saving and wisely spending, is a national characteristic of the Danes, and this, combined with the admirable organisation of their export trade in dairy produce, has enabled them to attain to a greater relative degree of agricultural prosperity than perhaps any other country. Whilst there may be much to admire and copy in the methods of agricultural organisation pursued in Denmark, it should be remembered that this little country is almost entirely dependent upon its exports to the free and immense markets of Great Britain, and that its system of wholesale grading for despatch to one country could not be applied, without modifications, to Great Britain, which has little or no export trade in dairy produce, and whose local home markets are scattered and unlinked with any central administration. E. H. G. |