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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1955-02-18, Page 2y E TWO HURON EXPOSITOR Established 1860 Published at Seaforth, Ontario, ��Thursday morning by McLean A. Y. McLean, Editor Subscription rates, $2.50 a year in advance; foreign $3.50 a year. Single copies, 5 cents each. Member of Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association. Advertising rates on application. PHONE 41 Authorized as Second Class Mail Post Office Department. Ottawa SEAFORTH, Friday, February 18 The Future of Fall Fairs Reports of annual meetings of dis- trict Fairs have, on several occasions, stressed references to a trend to- wards fewer fall fairs Members attending the annual meeting of the Seaforth AgricuIturaI Society were told that the difficulty that exists in financing fairs flows in the main from the fact that there are too many fairs. At the meeting of the Exeter Agricultural Society, a speaker went further and was re- ported to have said that Huron Coun- ty . could be adequately served by three fairs. All this seems to point to the fact that the Ontario Department of Agriculture, the department respon- sible for Ontario fairs, has concluded that steps should be taken to con- centrate on the larger and better fairs in each county. The test to be applied to district fairs to determine' their potential role might well be the extent to which a particular fair ap- proaches CIass 'B' qualifications. At the moment, no county fair has met Class 'B' standards, but Exeter and Brussels are well on the road to obtain the higher classification. Sea - forth, the oldest fair in the county, and from the standpoint of location, a logical choice for a continuing fair, has talked about Class 'B', but has taken no positive action to achieve such a rating. Fairs today are big business. And if a particular fair is to properly serve the district in which it is Iocat- ed, it must be operated as a business. That means that not only must the entire community—and that includes the town as well as the country—be behind the project, but at the same time the organization must take steps to ensure that it has availed itself of the best ideas and -assistance the district has to offer. It is not en- ough to do each year what was done the previous year. New ideas must be introduced, new people interested, and a consistent program of improve- ment arrived at. Those fair organizations that don't bother to look at themselves objec- tively may find in the not too distant future that that there no Ionger is a place for them, and that their very existence is threatened. Fall Fair History Reference has been made to the fact that Seaforth Agricultural So- ciety this year will observe the 110th .anniversary of its founding. The Seaforth Society began its career as the Harpurhey branch, which was formed in 1845. References to the early history of agricultural societies in Huron are contained in "The Transactions of the Board of Agriculture of Upper Canada, 1857," which has this to 'say: "There are at present six Branch Societies in the County, viz. Clinton, Harpurhey, Stanley, Hay, Exeter and Brucefield: one in Osborne and one in McGillivrary, which last year were in a flourishing condition, have not been reported this year. "The oldest of these branches is Harpurhey, which was established in 1845, and includes the northeast side of Tuckersmith, part of Hullett and the Township of McKillop. It has about 100 members and is prosper- ing. `Clinton branch is comparatively young, but it is much larger than the,rent society; it is composed of the Townships of Goderich, Tuckersmith and Stanley. iuee id branch, established in 54, ertlbraces the east side of Stan- and the West side of Tuckersmith �►i has about 90 members. I branch, established last January, has 60 members; its meet- ings are held in the village of Bay- field, and its members are from parts of Goderich and Stanley. "Hay branch is three years in ex- istence, and has 112 members; it is composed of the Township of Hay and part of Usborne; it has a good annual show, at which some very _ superior animals, both horses, sheep and cattle, are exhibited. "Exeter branch, in the Townships of Usborne and Stephen, was estab- lished in January, 1854, or rather, including Hay, it embraces what was formerly the "London Road Branch" established in 1845, and which for several years was noted for its pros- perity and the number of fine ani- mals annually brought out. In 1846 the present society made a present of a fine Devon bull to the London Road Branch, and his stock for some years was a credit to the Devonshire