MacBRIDE SPEAKS - Trinity News Archive

Agricultural,rld atn intopi.uio~s~ed the0f ourwentputty_rstand_dd that.~ue a~d[gs and;ome ofthi~gsal theym thestandstergentVlost oftement.fe it isg of uswe are, create. Some-~ems to~t hopethe badfll untilTar our~ed thend laidbt theirple who;s untilYough 3,~nd forat the~ir conmshut~ps theLe bombPerhaps)erhaps,Ldget inLc. Yes,I’m notPerhapsLasheLay fallwill beup . . .". Don’t; it mayre is to~pening,at leastm neverre have~ve beenLhought,~ome ofn thinkyif theor thena falseinitialexist ?",ork hasand inlseful.d do notthey sitong, inisright,further.the conofFate; of our)ening athinking;asier tozerybodyclearly~but eachthe healeemightre mightidual.xust aa~n~~nedrot, then,he worst;der willunderareveryificationsa littleingLtd.Dublin| 79164upplementfl{INITY NEWS February 26, 1959HERE, in this modern age,W¯ is Science taking us? Mostpeople will answer, "Towardshigher standards of living ", whichperfectly true if material wealthand economic profitability arelabelled the criteria of success;but can we in fact say that ourliving standards to-day are higher?Are Science and Industry doingwhat the inventors and discoverers~ped that they would do---namely,,sing their discoveries for thebenefit of mankind? This is to bedoubted when we have neurosis,mlemployment, crime and difficultteen-age problems as some of thehi-products of industrialisation.However, when we survey theagricultural world, the picture is abrighter one, for here SCience hasassisted man in his oldest craftwithout profoundly destroying hispattern of life.Since time immemorial farminghas been man’s natural occupation,md as a way of fife it has survivedthe changes of the centuries remarkablywelL With the developmentof communications came theASK ALWAYS FORLODGEfor yourTRACTORCARMOTOR CYCLEEtc.LODGE being the onlySpark Plug with theCHROMISEDELECTRODETo Give Longer LifeCHANGING?specialisation of labour, but Agri-being widely used in the applicaculturestill remained the mainstaytion of sprays and fertilisers; exofthe community, and it was notuntil man could supply more foodthan he and his family needed thatlabour was freed to industry. Thecalves for the farmer, and tractorsare even beginning to drive themadventof the enclosure system andof the Industrial Revolution wasresponsible for the movement ofthere is still that element of unthepeople to the towns, and sobrought to an end a pattern of ruralfife that had been prevalent formany centuries~ Nowadays Agri-culture has to compete seriouslywith Industry for labour andcapital, but Industry in returnprovides her with the machines todo the job quicker.Science and Industry, it must besame character. It is still a satisadmitted,are changing the out-ward appearance of farming. To-day the peaceful uses of AtomicScience are playing a bigger partin agricultural research, and vastareas of previously uncultivatableland are now producing food toIn e e t t h e world’s increasingdemands. There is the prospecting still throughout Europe is thefamily farm, which as a unit, comthatthe desert regions may be afuture source of food; aircraft areContentsperiments are being carried out totry to get cows to produce twinselves. However, no matter whatScience may do for Agriculture,predictability in its success, due tothat large limiting factor -- theweather. If the weather is notright, all scientific aids are useless,and man has yet to find out howto influence the weather withoutcausing repercussions elsewhere.In spite of the advances ofScience, farming has retained itsfying occupation in that the resultsof one’s I a b o u r s are usuallyapparent and are related to some-thing that is alive, unlike the workof so many people in industrywhich is often a soulless operationwith little personal touch. Persist-prises all that is socially good. Forsuch people their life is their work,PagePhases of Rural Life. By J. O’Loan ...... 2Free Trade. By Dr. Louis P. F. Smith ...... 3The Kells-Ingram Farm. By P. McHugh ...... 4The College and Agriculture. By G. F. Mitchell ... 5I Married a Mud-Student ......... 6Radio-Activity and Food Supply ......... 7The Flight from the Land. By Lieut-General M. J.Costello ............ 8The Hazards of Fruit Growing. By Major G. Allen 8From Rain Water to Packaged Proteins. ByProfessor M. J. Gorman ......... 9their work is their pride, it surroundsthem and gives themsecurity. It is quite natural thereforeto find that these people arehappy and contented with their lotin fife.It is only in times of adversitythat the townsfolk reallyappreciate the farmer, for the restof the time they are inclined eitherto forget him or to complainagainst high food prices, which infact often bear little relation towhat the farmer actually receives.Very few of these people have atrue concept of what a farmer’slife involves, and their minds arevery often mixed up with suchromantic ideas as, "’ Let’s get backto Nature." Seldom do these peoplereflect on the low wages of thefarm labourer and the fact thatof all people these labourers havenever in history held a generalstrike.Yet we have no right to be corn -~placent, for as the old sayinghasit, "the two scarcest things inlife are dead donkeys and satisfiedfarmers."--Since 1897Are famous for PORK72 TALBOT STREET,¯ DUBLIN

.iPHASES OF RURALLIFE IN IRELANDBy J. O’LOANAGRICULTURAL SUPPLEMENTTHE earliest inhabitants of this country have left their trails along the easternsea coast, mainly in Counties Louth and Antrim. Subsequent to this firstperiod of habitation the land seems to have subsided and it is fairly certain thatpart of the habitat of these early folk is now in the bed of the Irish Sea. Thesepeople are generally regarded as having lived by hunting and fishing and bygathering nuts from the abundant hazel woods which developed after the recessionof the ice. As might logically be expected, in view of their fishing interests and ofthe fact that they probably depended to great extent on water transport, theirtraces are mainly by river banks and estuaries.One might suppose the plane ofnourishment of these people to have beenlow, but, if we have some notion of theabundance of fish which would swarmour rivers inside a half dozen years iffor that period we abandoned our fishingtechniques for theirs, our reactiontowards them will be rather envy thansympathy--and what sport they musthave had!Stone and Wood AgeThis was the so called Paleolithic orStone Age, the later or more advancedpart of which is known as the neolithicperiod, in which, hitherto, we regardedour unfortunate forefathers as havinghad only stone, bone or horn implementsfor their daily tasks. But we are nowbeginning to realise what should alwayshave been obvious, that wood was the~nost readily available, easily workedand generally useful material to hand,and that these are the considerationswhich have at all times influenced manin his use of materials, be he our ownfarmer-fishermen who thatch their stonebuilthouses with seagrass, the earlyAmerican settlers who built a city ofwood called Chicago, or the Eskimoswho live in igloos. As picturing sociallife, therefore, the term " Stone Age"should probably more correctly be "stoneand wood age," and we must realisethat with wooden implements (and alittle extra muscle and skill) quite arespectable degree of crop husbandrywould be possible. Our climate is mostunkind to wood and other organicmateri~ls, and the life of an ordinaryspade or shovel handle, if exposed toweather, or even to damp in storage, isonly about a dozen y. ears; consequently,archaeological specimens .of e a r 1 ywooden implements just hardly existhere, though they have been found inother countries in comparable culturalenvironment. Had the Dead Sea scrollsor Cathay Desert scripts been depositedin Ireland, they would never have beenseen again.The age of stone and w.ood graduallymerged into those of bronze and zron,the latter having developed here about athousand years ahead of Christianity.The Art of WritingWith the coming of Christianity, wechange gradually in our ~naterials forhistory from archaeology, with itshighly interesting and illuminatingmodern techniques, to literature. Wehere are fortunate in having a body ofliterature--the Brehon Laws---developedover unknown centuries prior toChristianity and handed down in oralform till our people learned the art ofwriting in the fifth century. It isinteresting to reflect what this art musthave meant to a people of very considerableculture and having a considerablebody of secular knowledge which, hitherto,they could impart, convey and bequeathonly in oral form. The newpossibilities opened up by the art ofwriting must have been to them anexperience no less wonderful than allthe pho.