Progress of Penny Postage.

Progress, Volume I, Issue 6, 2 April 1906, Page 153

Progress of Penny Postage.

Mr. J. Henniker Heaton, M.P., the apostle of universal penny postage, arrived at Plymouth recently from Egypt after his trip to Australia and America. In an interview with a Daily Mail representative he stated that two countries had agreed to accept foreign penny postage, but that he could not mention which countries these were until he had brought the matter before the Postmaster-General. Mr. John Wanamaker, the United States Postmaster-General, was, he added, very favourable to the idea of penny postage.

A bulletin dealing with nitrogen-fixing bacteria has just been issued by the N.Z. Agricultural Department The subject is dealt with exhaustively by the Government Biologist (Mr. T. W. Kirk). He says that during the past year great prominence has been given to the question of nitrogen-fixation by the nodule bacteria on the roots of leguminous plants. This is due, in the main, to the recent very successful work carried out by the United States Department of Agriculture with regard to the artificial inoculation of legumes with cultures of •these bacteria. Last year he obtained from Dr. T.

Moore (Department of Agriculture), to whom we owe our present system of manufacturing cultures, a supply of culture for the treatment of beans, peas, vetches, and red clover. Part of the culture he sent to Mr. Clifton, who is in charge of the experimental station m the Auckland provincial district, and the remainder he tested at the Wereroa experimental station. Three plots of each of the above kinds of seed were sown — (i) no treatment, (2) soilmoculation, (3) seed inoculation. The results proved, (1) that on land which will already produce a good crop of legumes the inoculation is of little benefit to the crop treated ; but (2) it increases the number of nodules on the roots and consequently the quantity of nitrogen left m the soil for the benefit of a following crop, such as grain or roots, which have not the power of providing nitrogen for themselves ; (3) the inoculated seed invariably gave better results than the inoculated soil. Mr. Kirk is arranging to supply farmers with small quantities of treated and untreated seed, m order that they may conduct test plots for themselves.

Our forefathers contentedly rode animals, or walked. But the inventor arose, and with him — railways. Ere these were fully appreciated, tramways occupied the inventor's thoughts. Later, that inestimable boon, whereby every man can make his own " wheels go round " — the cycle — materialised. But cycles aren't everybody's mount, so inventors again bent themselves to multiply man's means of transit, and created motor cars. Next there will arrive foot cycles, air-ships, some, no doubt, operated by gas Amongst the gas operated mechanisms of the future may be Whitfield's. C. Whitfield had a hobby in gas. This materialised into a patent, the patent into a company. This was formed on the 18/4/05. Its title was Auto Gas Plant Lim. Its capital The patent acquired was British patent No. 13,938, of 1904, for " Improvements m apparatus foi the generation purification, and storage of combustible gas."

Fitted with " purdah " blmds, which make it impossible for those outside to see the occupants, a luxurious motor car has been made for the Maharajah of Vizianagram for the use of his wives.