settlement but it is now worn out. The present Exeter branch has 87 members, and exhibits at its annual shows, some good sheep and grade cows and the best hogs in the coun- ty." Good English We continue to be surprised by the fact that so many otherwise highly capable people are at a loss to ex- press themselves in the English language. And so were interested in advice which the St. Catharines Standard offers to those who would improve their knowledge of English: "There is only one way to know good Eng- lish," the Standard says, "and this is to study it with religious fervor and tenacity. It provides that great capacity for an individual to enjoy one's self by one's self in good read- ing. There is nothing that pays a better or greater dividend for life than facility in the language of Shakespeare." WHAT OTHER PAPERS SAY: NOTHING BUT OIL (Pueblo, Madrid) The overstatement of the year— disgruntlement department — was uttered by Sheikh Abdullah As-salim As-subah of Kuweit, who currently gets an income of 180 million dollars a year from British and American oil companies. "We keep boring for water," Abdullah said. "And all we get is oil." EDUCATION FOLLOWS (New York Times) A well-trained printer can scarce- ly escape becoming an educated man. If, in addition to his skill in handling type and the other ingredients of book -making, he can contrive to cultivate judicious use of what he and other printers are constantly producing, no true disciple of Ben Franklin's respected. galling need blush in the presence of the most learned faculty. Rather it is for the members of the learned and literary professions to look with due respect to the printer, upon whose skill and taste they will be dependent when- ever they produce a manuscript for printing. A LICENSED AUTO (Peterborough Examiner) We thought we had seen them all: Cars on the highway with one tail- light or none, one headlight or none; without brakes; car -drivers who give no signal or the wrong one; drivers who apparently have not the slight- est idea what white lines on the road mean, or who are blind in both eyes. But an arrested district man in Pet- erborough magistrate's court gets the booby trap prize, according to evidence presented (he also got a $50 fine for not reporting an accident and another of $10 for not having brakes in working order). The police testified that the car which the guilty man was driving had no emergency brake, the foot - brake was useless, the steering gear was loose, the front seat was not pro- perly fixed, and the gas tank was on the rear seat. But, by cracky, the car did have a license—license to operate on the streets and . highways of Ontario. So did the driver. And both, it seems, are still licensed. THE HURON EXPOSITOR SEEN IN THE COUNTY PAPERS Home From Hospital Mr. Bruce Smith,- who has been a patient in Westminster Hospital, London, for the past several weeks where he underwent treatment for a . back ailment, has returned to his home and we trust that his condition will continue to improve. —Blyth Standard. Accident Occurs m Snowstorm Provincial Constable H. Snell, Seaforth, said an accident e.arly last week was due to blinding snowstorms. Damage was esti- mated at $90 when the cars driven by Joe Quigley, Clinton, and Mor- ris Vollick, Mildmay, were in col- lision on Highway 4, north of Clin- ton.—Clinton News -Record. Improving After Illness We are glad to report on the im- proved condition of Mrs. Walter Buttell, who for the past couple of weeks has been confined to her bed through illness. She is now improving nicely and definitely on the road to complete recovery.— Blyth Standard. Takes Heat At Dufferin Races Peter G. Grattan, the only Clin- town owned horse currently active on the winter circuit came through Wednesday at Dufferin 'Raceway in Toronto. This horse owned by Lorne Brown and Dick Jacob took the second heat of the secondary feature of the Class AA pace.— Clinton News -Record. Nurses Receive Caps A capping ceremony took place at South Huron Hospital Monday evening, when Miss Jane Dyke - man, Winchelsea, and Miss Olen Godkin, Walton, nurses -in -train- ing, received their caps and pins. A Valentine party with the hospi- tal staff was enjoyed after the ceremony. — Exeter Times -Advo- cate. Celebrate Anniversary Mr. and Mrs. Henry Flaxbard, of town, celebrated their 40th wed- ding anniversary quietly on Thurs- day, Feb. 10. They have resided in this community all their life. We take pleasure to extend con- gratulations to them and hope they will be blessed with many more happy years and occasions of this kind together. — Zurich Herald. Unemployed Totals Over 780 There