~etic innovations of our time--telephone, gramophone, radio and theirvariants put together have been to us.The Brehon LawsThe Brehon Laws as they have comete us were in the ~nain written downprior to 735. They were transcribedand translated by John O’Donovan andEugene O’Curry, and published duringthe last half of the last century. Thesetwo scholars worked under a gravehandicap in that Celtic philology wasonly beginning to develop in their time.They had at first neither dictionary norgrammar of .old Irish and they weredealing with a language which over theintervening centuries had changed asmuch as other living languages havedone; the pattern of social organisationwhich the laws depicted was unknown tothem. The translations, therefore, containmany imperfections which aregradually, if slowly, being corrected. Ifit is unsafe to form concrete opinionson social structure and government tilla fully authenticated version of the lawsis available, we can, nevertheless, getfrom them and other souces quite areasonable picture of farming about thelate pagan and early Christian period.The internal evidence of the lawstheir quality, structure and their obviousaim of ensuring the peaceful existence ofthe community--indicate a high level ofintellectual development. The background,basis and subject matter of thisintellectual development were farming,and a farming community of whom theBrehons themselves were part. Alogical assumption would, therefore, bethat the quality of farming itself wouldbe high, and this is very obviously thecase.This is not the place to lay historicalbogies developed in this as in all othercountries by those who attempted orachieved military conquest,’ and the extentto which some of these bogies stillobsess the minds of some of o~r bestknown historians is rather amusing ifnot amazing.A Prosperous and Civilised CountryIt can be stated generally that farmingand the food and social conditionsof the people as indicated by Brehonlaw were of the same quality and atleast as good as those which prevailedin times of peace up to the introductionof agricultural machinery and thepotato in the seventh century. There isevidence not only that their livestockwould compare favourably with that ofpresent tknes, but also that they had aknowledge of livestock quality and productionwhich would appear to have beenlost in later times. David Greene, commentingon the literary development andlater decline, says: "... golden agesare always likely to be terminated bybarbarian invasions. We need not fallinto nineteenth century romanticism ifwe stress the fact that Ireland was arelatively prosperous a n d civilisedcountry during this period. Threatenedby no external enemies or internal ~pheavals,she had lost the habit ofstruggle (had she ever developed it?)and when presented by a challenge fromoutside was unable to respond to it."One might generalise further and saythat " gold," whether as metal, foodstuffsor otherwise, has been the loadstonewhich attracted nearly all invasions.The Type of FarmingFarming, as depicted in Brehon Law,was ~nixed tillage and stock. Strictregulations were laid down as to fencingand penalties specified for non-compliance.Fencing is not a characteristic ofprimitive pastoral farming. Fourdifferent types of fences are so exactlyspecified as to enable anyone to constructthem properly. Roads and fair greenshad to be kept in order. Farmers couldborrow livestock and pay them backwithin three years--a perfectly equitableperiod for breeding stock. Much, if notmost, of the land was held by familygroups in the manner of modern privatejoint-stock companies. The property ofeach adult member of the group was notdistinguishable as a separate area fromthat of the .others, but he could bequeath,but not alienate, his share under ordinarycircumstances. Bread, butter, porridge,milk, meat, fish and vegetables were themain foodstuffs. At different periodsand places, some of these may have beenmore popular than others. Fosterageand the foods proper for children infosterage and the subjects to be taught--farming for boys and domesticenonomy for girls--are indicated. Watermills were common frum early Christiantimes and perhaps earlier. CormacMacArt (ca 250) is credited by JeoffreyKeating as having introduced the firstmill-wright from Scotland. But Scottishagricultural historians credit us withhaving taught them how to grow corn!The impact of the Norse did nothingto improve farming or social conditions.They were the occasion of two centuriesof strife and destruction of seats oflearning. Our round towers, built toresist their ravages, are silent monu-~ments unparalleled elsewhere in theworld to the struggle of simple enlightenmentagainst barbarism.Our InheritanceIt has long been a tradition that our" improved farming" came with, orafter, the Anglo-Normans. Trow Smith,one of the best known English agriculturalhistorians, says in relation to theconquest of England: "The Conquerorbrought no land improvers with him, butonly men of war." The same cripticcomment sums up the position here. Theonly notable addition the Anglo-Nomnansmade to our rural life was the introductionof rabbits which plagued us inrecent years. The system of governmentwhich followed their advent gaverise to a period of internecine strife,stretching down the centuries, whichprecluded the possibility of agriculturaland rural life developing as in neighbouringcountries with the progress oftechnological knowledge. Our task isvery much that of overcoming thehandicap of this inheritance.CONTRIBUTORSThe Dublin University AgriculturalSociety wishes to express itssincere thanks to the firms who sogenerously subscribed advertisements,and to those who so readilycontributed articles to this Supplement.Dr. Louis P. F. Smith is economicadviser to the National Farmers’Association, and is also a lecturerin Economics at UniversityCollege, Dublin.Lieut.-General M. J. Costello isGeneral Manager of the IrishSugar Company.Mr. G. F. Mitchell is the Registrarof Trinity College, and also alecturer in Geology at the University.He is intimately connectedwith the development ofthe Kells-Ingram Farm.Professor M. J. Gorman holds theChairs of Bacteriology andBotany at the Albert College,Glasnevin.Mr. J. O’Loan is attached to theLand Project Office of theDepartment of Agriculture, andspecialises in the study of AgriculturalHistory.Major G. Allen is a Director ofMount Pleasant Fruit FarmsLtd., Bandon, Co. Cork. Thisfarm is becoming renowned forits excellent quality apples.Mr. P. McHugh is the FarmManager of the Kells-IngramFarm.Mr. P. D. G. Read is the Ex-Auditor of the Dublin UniversityAgricultural Society, and tookthe photographs for this Supplement."Trinity News" thanksthe artist, Mr. A. Conway, forpermission to reproduce thedrawings on page 3 of Dr,Louis P. F. Smith and onpage 8 of Lieut.-General M. J.Costello.We also thank the SoilAssociation for permission toreprint "Radioactivity andFood Supply" which originallyappeared in the April, 1958,edition of "Mother Earth."TRINITY NEWS !John Collins Ltd.,Hardware and MachineryMerchantsDROGHEDAEstablished in the year 1775THIRD INAUGURALMEETINGThe Committee andMembers of the Dublin UniversityAgricultural Societyinvite you and your friends tothe third Inaugural Meetingof the Society in the G.M.B. onFriday, 27th February, at8.15 p.m. when the Auditor,Mr. R. O. COBHAM, willdeliver his address:"AgPicultuPal TPading inEuPope"Chairman: Mr. J. J. Byrne.Speakers:Mr. K. RASMUSSEN,Nottingham University.Professor J. B. RUANE.Mr. A. KEHOE.Dr. JUAN GREENE.This Ferguson System Diesel pulls 4 -- 5 furrows, does worknever betbre possible with a wheeled tractor-- and all at rockbottomcosts.That’s because the Massey-Ferguson 65 weighs only 4,000 lbs.There’s no fuel consuming, money-wasting, excess weight.Look at the features :--disc brakes--differential lock--doublep.t.o.--dual clutch--Category 1 or2 implements--6 forwardspeeds--and, if you want it, full power steering.Let us demonstrate this magnificent tractor on your farm,STANDARDISE ONFERGUSONLR. BAGGOT ST., DUBLINReprint from theMASSEY-FERGUSONPHONE 67261 (6 LINES)"DROGHEDA ARGUS"JUNE 29th, 1872" Trial of Mowing Machines atTownley Hall. This trial came offon Saturday and Monday last, asadvertised, the weather being veryfavourable. The winner was aWoods wooden frame of last year’smake. We were glad to see thatthe local agent, Mr. John Collinsof Drogheda, received severalorders on the grounds."About the same time, our firmsupplied and fitted a Water Ramin the glen alongside TownleyHall which pumped water to thehouse and farm up to a few yearsago.LTD.

