Advisory Officers Research Articles

The approval scheme as seen by a specialist advisory officer

The approval scheme as seen by a specialist advisory officer

New Sibthorpian Professor at Oxford: Mr. G. E. Blackman

MR. GEOFFREY BLACKMAN, son of Prof. V. H. Blackman, goes to Oxford next term as Sibthorpian professor of rural economy. He succeeds Prof. J. A. Scott Watson, who last year joined the Ministry of Agriculture as chief education and advisory officer. Mr. Blackman was educated at King's College School, and at Cambridge (St. John's) where he took both parts of the Natural Sciences Tripos. After a year of postgraduate work in the Soil Physics Department at Rothamsted, he took up, in 1927, the headship of the Botany Section of the Jealott's Hill Research Station, Berkshire, then newly established by Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. In one sense his researches during his eight years tenure of the post were directed to practical ends, such as the improvement of pasture by various combinations of fertilizer and grazing treatments, and the use of various chemicals in the control of weeds. But he contributed materially to the application of modern statistical methods to the botanical analysis of pastures and, what was more important from the long-term point of view, played his part, along with the Aberystwyth workers and others, in developing the ecological approach to grassland problems and to those of weed-crop competition.

Appointments Vacant

APPLICATIONS are invited for the following appointments on or before the dates mentioned: ASSISTANT TO THE ADVISORY OFFICER IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY— The Secretary, West of Scotland Agricultural College, 6 Blythswood Square, Glasgow (February 10).

Agricultural Research Institutes

The reports on the work of the agricultural research institutes in the United Kingdom carried out during the year ending September 1930 have now been published (London: H.M. Stationery Office. 5s.). The volume also includes reports of a number of other investigations, particularly into animal diseases, set afoot by the Agricultural Research Council, and accounts of the research activities of the agricultural advisory officers. Those who require fuller information on any subject are invited to consult the original papers, a list of which is attached to each report, or to inquire of the director of the institution concerned. Farmers and others in need of advice on agricultural or horticultural matters are reminded that by applying to the agricultural organizer for their county, they can draw direct benefit from these research and advisory services. It is perhaps unfortunate that so much delay occurs before these reports are published, as thereby some of their value is inevitably lost.

Bibliography of Soil Science, Fertilizers and General Agronomy, 1931–1934

IN 1929–1930, eight Imperial agricultural bureaux were set up to act as clearing houses of information on different aspects of agricultural research and practice for the use of research and advisory officers in theColonies and Dominions. One of their functions has been to issue abstracts of all the important papers and reports published in every country that bear on their respective subjects. The book under review is an index of all the papers abstracted by the Imperial Bureau of Soil Science, one of these eight bureaux, during the four years it has been issuing abstracts. It covers all the agricultural aspects of the work done in soil science, and in soil and crop management, but is only concerned with plant breeding, plant diseases or animal husbandry in so far as they depend on the soil or its management. Bibliography of Soil Science, Fertilizers and General Agronomy, 1931–1934 Pp. xxxi + 473. (Harpenden: Imperial Bureau of Soil Science, 1935.) 25s. net.

Progress of Agricultural Research

THE sixth of the series of annual summaries of scientific and economic research work in agriculture has been published by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, entitled “Agricultural Research in 1930”. The survey which the volume contains is not limited to work done in Great Britain, but includes reference to the activities of experimental stations in all parts of the world, in so far as they have a bearing upon the problems of British agriculture. The present volume follows upon the lines of the previous issues as to the seven departments of research covered, and each of these sections is compiled by an acknowledged authority on the subject. The volumes are issued free to members of the Society upon application to the Secretary, 16 Bedford Square, London, W.C.I, and at a nominal charge of 1s. 3d., including postage, to the general public. The Research Committee, under the direction of which they are prepared, is desirous that the information contained in them should be drawn upon freely by county agricultural advisory officers and by the Press, so that it may receive a wide publicity.