was a total of 688 appli- cants seeking employment as of Thursday,of Iast week in the area served by the Goderich National Employment office. This area is all of Huron County with the ex- ception of the Townships of Mc- Killop, Howick, Grey and Usborne. In addition there were 96 people• who are employed off and on tem- porarily. Of the 688 people refer- red to above the majority of them are in the age bracket from 20 to 44 years. In this bracket there were 325 males and 44 females. In. the group under 20 there were 72 males and 12 females. Thew were 141 males in the group from age 45 to 64 .and 17 females. In the bracket 65 years and over there were 74 males and three females. Effective as of February 9, those people reporting in person to the Goderich office will receive un- employment insurance cheques every two weeks, the same as those who report by mail.—Gode- rich Signal -Star. Finds Leg Broken Week After Hurt A Goderich man is in Alexandra Marine and General Hospital with a broken leg after thinking for a whole week that -he had simply in- jured a muscle in the limb. Wil- liam McTaggart, of Mary St., was unloading logs at Petersburg, near Kitchener, a week ago Monday. While working at the job, a truck backed into him and his leg was caught between the rear dual wheels. He went to a doctor in Petersburg and" it was thought it might have been a muscle injury and could see no apparent sign of any break. Returning home, he waited for a few days and then went to see a doctor here. Ile was told to stay ' oft his feet when it was stall thought a muscle had been hurt. When the leg didn't get any better, he was taken on Monday to the hospital for an X- ray and a fracture was discover- ed just above the knee. Also in hospital with a broken leg is Ken- neth Hartman, 11, of Nelson St., who suffered the injury while sliding at a gravel pit.—Goderich Signal -Star. Survives Temperature of 109 Cool water applied with a sponge is credited with saving the life of a nine -month-old Blyth girl "burning up" with a fever which raised her temperature to 109 de- grees. Sheila Blake is "still ser- ious, but no longer in critical con- dition" in Clinton Public Hospital, attending physician Dr. W. Street said Tuesday. Her temperature had dropped to 102. Dr. Street worked over the infant from 8 a.m. Saturday to 4 p.m. Monday, spong- ing cool water over her body, ad- ministering oxygen, antibiotics and giving intravenous injections of glucose. She was brbught to hospital by her parents, Mr. and Mrs./ Jack $1.kc, suffering from bronchial pneumonia. "It is the first time I have seen a child with so high a tempereture," Dr. Street said. A temperature of 105 is con- sidered dangerous and few survive a temperature of 108, he added. Sheila is the most recent -of sev- eral similar cases reported in the district. Dr. Street hopes, if all goes well, that Sheila will be able to return home in a week or ten days.—Clinton News -Record. Break -In At Museum Goderich police said Wednesday that no trace had been found of firearms stolen late last week from the Huron County Pioneer Museum in Goderich_ The fire- arms were stolen when thieves broke into the museum building on North St. and smashed open a .display case. Museum Curator J. H. Neill and Harry McCreath, a director of the museum, discover- ed the break last Saturday morn- ing. They said it must have oc- curred sometime within three days prior to the discovery. Police re- ported that seven antique revol- vers and pistols, one air pistol and I5-20 ball caps had been taken, along with an old bull whip. The thieves gained entrance to the budding through a first -floor win- dow on the north side. They made their way to the hallway where the case containing the pistols was standing and 'smashed the glass in it. To steal the bull whip, the thieves went into another room in the building and smashed wood- work on doors of another display case_ A wooden jewel box was re- moved from the case and damag- ed also. Included in the loot Mr. Neill said, were two Colt pistols, one of which he had donated to the museum himself; one pistol brought here from Ireland over 100 years ago and donated by a Gorrie woman, a flintlock pistol of unknown age and a two-barrel- Ied pistol donated by a Wroxeter man. "The air pistol was dated 1875," the curator said, "and was the only one of that age and type that I had ever seen. I doubt if there's another one like it any- where." Mr. Neill said the loss was a definite blow to the mus- eum. He pointed out that hours of work had gone into collecting and preparing the firearms for exhibition. Goderich Signal -Star. Mary had a little