AGRICULTURAL SUPPLEMENT $FREETRADEREE Trade is dead, or was still-born, in agricultural products. ItF may remain an interesting academic exercise but it is not the :normfor agricultural transactions. For a country such as Ireland the effortto revive it would be futile and bankrupting. We must therefore adjustourselves to the modern rules, even though they may not be Queensbury.Other countries, especially theindustrial nations of Europe, plantheir economies with small interestin the effect on outsiders. We canread the effect of their plans andcalculate their effects on us. Forr e a s o n s political, sociological,economic, strategical or mythical,every country in Europe protectsits agriculture and more especiallyits small farmers. To do so theyprotect the products of intensiveagriculture suitable for smallholders from outside competition,i.e., from us. The industrialcountries have increased their importsof foodstuffs by 12 per cent.between 1938 and 1954 but thecompeting food products have beenreduced 52 per cent. (" Trends inInternational Trade G.A.T.T.,"Oct., ’58, p. 40--Table 13). Aglance at the German Green Planand the French plans for agriculture,or the Swedish or Americanprotection programmes show thatthis tendency is not accidental.The ease with which we can exportmeat, and the difficulty in exportingbutter, bacon and eggs is aresult.In co-ordinating w i t h theseplanned economies we are workingwith known exogenous variableswhich are not reflected in currentmarket prices. The price for someproduct, such as butter, may begood at present but the planned in-Crease in the importing country,due to political circumstances, maygive warning that the market willnot continue to be favourablethough present prices might stinmlateour production for export. Theprice for such products will be.different in each market and thequantity which each market willconsent to buy will be limited.Free competition by farmers,r e a c h i n g their entreprenerialdecisions in isolation, will tend toover-produce for such markets andwill not pass back the differentialprices to a producer. In dealing withplanned economies, present marketprices simply will not convey therequired information of futuredemand and supply on which tobase our decision to produce. Themarket mechanism will not performits function.We must mesh our output withthat of other countries, and do thisto a considerable extent on theirterms. The customer is right evenwhen he is foolish. If we stay outof the long-term contract systemprojected for European agriculruraltrade we are likely to be leftto compete for residual importquotas with non-European producers.Unlike the man whodespaired of freewill and exclaimed:"I am a being that moves, indetermined groovesNot a bus, not a bus, but atram,"if we have not complete freedomof movement, at least we can decideBYDR. L. P. F. SMITHwhether to launch our productionin one direction or another, as thetram driver might decide whetherto go to Dartry or Ranelagh. TheInvisible Hand has become visibleand more obedient.Entering a, system of internationallyplanned production maybe accepted as merely the lesser oftwo evils. It may even be politicallyrepugnant to the jingoist, whetherhe be of the school of Kipling orMussolini. It means subordinatingnational policy to joint decisionwith other countries or by supranationalbody. Britain and theScandinavian countries are unwillingto subordinate their stableGovernments to what appears theless t r u s t w o r t h y continentalpolitical systems. The Irish haveso recently gained freedom thatthey are unwilling to relinquish it,so the choice is not popular. Atleast, it has the advantage ofmaking jobs for economists.We must project the probableoutput trends of our products; thereaction of our markets to stimuli,whether economic or political; theelasticity and cross-elasticity ofmarkets and stomachs (vide:"Journal of Agricultural EconomicsSociety," Vol. 13, No. 2). Thisshould provide our economists withexercise, if not with remunerativeemployment, for the next generation.No one is suggesting a freemarket in agricultural produceexcept possibly the Danes. Thedistribution of the almost staticmarket is not a question ofeconomic competition but ofmaking arrangements by means oflong-term treaties and confrontationsof policy for the supply offixed quantities at artificial prices.Naturally, Ireland should continueefforts to lower costs in productionand in marketing, though byEuropean standards these arealready low. The major task, however,rests with those who negotiateto obtain markets for our outputand by bargaining concessions,political and economic. No smallresponsibility will rest with thosewho advise our politicians andsupply them with the raw materialfor reaching their decisions.PhenovisI.C,I. helps the Irish farmerMinelPhenothiazine B.Vet. C. 95 % w/wPhenothiazine Dispersibte PowderB.Vet. C. 59.02~ w/wCopper Sulphate B.Vet. C. 0.8~ w/wCobalt Sulphate B.Vet. C. 0.8~ w/wMagnesium Sulphate B.Vet. C.0.95~ w/w--ends worm infestation in cattle and sheepHexachloroethane Dispersible Powder B.Vet. C. 39,34% w/wCopper Sulphate B.P. 0.82~ w/wCobalt Sulphate 0.28~ w/wcounters liver flukeHelmoxSodium MetabisulphiteCya~aeethydrazideCalcium PhosphateUrea BP0.15% ~v/w10.00% w/w0.5 % w/w89.35% w/~v--controls hoose in young cattleElimixPiperazine Citrate 86.8~Cpanacethydraz~de 13eliminates lungworm and roundwormin pigsThese animal remedies are the result of LC.I.’s research intolivestock disease.IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES(EXPORT) LTD.qi

4 AGRICULTURAL SUPPLEMENT TRINITY NEWSTheHE Farm was acquired by Trinity College in the spring of 1957. TheTentire estate comprises 850 acres, of which approximately 500 acresare arable, the remainder consisting mainly of woodlands. The soil isglacial in origin and the underlying rock is slate. The lime status islow--before liming, pH. ranged from 49 to 5 3, and the calcium levelfrom 1,500 to 3,000 lbs. an acre. This has now been corrected by theaddition of ground limestone. The phosphate status is low, but, ingeneral, potash level is medium to high. Drainage is satisfactory, apartfrom occasional springs--a feature common to soils overlying similargeological stratm The farm buildings are substantial in structure, butas they are of early nineteenth century construction, many of them needalterations to bring them in line with present-day requirements.Townley Hall.Kells-lngram Farmby P. McHUGH, Farm Manageris generally mixed, it is intendedto operate the Farm along similarlines. Approximately half the totalarea will be under the plough, andthe remainder, apart from a smallarea of permanent pasture, inshort-term leas¯ Wheat will be theprincipal cereal and should contributeconsiderably to output.Barley will also be of importance,but will be grown mainly foranimal feeding on the Farm. Oatswill be grown to a lesser extentand again will be used for homefeeding.Potatoes and sugar beetwill occupy the greater part of theroot break, apart from some feedroots. Potatoes will be producedfor human consumption, but it isintended to have the crop up tocertification standard, thus ensuringa dual outlet.At present, most of the Farm isin permanent grass, much of whichis of indifferent quality. The aimis to bring the plough around theFarm as quickly as possible and,in order to do this, extensive usewill be made of the short-term lea.When all the Farm will be broughtinto productive grass it will bepossible to decide on a definitesystem of rotation.order to study the value of thehybrid for bacon production.Milk, beef and mutton will beproduced almost entirely fromgrass and grass products. Winterfeed will consist mainly of silage,and it is hoped to exploit the selffeedingprinciple to the full, thusminimising labour costs. Again, thegreater part of the pig feed willbe produced on the farm.The woodlands will also beoperated on a commercial basis. Itis hoped to have a succession oftrees in various stages of growth.This is being achieved by arigorous replanting policy on areaswhere trees have already beenfelled and, at the same time, overmaturetimber is being disposed of.Much attention is given to a studyof the most economic method ofscrub clearance prior to planting.Another reason for pursuingsuch a varied farming programmeis to give students an opportunityof gaining experience in allbranches of agriculture. It is hopedthat all students will spend sometime on the Farm before going onto the Albert College to completetheir course. A start has alreadyCOUofInsSUCdeftat~forSCl~~asuniinc]grareslfunlim:honappeirconesta]on 1inclthaitsI1thethecan:unpofthaiin tthaiWThe purpose of acquiring theFarm was threefold’: firstly, tod e m o n s t r a t e good farming;secondly, to give the agriculturalstudents at Trinity College anopportunity of acquiring practicalexperience in farming before completingtheir course at the AlbertCollege, and thirdly, to do someresearch, especially in the field ofagricultural economics,It is felt that the best way todemonstrate good farming is toshow that such farming pays areasonable return on the investedcapital. This is very important,as from figures published as aresult of the National Farm Survey,it is clear that the returns frommany farms in the "over 200 acre"class were far from satisfactory.The objective is to show that largefarms can give a reasonable returnon investment, when managedaccording to modern and scientificmethods. It is hoped to achievethis without the extravagant inputof capital and with resources whichwould be available on any similarsized farm. As farming in IrelandStock grazing on Permanent Pasture.’ :I "i !A Belt of old Timber being cleared for re-afforestation.The livestock programme willalso be mixed. There will be adairy herd of about 30 cows forliquid milk production and a beefherd consisting of Shorthornfemales, mated with a beef typebull. Calves will be multiplesuckled. This programme shouldleave the Farm self-sufficient sofar as cattle are concerned and somake the eradication of bovineT.B. from the farm an easy matter.The sheep flock will consist of200 or more breeding ewes, matedwith a ram of the Down breed. Itis hoped to use more than onebreed of ewe in order to get someinformation on the most suitableand economic cross for lamb production.Pigs will play an important rSlein the economy of the Farm. Therewill be up to 20 breeding sows, allthe progeny being fed on to baconweight. Both Landrace and LargeWhite breeds will be kept; thesewill be bred pure, but, in addition,some crossing will be carried on inbeen made in this respect, whereby farrthe s e c o n d year agricultural rumstudents come to the Farm on one carrday each week for theoretical and alre.practical instruction.theTThe third function of the Farm obviis research. This will be mostly wheconfined to ’economic problems for ! barntwo reasons: firstly, it is an aspect.[ manof Irish agriculture which has redemelos~ceived scant attention in the past Tand for which there is very little thedata available, and secondly, it is fullthe type of research which inter- beferes least with commercial farm,beefing.rootlessThe foregoing is a very brief coulaccount of the projects envisaged Sizefor the Farm. Needless to say, all Irislthese will not come into operation nur~COUIat once. Much development willhawhave to be undertaken before they perwill start to bear fruit. It is hoped whi~to spread this development over a beerperiod of five years, at the end of natitendwhich the Farm should have to iattained the goals for which it was theacquired,side:ecoE

NEWS AGRICULTURAL SUPPLEMENT 5The College and Agriculture~INCE the war, agriculture in Ireland has been a matter of considerable-. concern. Output has risen more slowly than in many other Europeant0untries, and little progress has been made towards the eradicationof bovine tuberculosis. The American Government felt this concern,and allocated in 1954 a sum of $5,150,000 to develop an AgriculturalInstitute. In Ireland, the farmers themselves have formed organisationssuch as Macra na Feirme and the National Farmers’ Association todefine their objectives and to take combined steps towards theirattainment.Since the war the world demandfor scientists, b o t h researchscientists and applied scientists,has increased enormously, and alluniversities have been trying toincrease their output of sciencegraduates. In Ireland, financialresources for the support offundamental research are verylimited, but the universities can dohonourable work in the training ofapplied scientists. It was in thesecircumstances, recognising on theone hand the need for raising thestandard of Irish agriculture, andon the other the need for providingincreased training for scientists,that the College decided to expandits School of Agriculture.In considering the expansion ofthe School, the College started fromthe point of view, first, that Irelandcannot afford more than oneuniversity centre for the teachingof general agricultural science andthat such a centre already existsin the Albert College, and second,that the essential need of IrishSheep grazingfarming to-day is not morefundamental research, but thecarrying of research resultsalready available into the fields ofthe Irish farmers.The first stage of expansion wasobviously the acquisition of a farm,where modern methods of husbandrydirected by competentl lanagement and operated under(lose cost control would bedemonstrated.The College was advised that ifthe farm was to demonstrate thefull range of farming activity tobe expected in Ireland, dairying,beef cattle, pigs, sheep, cereals androot crops, its area could not beless than three hundred acres. Itcould be argued that a farm of thissize is too big to be typical of theIrish holding, but there is a bignumber of farms of this size in theCountry, and this group of farmshave at present the lowest outputPer acre of any of the groups intowhich Irish farms have recentlybeen classified for the purpose of anational farm survey. The moderntendency is for the size of holdingto increase, and the efficiency ofthe large Irish farm must be con-~iderably increased if the nationaleCOnomy is to prosper. The three-hundred-acre unit must be runprimarily as a productive unit, andits efficiency must not be impairedby attempts to carry out a researchprogramme at the same time onthe same acres. The aim is toraise the farming output per acreto two and a half times the averageoutput for this class of farm inIreland.But a university farm cannotrestrict itself to production alone;research must also have a place.Therefore it was decided to buy afarm substantially larger thanthree hundred acres, so thatacreage would be available forresearch work without interferingwith the production programme ofthe base farm.The property acquired is on thenorth bank of the River Boynebetween Slane and Drogheda,thirty miles north of Dublin. Theland is of good, though not firstclassquality. The lime status ofthe soil has been reduced bynatural leaching as well as by con-Beet Tops.tinued cultivation. There will bea tendency to acidity. Acidity is,of course, a tremendous problemin Irish farming (except in the limestoneareas), and it is hoped todo some research on this problem.Soil science is a major field forresearch in Ireland, and one inwhich a university with its departmentsof botany, zoology, geology,bacteriology and chemistry cangive great assistance.There is also a large mansion onthe property, ’erected in 1800 tothe designs of Francis Johnston,one of the most famous of Irisharchitects. The house, TownleyHall, is one of the most importanthistoric houses in Ireland, and itspreservation is of prime importance.Before dispersing the contentsof the ~house, the formerowner presented to the Collegemuch of the existing furniture ofthe reception rooms, which havethus preserved t heir originalcharacter.It is the intention to make themansion the centre of the instructionalwork of the farm. Therewill be a lecture-room, a library, acommon room and a refectory,self - contained apartments f o rsenior research workers, and roomsfor students. The basement willbe re-fitted as laboratories. It isnot intended to confine the use ofthe house to members of the university.It is hoped to make it acentre for conferences and studygroups run by Macra na Feirme,the Irish Farmers’ Association andother groups. To serve these purposes,the house must be providedwith modern central heating,electricity and sanitary facilities.Furniture must be provided, andthe approach roads must be improved.The roof had beenneglected, but the College has nowput this in first-class repair.So far, an attempt has beenmade to give a picture of the projectas a whole. Why is this projectimportant not only for the College,but also for the general improvementof agriculture in Ireland ? Anumber of separate answers canbe made to this question.(i) Many of the large farms inIreland are owned by people ofwealth who run them for amenitypurposes or to show a loss to beset off against other income fortaxation purposes. No attempt ismade to assess accurately the fullamount of capital employed. Underthese circumstances there is no incentiveto do accurate costing, andalmost nothing is known of thereal costs of farms of this size. Anaccurate set of books and of costingsfor such a farm would be ofgreat value.(ii) If a simple type of costingcan be devised to give records ofthe necessary accuracy on theKells-Ingram Farm, it ought to bepossible to form a group of farmersby G. F. MITCHELLA Self-Feed Field Ramp Silo.Spreading Fertiliser with a Rotary Disc Spreader.to keep similar records, and soexpand the cost studies to surveya group of sufficient size to givestatistical value to the group costings.Almost nothing of this typeof work has been attempted inIreland.(iii) Some farms of this sizehave been run by the Departmentof Agriculture on scientific lines,but some of the work has beenslanted in the direction of thecurrent policies of the Department.Many large farmers have wishedfor a large farm, under similarscientific control, but free fromofficial policy, which could providea cross-check on the results ofofficial policy. In these circles theCollege’s acquisition of a farm hasbeen especially welcomed.(iv) Indeed, the very entry ofthe College into the field of practicalagriculture has given a greatmeasure of encouragement to allwho have the future good of Irishagriculture at heart. It has beenwidely felt that the College wasnot pulling its weight in agriculture,and that the College shouldhave started to make a real effortin this field, at a time when theoutlook for Irish agriculture canonly be described as far from rosy,has been widely appreciated.In the Kells-Ingram Farm, theCollege has taken on a formidableand expensive commitment. Un,relenting hard work over manyyears will be required if the projectas to attain its ambitious goal. Notonly students of agriculture and offorestry, but all members of theCollege, staff and students alike,must give their support to thefarm.E,:!lii !iI

