Abstract
THE annual report of the Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station, Long Ashton, for 1947 has now been published (price 10s.). The problems of the cider industry naturally play a prominent part in the Work of the Station, and a list of suitable varieties for planting has been drawn up. Sweet and bitter-sweet sorts are specially advised, since many orchards at present contain too high a proportion of sharp varieties. Studies on the chemical composition of different ciders have been started and already fresh lines for further research Work are indicated, which may well lead to results of practical importance. Another group of papers deals with the black currant crop. New varieties are described, and management and manorial treatment discussed. The nitrogen requirement of this crop is particularly high, and composts and stable manure alone have proved inadequate. Both fruit and vegetable crops are included in the investigations on plant nutrition. New methods have been developed for studying molybdenum deficiency in sand culture, while in the soil acidity investigations, some account is given of how the specific effects of aluminium toxicity, manganese toxicity, and calcium deficiency in various crops may be distinguished. As regards plant pests, a fluorine compound, bis-(β-fluoroethoxymetbane), has been found to exert remarkable insecticidal properties, when watered on the soil, on beans and cauliflowers. Although compounds of this type cannot be used in commercial horticulture in view of their extremely poisonous nature, the discovery is of importance, for by it, light may be thrown on the process of trans-location within the plant tissues.
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Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station, Long Ashton. Nature 162, 884 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162884a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162884a0