lamb. It drank some gasoline. Then it wandered near a fire and since has not benzine. CROSSROADS (By JAMES SCOTT) IDLE LAND The other day I was reading in the paper about a young fellow called Boynton, who was • talking to some Junior Farmers down in Toronto. This lad Boynton was saying something which I have often heard before. He said that it was a shame that city people with a lot of money came out in- to the country and bought up good farms and then just used them like playthings they were tired of and let them stand idle. Mr. Boynton said that this was the reason a lot of boys born on the farm were going to the cities and that if those rich city slickers would only leave the good land alone so the young farm fellows had a chance at it, there would be no problem about keeping the lads down on the farm. 1 hate to argue with anybody who seems so sure of himself- as Mr. Boynton, but, if I may, am I allowed to make a timid com- ment? If I am, then I say: Nonsense! I don't know how old Mr. Boyn- ton is, but he'll be somewhere be- tween sixteen and twenty-six. To these old eyes that's a real young age. My guess is that after he bas been around a little longer he is going to come to realize that just as long as boys are boys there are always going to be a lot of them attracted to the bright lights of a big city. As far as I can see, you could offer every boy raised on the farm a hundred acres of good land, complete with buildings and stock and there would still be some who would rather take a sample • of what the world is like on the oth- er side of the fence. If anybody is to blame you can say the culprit is human nature, hot a bunch of rich gents from the city., This human nature, Bo- eing what it is, has a way of mak- ing young fellows restless, It makes a lad feel that he would a lot sooner be on his own, dtiU* dred miles away from the old man than he Would cultivating a good YEARS AGONE Interesting Items Pinked from The Huron Expositor of 25 and 50 Years Ago. From The Huron Expositor February 21, 1930 Mr. Jim McCrea, of London, spent the weekend with his par- ents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert McCrea, Londesboro. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Widcombe and daughter, Mary, of Bayfield, left on Saturday to visit - their daughter, Mrs. Allen Pye, at Wind- sor. Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Jowett, . of Bayfield, had for weekend guests Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Radar, of War - road, Minnesota. They motored all the way and found more snow from London to Bayfield than any other part of the trip. Mr. Radar is manager of a large mine and mill at Warroad. They left Bay- field for Toronto, and then to North Carolina. Mr. Walter McBeth, of Saskat- chewan, was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. William Henry, Brucefield, and was also renewing acquaint- ances with many of his old friends. Mrs. R. Pearson, of Goderich Township, visited at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Rattenbury, Brucefield, last week. farm right next door to papa who is going to tell him how to run it. And there is another point too. The number of acres in this province which are actually stand- ing idle because some wealthy playboy owns them is very, very .small indeed. Most rich men are of the breed which insists that ev- erything they own show a profit and any farm I have ever seen owned by a millionaire was a good one, with the best of equipment, running to show a black balance in the books. When you get right down to it, there is still lots and lots of good land available if a young chap wants to work for it. I can • go ten miles in any direction from this town and chow Mr. Boynton land that is waiting to be used. And 1 can show him a Iot more real good farms which stood idle for years and years until some enterprising Dutch emigrant came into the country and started making it pro- ductive again. Oh the land is there and avail- able, all right. But as 1 said, there is a little catch which goes along with it—"you have to work if you want toget it. I don't know what kind of re- ception Mr. Boynton's talk got from the Junior Farmers, but if there were any Huron County lads there I'll bet they didn't give him much of a hand. The felIows I know around here are the kind who aren't afraid of scratching for what they get. Just because they see some broker with a Cadillac put white -painted fences all around his farm they aren't going away to sulk because no- body gave them a hundred acres clear. The lads I now aren't go- ing to go around blaming anybody else. They may wish they were