¯ TRINITY NEWS AGRICULTURAL SUPPLEMENT 7RADIO-ACTIVITY AND FOOD SUPPLYthis time, when many of us are deeply concerned about the possible effects,AT natural processes of decomposition and6~ 9, ¯f"X of fall-out radio-active * matemals¯resulting . from H-bomb testing, it is the development of micro-organismsinteresting to note the increasing use being made, especially in the United States,connected with it, more especially in thecase of meat. It is also being used experimentallyas a means of preventingof radiation and radio-active substances in agricultural and food-handling research.the sprouting of potatoes, and as aIt would appear from evidence sub-weapon against insect infestation of~itted to the U.S. Congress Jointgrain and flour. Quite apart, however,from the very serious objection that theCommittee on Atomic Energy, that thiscommercial advantages are likely to bel~search has so far followed three maingained at the expense of nutritionallines:properties, the irradiation of foodstuffs(i) The use of radio-isotopes ashas been found to present at least two,’tracers" in the study of plant andmajor problems: (a) The lower the formof life, the greater the amount ofanimal nutrition (as in human nutrition),irradiation required; in the words of analso in the study and control of insectAmerican authority, "the lower in thelife.scale of life one goes, the more radiation(ii) The use of radiation in pla.ntis needed to cause death." (b) Whilebacteria may be killed by this means,and animal genetics to multiply theenzymes remain active, and these can0¢eurrence of mutations, i.e., the changesbring about " off-flavours" and discolorationwhich render the food unattractiveto consumers.On this point in particular, theAmerican report is relatively optimistic,suggesting that difficulties are likely tobe overcome in the space of a few years,and that " it appears that nothing butbenefits can come ’from success in thisfield for both the consumer and theeconomy as a whole."in characteristics which are subsequentlyinherited.(iii) The use of radiation as asterilising agent to prolong the " storagelife" of perishable goods.Radio-active isotopes have been employedin various branches of researchfor some 25 years, but they were in verylimited supply uontil the large-scaledevelop~nent of nuclear - fission f o rmilitary purposes at the end of the lastwar made them freely available. Theyrepresent, incidentally, one of the few¢0nstructive means of disposing of thepotentially dangerous by-products ofatomic-power generation."Tracer" Research in Plant NutritionIsotopes are, in effect, radio-activeatoms of the various elements. In theirpassage through an organism which hasassimilated them in its food, they appearto behave as do non-radio-active atomsof the same element, but their ~novementscan be traced by means of suitableinstruments. They are thus saidto be " tagged " or "labelled." Beingunstable, they disintegrate in the courseof time, releasing energy as rays. Thesec0uld, in sufficient quantities, be harmfulto the organism, so that only lowconcentrations are used in research.One of the most interesting fieldsbeing explored with their aid is that ofphotosynthesis the natural process bywhich green plants utilise solar energyto convert atmospheric carbon-dioxideand water into sugars and othermaterials composed of carbon, hydrogen~nd oxygen. This is, of course, the keyprocess by which all life is sustained., The actual agents in photosynthesisare " plastids "--tiny, flat bodies curry-!ng the green substance, chlorophyll,which absorbs the sun’s rays; a~d one ofthe first uses that the isotopes were putto, was the study of these plastids. Itwas discovered, for instance, that iron.must be present at the tinm of theirformation, as in our red blood corpuscles:," Carbon 14"By 1940 it had been discovered, byUsing an isotope of oxygen, that theoxygen which is liberated during theprocess of photosynthesis is derivedfrom the water involved,¯ and not fromthe carbon-dioxide. It was alreadyknown that the hydrogen of the watercombines with the carbon dioxide to formSugars; but it was not until 1945, when!’carbon 14 " (radio-active carbon) becamefreely available, that this verycomplex process could be studied indetail.American scientists engaged in thisbesearch have declared natural photosyn-¯ thesis to be " strikingly inefficient," andhave expressed an ambition that one daythey may evolve methods of artificialPhotosynthesis by which human food-Stuffs (or at any rate animal fodder)~0uld be manufactured from inorganic~aterials without the intervention of~lants. Of more immediate interest istheir finding (also with the help of~carbon 14") that the growth hormoneWhich causes plants to respond to the~Ufs rays is auxin, or indolacetic acid,One of the components of which occurs~n animal excreta.(Ither Isotopes UsedMuch work has also been done on theatilisation of chemical fertilisers by~lants; using, for example, anis’sotope~f phosphorus as a tracer. It has beenfnund that, while plants in their early~tages of growth use phosphorus froms fertiliser placed close to the seed,they obtain an i~creasing proportion oftheir requirements from the soil asgrowth develops. T h e proportion,naturally, varies with the soil conditions.No mention is made of any tests withoutfertilisers, the object of this researchbeing the more efficient use of the latter.Another very interesting finding resultingfrom the use of isotopes is thatplants caz~ aborb considerable quantitiesof certain elements through their leaves.Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, forinstance, are readily absorbed and freelytransported in both upward and downwarddirections. Calcium, strontium andbarium, on the other hand, are verypoorly absorbed and move slowly withinthe plant. The foliar application offertilisers is now quite widely used,especially in horticulture. (It appearsto be at least as artificial a practice asthe application of fertilisers to the soil.)Isotopes are also being used inentomology as lmarkers which enable thehibernation and migration of insects tobe followed. They are being used,again, to study the effect of insecticides,especially those which are systemic(i.e., enter the plant’s system), and as ameans of assessing spray residues.Radiation is alse being tried as a directmeans of control, by the sterilisation ofmales.Animal Nutrition Research~n animal nutrition, a similar tracertechnique is employed. Radio-activecobalt, for instance, is being used tostudy the utilisation of vitamin "B 12 "in sheep and chickens, and radio-activecalcium and phosphorus to study theformation and metabolism of bone. Incidentally,the proportion of theseelements which can be assimilated byanimals has been found to vary greatlyaccording to the source from which theyare derived.Since all foodstuffs contain carbon," carbon 14" is proving a valuableresearch tool for the study of thephysiology of reproduction, m i 1 ksecretion, egg formation, wool growthand oCher important processes. One ofthe great lesso~m learnt from isotoperesearch--and this applies to human aswell as animal nutrition--is that all lifeprocesses are dynamic. However stablethe various structures and organs of thebody appear to be, the materials ofwhich they are co~mposed are constantlychanging. Nutrition is essentially a" flow¯’’ of materials through the wholesystem.Radiation in GeneticsIn genetical research, it has long beenknow~ that radiations can causew.utations (hereditable changes), but allsuch changes were formerly believed tobe deleterious. With the different kindsof radiation now available, however, ithas been found that the neutron is aselective agent in that it is absorbed bythe nucleo-proteins of the chromosomes,that is, the actual carriers of thehereditable characteristics.As a result of the close study of thegene changes thus made possible, it hasbeen found--or at any rate, it is maintained--thatnot all mutations induced byradiations are harmful. Some of them,such as resistance to disease or earlymaturing, may be agriculturally valuable.By using radiation to multiply thenumber of mutations, as compared withthose occurring naturally, plant geneticistscan obtain a much increased stockof new material from which to breednew c r o p varieties with desiredcharacteristics. It has been stated that,from 100,000 individual plants, irradiationwill produce, say, 300 mutants, ofwhich perhaps two will have somedesirable characteristic.Radiation in Food PreservationOne of the main objects of commercialfood processing is to extend thestorage life of foodstuffs, the word"life’9 being used here in a no~biological--orrather, anti-bi010gical--sense. For this purpose, much has beenexpected of radiation as a sterilising orpasteurising agent for arresting theRadiation Sterilisation?A rather more realistic appreciationof the situation is provided by a specialreport (No. 61) on food investigationissued in 1955 by the Departa~ent ofScientific and Industrial Research inBritain. This summarises tim advantagesand disadvantages of radiationsterilisation as follows:The main advantages are:--.