DR. W. G. Smith

SCIENCE has lost a distinguished agricultural botanist in the death of Dr. W. G. Smith, who died in Edinburgh on Dec. 8,1928. Dr. Smith was born in Dundee on Mar. 20, 1866. He graduated in pure science in the University of St. Andrews, and after a short period of teaching in the Morgan Academy, Dundee, became a lecturer in agriculture under the Forfarshire County Council. Later he acted as a demonstrator in botany in the University of Edinburgh under the late Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour. Proceeding to Munich, he took a two years' course of study, gaining there in 1894 his doctorate of philosophy for a thesis entitled “Untersuchung der Morphologie und Anatomie der durch Exoasceen verursachten Sprossund Blatt-Deformationen.” This thesis was afterwards translated into Italian. Another result of his sojourn in Munich was his translation of von Tubeuf's standard work on the “Diseases of Plants by Cryptogamic Parasites,” which appeared in 1897. On his return from Germany, Dr. Smith became lecturer in botany in the University of Leeds, where he remained for “eleven years. In 1908 he was appointed chief of the biology department of the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture. For the last twenty years the College was his headquarters. Recently, under the scheme for the development of research work in agricultural problems, Dr. Smith was appointed advisory officer in agricultural botany to the Board of Agriculture for Scotland.

Obituaries

THERE are many who will regret to learn of the death of Mr. George Newlands, the Advisory Officer in Soils in the North of Scotland College of Agriculture. Mr. Newlands was a graduate of the University of Aberdeen and specialised in geology and in chemistry. After serving for a time as assistant to Dr. Gibb, the professor of geology, he worked as a chemist in munition works during the War. After his war service he joined the staff of the North of Scotland College of Agriculture as a research worker in soils under Prof. Hendrick, with whom he published a number of papers on the mineralogical constitution of the soil. He recently went to visit laboratories on the continent engaged on research work on soils; when there he was taken ill and died rather suddenly in Berlin. Never of very robust health, he had overstrained himself in an attempt to see as much as possible in a limited time. Soil science has lost in Mr. Newlands a worker of great promise who had reached the stage at which his work was becoming fruitful.

The Developmet Commission

THE report recently issued by the Development Commissioners for the year ended Mar. 31, 1927, is mainly a series of summaries of work in progress at the centres of agricultural research assisted from the Development Fund, and as such is a convenient source of reference. The part relating to fisheries is much shorter, but indicates the activity in sea and other investigations. Another useful reference is the list of publications for 1926-27: (a) relating to researches carried out at agricultural research institutes aided from the Development Fund, (6) published by advisory officers, (c) relating to researches carried out at fisheries laboratories aided from the Development Fund. These reports indicate that the Development Commission is expected to supervise a field that includes animals, plants, soils, economics, on to the welfare of the countryside, and even provision of harbours and the widening of roads.

Practical Bacteriology (An Introductory Course for Students of Agriculture)

Agronomy JournalVolume 17, Issue 10 p. 653-653 Book Review Practical Bacteriology (An Introductory Course for Students of Agriculture) By Andrew Cunningham, Advisory Officer and Lecturer in Bacteriology, Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh and London. Pp. VI + 188. American distributor, D. Van Nostrand and Co. R. E. B., R. E. B.Search for more papers by this author R. E. B., R. E. B.Search for more papers by this author First published: 01 October 1925 https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1925.00021962001700100020xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume17, Issue10October 1925Pages 653-653 RelatedInformation

Agricultural Research in Great Britain

THE “assistant principal” at the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. V. E. Wilkins, has prepared a valuable pamphlet,1 which gives a useful account of the various forms of agricultural research that are being supported financially by the State. As is well known, the Ministry decided to concentrate research at definite institutions; Rothamsted is concerned with plant nutrition, soil problems, and plant pathology; Cambridge has entrusted to it plant and animal breeding, and animal nutrition; Long Ashton, a branch of the University of Bristol, deals with fruit growing and preserving; plant physiology is dealt with at the research institute attached to the Imperial College of Science; dairying at Reading; animal pathology at the Royal Veterinary College; agricultural zoology at Birmingham; helminthology at the London School of Tropical Medicine; agricultural economics in Oxford; plant breeding, with particular reference to Wales, at Aberystwyth; fruit growing and hops at East Mailing; and nursery and market gardening at Cheshunt. Besides these research institutes and stations the Ministry has set up a system of advisory centres from which information in respect of specific subjects is disseminated by advisory officers who also, in many cases, undertake a certain amount of research.