getting on a bit faster and that they had a few more sheckies in their jeans, but they're not going to just sit down and talk about it. They're going to go out and work for If, and they re going to he better metot fit too. Miss Marjorie Pearce, Exeter, spent the weekend with her par- ents, Mr. and Mrs. Will Chapman, near Hensall. The new post office in Exeter is nearing completion. jt is expect- ed it will be completed and ready for occupancy about the middle of March. When fnished it will be an asset to the community, as the town was in need of such a com- plete office. Beaver Bros., Credi- ton, are the contractors. Miss S. Blachford, of Toronto, spent the weekend with friends in Bluevale. Mr. Frank McClinchey, who is attending O.A.C., at Guelph, spent Sunday at his home in Stanley. Mr. James Delgaty, of Gilbert Plains, Manitoba, has sold his farm on the Bronson Line, Stan- ley, to Mr. Sam Holmes, who has had it leased for a number of years. Congratulations are extended to Mr .and Mrs. Nicholas Krauskopf, of McKillop, on the arrival of a son, Phillip Joseph, at -St, Joseph's Hospital, London. Mr. Wilson Carlile has sold his fine 100 -acre farm on the Parr Line, Stanley, near Hillsgreen, to Mr. John B. Forrest, of Hay Town- ship, who gets possession March 1. Mr. Forrest already owns a good farm on the Parr Line and when he takes over Mr. Carlile's farm be will have two fine farms on that line. Mr. George Stephenson, Walker- ton, spent the weekend with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. • Robert Stephenson, Hillsgreen. Mr. Joe Speare and daughter, Ada, of Cromarty, are at present spending a few days at Vineland and St. Catharines visiting friends. Miss Carolyn Hglmes, R.N., of Boston, is visiting at the home of her father, Mr. S. T. Holmes, in Seaforth. ' • From The Huron Expositor February 17, 1905 Mr. Alexander Dow, of Exeter, has disposed of his dairy and milk business to Mr. William Rivers, of Hay, who starts in on the 1st of April. On Sunday, Jan. 29, •Mr. and Mrs. George Hawkins, who are spending the winter with their son, J. B. Hadkins, Goderich, cele- brated the golden anniversary of their wedding day. ^ Mr. J. Sparrow, of Stanley, re- cently purchased a handsome driv- er from Mr. Casper Waiper, of the Bronson Line. near Zurich, for which he paid the high figure of $190. The animal is sorrel in col- or and is as pretty as a picture. Surely it pays to raise high-class horses. Mr. and Mrs. Jonah White, of Manitoba, are visiting relatives in Tuckersmith. Mr. James Ballantyne disposed of three fine horses last week for which he received the handsome sum of $625. Mr. Ballantyne al- ways keeps good horses. Miss Maud Campbell, Tucker - smith, is visiting her sister, Mrs. D. M. Hackney.. Mr. Win. Borland, after spend- ing a few weeks visiting his par- ents in Tuckersmith, returned to the West to resume his position as operator. Mr. John Sparrow, Varna, ship- ped a carload of good horses from Clinton for the Northwest on Wed- nesday. Mr. Sparrow is getting in early and we hope he will do well with his horses, as he deserves to do. Mr. R. Murray, of Toronto; Thomas, of Owen Sound; John, of Dundas; James, of Exeter, and George, of Iowa, were in Hensall this week, attending the funeral of their sister, Mrs, W. C. Moir, on Monday. . Mr. Dalrymple, Jr., Hensall, has purchased the dwelling of the late Duncan Robertson, together with several lots. Miss King, of Kincardine, was in Hensel] this week visiting her brother, Mr. A. King, G.T.R. ag- ent. Mr. Wesley Dickson, of Winni- peg, and Mr. Andrew Johnston, of Alberta, are visiting this week at Mr. A. Johnstah's, Walton. Mr. William Hoy, Walton, has disposed of his house and property in the village to Lipdsay Bros., of Grey, who propose starting a hardware store. Mrs. S. Brownell and family left Seaforth this week for Detroit, where they will in future reside, and where Mrs. Brownell has two sons. Mrs. Brownell has been a resident of Seaforth for a great many years and her numerous friends will unite with The Exposi- tor in wishing herself and her estimable family health and hap- piness in their new home. Mr. Jas. Wilson has purchased the new residence of Mr. Harry Edge on John St., -paying for it 'ANA It is one of the nicest real- dences in Seaforth,i„_ 101, itqt FEBRUARY 18, 1,956 TO THE EDITOR: Box 100, Seaforth, February 12, 1955. Editor, The Huron Expositor: Dear Sir: On behalf of the Hur- on County Tuberculosis Associa- tion,- I should be much obliged to you if you would publish in your paper our thanks to all who have helped to make our 1954 Christ- mas Seal Campaign a success. We appreciate the generosity