(i) Highly efficient inactivation ofmicro-organisms and other forms of lifeis possible.(ii) The rise in temperature and totalchemical changes are small. Raw orlightly cooked foods could, therefore, betreated.(iii) Appreciable thicknesses ofmaterial can be treated in containersmade of such diverse materials as plastic,glass or ~etal.(iv) The process could readily beused f~)r continuous operation.The main disadvantages are:--(i) The cost of the process cannot beassessed with accuracy. The cost ofdevelopment work and initial cost of theequipment, in particular, are likely tobe high.(if) The chemical effects produced areofte~ deleterious and result in unpleasantflavours and loss of colour,texture and other attractive properties.They can be controlled to a great extent,but this usually adds to the complexityof the process.(iii) Enzymes are not in general inactivatedby the irradiation and frequentlygive rise to deleterious effectson storage, particularly in fruits andvegetables.(iv) Chemical cha~ges during irradiationmay decrease the subsequentstorage life of many products.(v) Great difficulty must be expectedin showing that any chemical changesOCCUlTing during, or after irradiation donot result in the production of toxic orother harmful c(~mpounds.(vi) The extreme lethality of theradiations towards all forms of lifedemands strict observance of safetyprecautions in operation.SummaryThus, of the three principal uses towhich radio-activity has so far been putin connection with agriculture and foodsupply, it would appear from theevidence available that:The first (radio - active isotope"tracers") has provided a researchmethod of considerable importance in thestudy of natural processes involved inthe nutrition of plants, animals andhumans.The second (radiation-induced mutations),while it is likely to be o£ greatuse to plant breeders, may have at thesame time long-term consequenceswhich cannot yet be foreseen, geneticalinheritance being a delicate thing totamper with.The third (radiation as a food preservative),while it may or may notprove preferable to chemical treatment,is clearly inconsistent with the idealof whole foods consumed with minimalloss of their vital properties. Whateverits com~nercial attractions, it might wellbecome yet another hazard to humanhealth through the misapplication ofscience to problems of food supply.Brooks Thomas’s finest quality all steel or steel withtimber haybarns are approved by the Department ofAgriculture. Call to our Steel Dept. at Foley Street(off Amiens st.), Dublin, or write for price andspecifications.STEEL REINFORCING MATERIALS.¯ GALVANIZED SHEETS, Corrugatedand Flat¯ CRITTALL STEEL WINDOWS¯ ASBESTOS SHEETS, Corrugated and Flat¯ CEMENT, Plaster, etc.¯ PAINTS, Colours, Oils and VarnishesTHOMAS& CO. LTD.4 SACKVILLE PLACE, DUBLIN - PHONE 41841arrow~!i i!i ~ i !iii ~i’~ ~ i!i i!~I !!ii!i :

~ITY NEWSAGRICULTURAL SUPPLEMENTFrom Rainwater to Packaged Proteins~HagERE riculture are hopeful is now signs well that on its the way. long-awaited Among farmers expansion themselves in ourthere is evidence of a new enthusiasm, a greater degree of self-relianceand a firmer belief in their ability to manage their own affairs. Duringthe past decade, quite striking advances have been made in manydirections, standards of all kinds have been raised and we feel that wesn look forward to the future with confidence.Nature has endowed our countrywith exceptional and inexhaustible~atural resources on which to buildour agricultural industry. Our progressand ultimate success willdepend largely on how intelligentlywe exploit these resources. Wemust, therefore, try to find out asmuch as we can about them andearn to understand how they maybe most effectively utilised.Most of the technical side offarming is concerned with thegrowing of crops. It is a primary~tivity on all farms. Consequently,a knowledge of the major factorswhich influence plant growth inany area, country or region is ofthe highest importance. Of all thefactors that influence plant growth,;hose which added up constitute the~imate, outweigh and override all@ers. It is the climate of a place;hat determines what plants willgrow there at all, whether thedants thrive or not beingdependent on soil and otherfactors. Few people, I believe, evenyet appreciate how bountifully we,farmers, have in this countrybeen endowed by Nature with giftsof climate -- a generous and welldistributedrainfall (which no subsidycould provide or any schemeof irrigation be a substitute for)and moderate temperatures -- forboth of which we have to thankour insular position and the genialinfluence of the Atlantic Ocean.thmid summers and mild winters(rarely are we snow- or frostboundfor any length of time) prohoein sheltered places a vegetationalmost tropical in luxuriance.The natural vegetation ofIreland, at all event of those partsof the land surface with which wehere particularly concerned,~., the land now devoted to farmrag,was formerly covered to alarge extent by forest, oak and ashmainly, together with hazel, birch,alder and other shrubs which, withthe trees, now persist mainly inthe hedgerows or in woods andplantations. We do not find, certainlyin the lowlands, any trulynatural climatic grassland such asis found in all the continents andrepresented in North America bythe prairies, in S. Russia by thesteppes, and in South Africa bythe veld. Our grasslands are artificial,man-made, and if they werenot maintained in their presentcondition by grazing and mowingwould rapidly turn to scrub andultimately, if let alone, revert toforest. Indeed, it can be somethingof a problem to keep the hedgesfrom encroaching and to keep outif our old pastures volunteeringrambles, briars, furze, thorn~shes and even tree seedlings.the natural grasslands of theworld are found only in dryclimates where the rainfall is low,the rate of evaporation high and~equently the amount of wateravailable in the soil for plantgrowth falls short of what is req~dto support trees. It is quiteobVious that we" in Ireland arerauch more happily situated for!a.~ng. Blessed with a climatent to grow deciduous forest, is itany wonder we can grow grass soWell? Nor is it surprising thatWhen we go about it the right way,~e are able to obtain enormousYields of dry matter from crops~ch have the capacity to deal~ith large amounts of water --~angolds, beet, turnips, cabbage,kale, potatoes, ryegrass and thevarious legumes, peas, beans,clover, lucerne and others.Plant physiologists have longbeen interestod in the question ofthe ratio of the weight of drymatter produced by crop plants tothe weight of the water requiredfor the process. This is obviouslya matter of much practical interestin dry climates and, therefore, asmight be expected, much of theresearch work on the subject has,been carried out by American andRussian investigators searchingfor drought-resisting types. Oneof the earliest workers in this fieldwas Hellriegel, whose results werepublished in 1883. In the cropplants which he studied he foundthe ratio to be approximately1:300; that is to say, for everyton of dry matter produced, 300tons of water were required itwill be recalled that 100 tons ofwater over an acre is the equivalentof 1 inch of rainfall. TheAmericans found such figures asfor potato 500-650, cabbage 520,rape 700, beet 380 units of waterconsumed per unit of dry matterproduced. For any particular cropthe figure varies somewhat widelyaccording to the climatic conditions.The chief point of interestemerging from this work is thatthe production of a ton of drymatter per acre involves the consumptionof anything from 4 to 7inches of rainfall. If, therefore,we take, say, 20 tons of ryegrassand clover (20% dry matter) offan acre in, say, three silage cutswe may safely take it that 20inches or more of the rainfall hasbeen consumed by the crop. Needlessto say, where the output of drymatter ~s very small as, forinstance, in the case of over-grazed,low-grade pasture, only a smallfraction of the rainfall is utilised,the bulk of the water flowing moreor less uselessly away. Incidentally,if we could double, say, the