Alleged Poisonous Nature of White Cedar Berries. WITH reference to the brief article on the subject in the Agricultural Gazette for November, 1893, page 853, attention is again invited to the matter, in view of the following statement in the Agricultural Journal, Capetown, viii, 60 (issue of 14th November, 1895). Pigs and cows were reported affected in the former case; pigs only in the present instance :"In reference to the account given by Mr. Waldeck on page 578, of the disease and death of his pigs, Mr. Francis R. Thompson, M.L.A., reports that he has had several affected, as it appears to him, in a very similar manner, and he has reason to believe that they were suffering through eating the berries of the Cape Syringa' tree (our white cedar). It will be interesting to know if Mr. Waldeck has any Syringa trees about his place, and whether any of our readers has ever had pigs or other stock poisoned by these berries. 6 "The Cape Syringa,' so called, is Melia azedarach, L., a handsome Asiatic tree now acclimatized in all the warmer temperate regions. It is conspicuous by its lovely scented lilac blossom in spring, and later in the year by its multitudes of greenish yellow berries, which persist long after the leaves have fallen. All parts of the tree are bitter, purgative, and vermifuge, becoming poisonous in large doses. In India the seeds are bruised up and mixed with fat, in order to poison stray dogs. The powder of the root has been used in American pharmacy as a worm-remedy. Everyone must decide for himself whether its virtues, thus enumerated, counterbalance the poisonous effects of its scattering berries." The Weeds of New South Wales. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. No. 3. [Previous references, 1895; 226, 671, 811.] BY J. H. MAIDEN. LEGUMINOSE. HEXHAM SCENT. (Melilotus parviflora, Desf.) [Previous references, 1891, 16, 177, and 1895, 231.] Ir grows luxuriously in this district, and notwithstanding the assertion by residents here that it kills stock, yet such is not my experience so far, but certainly any cows grazing on it are easily discerned by the odour of their breath. (Forester Deverell, Glen Innes, 20th May, 1896). UMBELLIFERE. HEMLOCK. (Conium maculatum, Linn.) [Previous reference, 1896, 79.] I stated in the reference quoted, that the Rocky River, New England, is the first-recorded locality in New South Wales for this poisonous weed. This remains true, as far as my knowledge goes, but in looking up some old notes I find that the late Forester Guilfoyle, of Moama, sent the plant to the Forest Department in 1890, but no locality appears to have been attached. COMPOSITÆ. COCKLE-BURR. (Xanthium strumarium, Linn ) [See Illustrated article in this month's Agricultural Gazette.] AMARANTACEE. PRINCE OF WALES' FEATHER. (Amarantus paniculatus, Linn.) [Previous reference, 1895, 299.] This common weed was sent to the Department in March, and I reported as follows upon it: "The so-called "Boggabri weed," which is suspected of having poisoned cattle near Glen Innes, is a plant introduced from Asia, and its botanical name is Amarantus paniculatus. It is very widely distributed in this Colony, and sometimes goes under the names of "Red-leg," "Prince of Wales' Feather," &c. It belongs to an eminently non-poisonous natural order. The seeds of one Amarantus are used for human food, like millet. But the present species is indigestible, and almost destitute of nutriment. Cattle feeding immoderately on it might be expected to suffer in the way that stock do from consuming large quantities of harsh, fibrous material that they are unable to assimilate." Just about the same time Mr. W. J. C. Ross, B.Sc., of Bathurst, wrote:"This plant is excessively common this year in gardens and enclosed paddocks about the town, but not in the open country. Some paddocks are completely covered with it, there being scarcely a blade of grass to be seen. Cattle are said to like it, and it only appears to have been noticed during the last few years.' : The following note is interesting, A. frumentaceus is, by some botanists, reduced to a variety of A. paniculatus (the plant we are now discussing) :"Amarantus frumentaceus, Buch.