of those, who by their contributions, are assisting in making possible the control of- the dread disease in our county. Free chest clinics are held monthly in five centres, and the recent donations are providing for a continuance of this service and also for an increase in the attempts to educate our public in the importance of these regular chest examinations. The present. campaign will close February 28, and the Association hope that those who have not yet sent he their contributions will do so be- fore that date in order that the service to our county need not be curtailed. We would also thank all volun- teers who helped in preparing the seals for distribution, and the . Postmasters and their assistants for thei1p in delivering them. Tharffla§ you for the publicity which you have freely given to• this important cause, I am. Yours sincerely, F. J. SNOW, President Huron Co. TB Association MAN WITH A SHOVEL (From The New York Times) The Winter's prpblem of snow removal must be one of the oldest known to man. It is all too easy to imagine the expression of the first householder as he emerged from his cave one morning to find before • him ten inches of newly fallen snow. His expression seems a little puzzled? No doubt. But his puzzlement is not about the texture of snow, which on the whole is rather soft and pleasant; but about how to get rid of the miserable stuff. It may be assumed that the first householder is the same one who the day before invented the wheel, and so intellectually is a bit above his neighbors. Yet he is puzzled. What can be ❑sed to remove snow? He- can be imagined as scratching his head, trying out various on -the -spot inventions to get it out of there, and then pick- ing up his shovel. That imple- ment he had invented a fortnight. before the wheel. It is too dreadfully easy to im- agine his expression as he stoop- ed over and up, over and up, as he removed the snow from his path. And then to dissolve, as the movies say, to 1955, it also is too dreadfully easy to see the same expression on the face of any householder faced with snow. The expression still is of puz- zlement, just as the implement. still is a shovel. THE PIONEER'S RED FLANNELS (From The Calgary Herald) A suggestion has been made that the wearing of red flannel under- wear by the pioneers is sufficient justification for the wearing of pastel -colored underwear by the modern male. This is nonsense; Now the effect of television on society is something that the sociologists will ponder for many years, and it may be reasoned by some that one of the great ad- vances brought about by television will be more colorful clothing worn by males. According to Lorain Fawcett, New York color consultant, TV types have had to wear pastel - colored shirts because straight white shirts do not show up clear- ly on television screens. The performers wore their tele- vision shirts of pink, yellow and lavender outside of the studios and according to Miss Fawcett, the man -on -the -street thought they weren't bad. We will not discuss here the probability that the men - on -the -street outside Radio City might not be representative of men on moist streets. That Miss Fawcett regards the clothing world with a different per- spective than a man's is perfectly obvious fromher comment that "T -V did for men what Dior and Dache do for women". If men re- act to this the way they have to the news of what Dior's H -line is going to do for women, television will soon be replaced by radio. But the former Vancouver girl, whose love for color may reflect her upbringing under the grey skies of the coast city, is making a mistake that cannot go uncor- rected when she asks "Pioneers wore red flannels so why shouldn't the modern male wear pastel shorts?" Let it be understood that the man who wore red flannels was a man. The Blizzard Busters of yester-year were worn not to please cameras (and certainly lad- ies did not discuss them) but to protect the wearer from the raw- ness of a Winter that came in No- vember and stayed until April. Bachelor types put 'em on in the Fall, and took 'em off in the Spring, and in the interim they served as pyjamas, bathrobes, in- formal shirts, and indoor work -clothes. When they were put on with first real frost, they itched, in red ,not pastel, shades. Maybe some ladies wore them too, when they were going out inthe weath- er, but the color was not for beau- ty; the red flannels were strictly a garment for utility. Pastel shorts may be a sign that men will soon be wearing "vivid colors for suiting material", as Miss Fawcett hopes, but let's have none of this nonsense about the pia eer's