drymatter output over our land surfaceas a whole by means of crops,improved grasslands, and greatlyextended afforestation, the volumeof water carrying its burden ofsolutes and suspended matter tothe sea would be substantially reducedwhich would help considerablytowards the solution of someat least of our leaching, erosion,and drainage problems-- a highlydesirable result but after allsecondary to our main interest,which is the exploitation of ourvery superior climatic advantagesfor the future development of ouragriculture.At present our agriculture is notgeared to high production. Lessthan 30 per cent. of our statistical11½ million acres of agriculturalland is utilised for tillage crops,and leys of five years and under.The remainder, between 70 and 80per cent., is permanent grassland-- old pastures and old meadows.Little of this grassland has beentilled within the last century andvery little indeed of it has receivedany fertiliser. Over much of itthe output is wretchedly low. Justbefore the last war, Stapledon andDavies carried out a grasslandsmwey of England and Wales.They found that 89 per cent. of thepastures fell into their third andfourth grades in which the swardswere dominated by bent grass(Agrostis) a low-yielding, unpalatable,poverty-tolerant species.We have not had a detailed surveyBy J. M Gorman _in this country nor is it urgentlyrequired, for it is only too obviousto the observant grass-conscioustraveller, especially at this seasonof the year, that 80 per cent. ormore of our pastures, in spite ofthe improvements which have beenm~de in the past couple of decades,are still composed to a great degreeof the ubiquitous bent grass. It isthis old grassland which offers thewidest scope for improvement.There are about 8 million acres ofit, ranging in quality from finishingpastures (a small proportionof the whole), through moderatestore cattle and dairy pasture,down to those which are almostentirely unproductive.That spectacular improvementscan be wrought in this old grasslandis constantly being demonstrated.Again, because of ourclimate, improvement is rapid.Lime, fertilisers, weed control, andimproved grazing management willoften more than double the outputof palatable herbage within acouple of seasons. The most criticalpart of the business is the managementand often because of lack ofknowledge, the benefits whichought to accrue from the soil treatmentare largely lost. Grazingand other management operationsmust be directed towards the suppressionof unpalatable species andthe encouragement of the betterpasture types: this implies somesystem of rotational grazing. Grasslandimprovement can be quite acostly undertaking, though subsidiesfor lime, fertilisers anddrainage do much to help.Money spent on it, however, is inthe nature of a capital investment.It is an outlay on raw materialsfor processing into a marketableproduct. The return on the capitalin any particular case will .dependon the type of livestock enterpriseoperated and on the skill andefficiency of the stockman and, ofcourse, on the state of the market.Costings carried out in variousparts of Ireland during the pastcouple of decades have shown thatgrass consumed as pasture costsone-quarter to one-fifth as muchas purchased concentrates ofequivalent nutrient value. Realgrass, grown on properly treatedsoil and properly managed, is atruly high-grade protein-rich (18%of the dry matter) cattle food. Itis a perfect summer feed for rearingyoung stock, for milk and meatproduction. Legume - rich youngswards preserved as silage willprovide cheap proteins for winter.Our own protein foods representedchiefly by lean meats of all kinds--beef, mutton, lamb, poultry, bacon,pork (also milk and cheese) arethe costliest items in the householdbudget. They are essential forproper nutrition, but on account oftheir cost as compared with fatty,starchy and sugary foods they areoften deficient in diets wherefamilies are big and incomes small.In the world at large, protein foodsare scarce and dear. Furthermore,as standards of living rise and thepopulation of the world grows, thedemand for proteins increases. Themarket is always expanding. Competitionfor this valuable marketbecomes more intense. Quality,price, attractive packaging, presentation,advertising, marketing, services,all play their part. We startwith many natural advantages, includingrelatively ch eap rawmaterials, a c 1 i m a t e uniquelyfavourable for livestock productionand proximity to the market. It isnow up to us. Can we packproteins and more proteins ?A/ aysin t/leForefrontof SeedProgress/n IrelandROWAN’SFAMOUS’FULCROP’SEEDSThe strains for the ClassRoom, for the Laboratory, forthe Farmers and Gardenersof Ireland, and for all thosewho have a contribution tomake to the Agricultural andHorticultural Economy of theNational Outlook.ENQUIRIES INVITED ON ALLSEED MATTERSM. ROWANAND CO., LTD.TAe Firm of qreatRenown forFamous "Fuloeop" Seeds51, 52 CAPEL STREET1, 2 WESTMORELAND ST.DUBLINPhone: 41891 (6 lines)iii ii!i! >

Jim1 any r(of theHe iswifepregn.this a:the recomplbaby.represfrustrdevoulthe earidit~lashes-= _,restle~out (admir~ton. ,he waare scin fac~ngliseven (glorio~the imWewith 1:represtellectsee JiCliff~contacrealityinstin(balancsultan¯realisecauseThussubtle,Standi~Alis.eventu~romhUsbar~o hi~:reality’ :,JimmyWhenher, Gto real~the¯ i!? q!~ "z;Ji ,,!¯ 2dtleT(ingstrutheahestheT]Berlcloseel]cobloclI delikto a~unp~~ empJEursdra~andstillwarttheinfluqmentarmscar(: particourt1Furt]i in repointwerecondiable :publi,succeacrosBuliwithunity! whic~. a not= Euro 1that- theirhast t" Ber]his rez _

26, 1959 TRINITY NEWSSy¯ erlin. j Cause or mptom ?On May 8 this year, West Berliners~ill be celebrating, or at least marking,the tenth anniversary of the lifting ofthe historic Berlin blockade of 1948-49.l~xultation, however, will doubtless beten/pered with realism, for three weekslater, on May 27th, the " proposals "-amounting to a notice to quit--contai,nedin the Soviet Government’s Note to theWestern Powers of November last aredue to take effect.To many, history seems to be repeatingitself; the prospect of another tensestruggle of nerves and resources, as inthe days of the famous airlift, loomsahead, casting a sinister shadow overthe memory of that victmT.The similarities between the twoBerlin crises are, however, SUl~erficial;closer exami,nation reveals profound andencouraging differences¯ The Berlinblockade of 1948 was a calculated,deliberate attemnt by the Soviet leadersto add a crowning achievement to theirunparalleled success story of post-warempire building; half a dozen eastEuropean countries had already beendrawn as by a magnet into their orbit,and the great states of Western Europe,still weak and unstable from the effects ofwar, were oscillati.ng uncertainly betweenthe two poles of American and Sovietinfluence. There was no Federal Governmentin West Germany, no Germanarmy, no N.A.T.O.; Marshall Aid hadscarcely begun to flow and Communistparties in certain Western Europe~cQtmtries had show.n remarkable gains.Furthermore, the West, generally weakh relation to Soviet power, was at nolmi~t weaker than in Berlin. Here, theywere as an island set in a hostile sea;conditions were nowhere more favourablefor the Soviet power to demonstratepublicly and convincingly its superiority;~cess here would sound as a knellacross Europe.,Bat to-day there has been a change;~ith the advent of Western strength,unity and economic recovery--to all ofwhich, in later years, Britain has madeanotable contribution--it is in easternEurope, amongst the Soviet satellites,that weakness and instability have madetheir appearance. The rSle of Berlinlias, by a stroke of irony, been reversed.’!Berlin," said Mr. Dulles, a week beforehis recent illness, " is a spot within the(iLOOKi Jimmy Porter has lost contac( withany reality. He even distrusts the reality0f the love between himself and his wife.lie/is suspicious of this love, so that hiswife does not tell him that she ispregnant, fearing that he will construethis as some sort of a trap. He distruststhe reality of their love in another morecomplex way--his wife has .never had ababy. She becomes for him almost arepresentative, almost at one with thefrustration, the hopelessness which isdevouring his ~manhood--a symbol ofthe emptiness, the fruitfulness, thearidity of his twentieth century. So he~es out desperately at his wife. ghis~lessness, this frustratie,n of a manOut of touch with his reality area4mirably pin, rayed by David Shillington.Jimmy wants to achieve so much:he wants to live in a world where thereare some causes left to die for; he is,ia fact, running a sweet business in thel~nglish Midlands and is aware thateven death in this atomic age is an inglorious,mome.utary agony uroduced bythe impersonal flick of a switch.We might say that Cliff is in touchwith his reality--we might even say herepresents his reality. His limited intellectis satisfied with his lot; we can~.ffJimmy’s delight in wrestling with-~nere is the reality of physicalcontact. However, Cliff is more than[!I reality--he is understanding: he has anii hstinctive realisation of the lack of anyI~lhalance in Jimmy’s life and the re-[i oft.ant misery in Alison’s life. He[:Irealises Jimmy’s need and Alison’s beli~useof his own spiritual maturity.