-One of the most important sources of food to the hill tribes of India. There are two varieties, a golden-yellow and a red. The former seems to be preferred, since it is more cultivated than the latter; but most fields contain, as a rule, a few red plants here and there amongst the golden-coloured crop. Although, no doubt, the young tops are to a certain extent eaten as a vegetable, most of the hill-men speak of this as only an occasional thing; the small seed is the product for which it is cultivated. Indeed, from the fact that it rarely branches, it seems probable that the plant would be injured were the young tops or leaves to be lopped as a vegetable. The unbranched habit is, however, the result of thick, broad-cast sowings. When grown singly it seems to branch. It is, perhaps, one of the most elegant crops cultivated by the hill people. When young, the large leaves (seen at a distance) remind the traveller of a turnip field, but when the terminal golden-yellow or red crowded spikes of flowers appear in the centre of each terminal rosette of leaves, it becomes truly lovely. [Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol., 1, pp. 211-12.] For some notes on proposed noxious weeds legislation in Western Australia, see Journal Bureau Agric. (W.A.), 19th May, 1896. The relative hardness of Australian and By N. A. COBB. THE results of the examination into the relative hardness of Australian wheats undertaken during the last four years at the Wagga Wagga Experiment Farm, New South Wales, have already become widely known through the medium of this Gazette and the local and foreign newspapers. The result of the Wagga Wagga Experiment Farm tests was to place the Australian wheats in the following order as regards hardness, the soft wheats being placed first and the hard ones last. Families of Wheat arranged according to the Hardness of the Grain as determined by the biting-test for three years in succession at the Wagga Experiment Farm. In reference to the above table, at the time of its publication the following remarks were made: "Concerning the relative hardness of the Australian wheats there has been a large amount of talking and writing without knowledge. However imperfect the foregoing results may be, they are the outcome of actual trial, and cannot be accused of being inaccurate or premature. They represent the result of some 8,000 tests, made during a series of years on wheat from land exactly like that of which there are millions of acres in the colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. This latter fact is one that renders all the experiments conducted at the Wagga Experiment Farm of peculiar value to the wheat-growers of the three colonies mentioned. If the relative hardness here given differs from preconceived notions, so much the worse for the preconceived notions, unless it can be shown that the methods here adopted are fallacious-an unlikely contingency. The effect on Fig. 1.-Machine used for biting or crushing grains of wheat, to ascertain the hardness of the grain; a a, arm of a pair of cutting pinchers, fixed to the base-board by means of staples; b, freelymoving arm of same pair of cutting pinchers; c, crank which winds up the ribbon ƒ and thus pulls on the free arm b, through the spring-balance e e and the link d; gg, an arm soldered to the spring-balance so that the carriage h slides freely with a minimum of friction; i, string for pulling the carriage back to the zero-point of the balance; j, a grain of wheat being bitten; k, a pendulum by which the turning of the crank is timed so as to approach the biting or crushing-point always at the same speed. The carriage h is moved during a test by the pointer of the spring-balance, and when the grain of wheat gives way the pointer, springing back, leaves the carriage registering the maximum strain exerted during the test. the grain of the machine used for these tests is too much like that of the mill to permit the results to be ignored. I may add that it has received the approval of experts, whose knowledge of the subject gave weight to their opinion. It is admitted on all hands that the hardness of a wheat is one of its important properties, and it may, I think, be regarded as demonstrated that the machine described in these pages is actually capable of showing at least fairly well what this hardness is.' The following extracts from newspaper reports may be of interest in this connection, and in explanation of the machine used : : "A machine to determine the cracking point of wheat has been devised, and this is extremely ingenious in design. In pointing out its action, the Doctor said: "I took this hint from the millers, who frequently test the grain they purchase, by putting it into the mouth and biting it. If the wheat bites hard, it will break hard in the mill, and that determines the horse-power to be used in grinding it, and the expense the miller is put to in that respect. I ground this pair of cutting-pincers, so as to represent as nearly as possible the edge of the front teeth of a middle-aged man. I took pieces of wax and sent them down to the men on the farm in order that they might bite them and leave the impression of their teeth, from which I could get the average size. I did not say to the men what this was for; I enjoyed being a bit mysterious, and some of them would not bite, thinking |