underwear being really the same thing. R d flannels were men's wear and, Miss Fawcett, it talk men with -ed blood to wear them. May- be aybe t modern pastels are just a pale eflection of the days when men 'ere men, and when color TV be owes general men will in- sist on solid greys and navy blues. Individuality of Seed Samples To people not• experienced in dealing ikith seeds, any two lots of seed from the same crop usual- ly seem very much alike. After some experience has been gained, the superficial appearance of •the seed indicates its variety and to some extent the conditions under which it has been produced. In wheat, for instance, the shape of the kernel, its color, the promin- ence of the germ and brush, are characters which indicate the var- iety, while abnormality of color, degree of plumpness, the smooth- ness of the seed coat, the amount of cracking, and the amount and type of material collected on the brush indicate the conditions un- der which the seed was produced. For instance, dullness and darken- ing of color indicate that the seed was exposed to wet weather; whit- ish patches,within the kernel (pie- baldness) indicate that it was pro- duced on soil deficient in- nitrogen. The presence of "bronzy" kernels shows that the crop ripened very quickly. Blistering of the seed coat shows that the maturing crop was exposed to frost. Cracking of the kernels is associated with threshing during very dry weath- er. A high percentage of shrunk- en kernels indicates damage from droug1 or rust—the presence of many rust spores on the kernel brush indicates rust and their ab- sence drought. If one germinates a sample of seed in soil, one may observe that some of the shoots may be reddish while others are not. This indi- cates that the sample, although true to variety, is a mixture of strains, A mixture of strains is indicated also by a variation in the roughness of the leaf blades. If one places the seed on moist paper and incubates it in a moist atmosphere, one may, with the aid of a strong magnifying glass, tell a great deal about the amount and kind of surface contamination by fungi, especially when such a test is supplemented by microsco- pic examination of the material washed off with water from the seed surface. Finally, if one dis- infects the seed surface and then incubates the seed on a nutrient jelly, one can determine the kinds of fungi within the seed, made during tests, at observations Science Ser- vice Plant i'athology Laboratory, ;Il' Winnipeg, on several thousands of samples of cereal seed. Investiga- tion showed that each lot of seed has its own particular character- istics which serve to identify the sample with considerable certain- ty. Difference in the development of certain characteristics is often greater between samples of seed of the same variety than between samples of different varieties, and the degree of development of these characteristics may be_ a clue as to how the seed will germ- inate when- sown under farm con- ditions and what ought to be done to help assure a good crop. • Testing Barley Seed For Smut In the past it has been custom- ary to inspect all barley fields in- tended for production of registered seed and, among other things, pre- sence or absence of smut in the standing crop was recorded, states R. C. Russell, Plant Pathology Laboratory, Saskatoon, Sask. If the percentage of smutted heads was too high, seed from such crops could not be sold as registered seed. Since the percentage infec- tion in the new crop of seed does not always correspond with the amount present in the parent crop this method sometimes gave very unsatisfactory results. In recent years a method has been developed for determining the percentage of infected em- bryos (germ cells) present in any sample of barley seed. A repre- sentative sample of seed is ob- tained and the embryos removed from the kernels by chemical treatment. Then they are render- ed transparent by soaking them in other chemicals. Finally they are examined with a mic,aeosco e. The mycelium of the smut can be seen in infected embroys and the per- centage infection determined. Ex- tensive field experiments have shown that the percentage, as de- termined by the embryo test, cor- responds closelj%- with the percent- age of infected plants that will ap- pear in the crop if seed is sown. without treatment for loose smut. The embryo. test not only tells the grower whether or not treat- ment is necessary. It also en- ables him to select smut -free seed lots and this avoid the high cost of the treatments that will control this disease and the weakening effects of such treatment on seed germination. a •