¯:, ,, ve, let us be true¯ ¯ . -~0 one another; For the world ....uth really neither joy, nor love, norlight,iICommunist world that everybody sees,and it is one of the most exciting,dramatic exhibits of freedom that I thinkcan be imagined." Berlin, the ostensiblesymbol of Soviet success, can no morebe placed out of bounds to Communistvisitors than the tomb of Lenin; yet, onreaching it, they find there the glitteringshop-window of the West.The Western presence in the city hasthen to-day become a symbol of freedom--of an alternative and manifestlyattractive way of life--set in the midstof a sea of tyranny; significantly it wasthe scene of the first of the spontaneousSAMUEL KNOX-CUNNINGHAMUlster Unionist M¯P. for South Antrimuprisings against Commt~nist oppressionwhich were later to be repeated inPoland and Hungary. For these reasonsit is, in its present status, a painfulthorn in Soviet flesh, and it is againstthis background that the Soviet demarchemust be assessed¯Just as the significance of Berlin todaydiffers from that which pertai’nedten years ago, so any Soviet attempt tochange the status quo is likely to differ.If, for example, the Soviet Governmentavoided a clash of arms in 1948, whenmilitarily their advantage was overwhelming,they are probably likely toavoid one in the circumstances of to-day.Indeed, there is evidence that they areanxious to avoid even such a war ofnerves as might be occasioned by asecond airlift; for ,not only have theybeen careful to give the West six months’notice of their proposed action--sixmonths in which stocks in West Berlincan be built up--but the notice expires inthe spring, an unpropitious season forwould-be blockaders, since the need forbulky commodities such as coal has bythen tailed off. I~ further evidence wereneeded, Mr. Mikoyan supplied it in theconciliatory tone of his references to theBerlin " ultimatum " whilst visiting theUnited States.If then the Soviet Government’sultimatum o~’er Berlin is one whichthey do not appear determined to press,what is their object?Their object appears to be the sameas in 1948--the eliminatie.u of theWestern " presence " in Berlin--but witha difference. Success in 1949 was soughtas the first fruits of a further processof westward expansion, whereas to-daythe object is, in the short-term at least,more static and negative¯ The SovietGovernment see little immediate prospectof advance in Western Europe; theirgreatest need is to c~nsolidate theirsatellite empire eastward a n d toeliminate kinks in the Iron Cm~tain.Berlin in its present status is the mostirritating of such kinks.If the strategic balance of advantagein the present Berlin situation lies withthe West, the Soviet Governme.nt areundoubtedly better placed tactically, andtheir advantage here should not beunderestimated. Their avowed intention,for example, to hand over their responsibilitiesto the East German regime andto withdraw from Berlin has, by cleverpropaganda, bee n presented as agenerous gesture calling for a likeresp(mse from the West; a hand-over tothe East Germans would place the Westin the humiliating position of being inBerli.n on suffrance of a subordinate,puppet regime which they refuse torecognise; whilst to recognise the EastGerman regime would be almost as greata gain to the Communists as a Westernwithdrawal from Berlin¯ Furthermore,in waging a war of ,nerves (at whichthey are adept) they can play upon fearsof nuclear warfare not present in 1948,whilst the West are at a disadvantagein having to make the first positivemove in a situation of blockade.The Soviet Government l’ave usedtheir advantage to precipitate a conferenceon Berlin on the most favourablepossible terms to themselves, andwill do all they can to limit discussionsto that one topic. The West, however,are also in a position to state theirterms, for their position in Berlin derivesfrom their co,ntribution to the defeat ofGermany, so that legally their withdrawalshould take place only in thecontext of a German Peace Treaty. AGerman Peace Treaty is inconceivablewithout the creation, in some shape orform, of a united Germany; and to endthe division of Germany is to determine,once and for all, which of the contendingparties is to gain the allegiance of astate which, after 12 years of peace, ispotentially the richest and most powerfulin Europe. The next few months,therefore, are likely to be amongst themost crucial and decisive in post-waryears.BACK IN ANGERNor certitude, nor peace, nor help forpai,u;And we are here as on a darkling plainSwept with confused alarms of strugglesand flight,Where ignorant armies clash by night.But Jimmy’s problem--the problem ofmodern society--renmins unsolved.David Shillington as Jimmy Porter,Win. Porter as Cliff Lewis and MarieGeoghegan as Alison express this commeaton part of our society convincingly.Outdated society is representedby her father, Kenneth Brayden, who israther bewildered by this modernproblem and for whom happinesscentres in a dream which died withVictorian England. The link betweenthe old and the new--the girl with theVictorian " Weltanschauung" and themodern desires--is Helena Charles(Audrey Murray). Neither of these lasttwo fused quite so well into the dramaticentity.This is the first production of " LookBack in Anger" by any amateur groupin the world. The production and actingare stimulating. Congratulatiaus to Mr.Louis Lentin and Mr. John Jay. Thisvisit to the St. James’s Gate DramaGroup’s production of " Look Back inAnger" was a worthwhile experience.Important Butterworth Books------MEDICAL LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS: Their~Jse and InterpretationBy IAN DAWSON, M.A., M.D., M.R.C.P., and WILLIAM GOLDIE, M.A.,M.B., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.P.(E.). Pp. xiii-~-233~-Index.Here is a book for everyone who has to request or to interpret a laboratoryinvestigation. I.t deals logically with the type and quantity of specimenneeded, how it should be obtained, the degree of accuracy to be expectedfrom the test, and the significance of the results.CLINICAL INVOLVEMENTS ~ Or the Old FirmBy H. GARDINER-HILL, M.B.E., M.D., F.R.C.P. Pp. viii~200.Illustrated. 32s. 6d. net, by post ls. 6d. extra.This is a collection of commentaries on case histories actually dictated aftera ward round over a period of many years¯ Each case is intensely interestingand the author has not been afraid to show the lessons to bedraw.u from his own mistakes. The whole forms a complete exposition ofthe best way of obtaining the maximum helpful information from casebistories. Its i,atensely readable style and logical approach makes the bookparticularly valuable to the student.PRINCIPLES OF GYNAECOLOGYBy T. N. A. JEFFCOATE, M.D., F.R.C.S.(Edin.), F.RC.O.G. Pp.viii-~669~-Index. 436 illustrations, 12 colour plates. 75s. net, bypost 2s. 3d. extra.This is primarily a practical work and the author, a well-known teacher,has drawn on his vast experience to stress and clarify particularly thosematters which, he admits himself, are difficult to master. With thisemionently personal approach and the author’s complete understanding ofthe reader’s problems, the book will carry the advanced student throughand beyond the qualifying examinations and become invaluable to thequalified doctor in general practice."I have no hesitation in recommending this work to all who are interestedin-gynaecology a,ud feel that it will be invaluable to Students,Housemen, General Practitioners and especially to those who have to teach*.tie subject."--" University of Durham Medical Gazette."BUTTERWORTHS, 88 KINGSWAY, LONDON, W.C.2.Showrooms: 11-12 Bell Yard, Temple Bar, London, W.C.2TWOFOR TRINITY...i :!; : t.::::::::::’::’!Association,Undergraduates andKnights of the Campanile--we at Kingstons of109 Grafton Street (justopposite the Provost’sHouse) have two itemsof special interest to you:TIES--Top quality Poplinor "Terylene" Ties ofappropriate design. Price12/6.BLAZERS -- Individualtailoring or a choice ofsmartly styled ready-towearBlazers to suiteveryo,ue. E m b 1 e m ssupplied promptly.~A~s° 1 S c P°vPls n ma n~e sFgn sand colours for everyoccasion¯KINGSTONS109 GRAFTON ST., DUBLINWell-known Criticin the Bear-pitMr. Anthony Hartley, literary criticof the " Manchester Guardian," has beendescribed as an " educationalist andhumourist." That he is a scholar witha wide knowledge and concept ofliterature is shown by his editing withinthe last year two collections of Fre.nchpoetry from the 19th and 20th centuriesfor the Penguin series (collections whichhave been put on the Trinity courseeven before the second one has beelCpublished). That he is a patient andpainstaking man is obvious, as he himselfexplains the difficulty of compilingan anthology of modern poetry whenthere has been no time for posterity toform a judgment of its comparativemerits and it is extensively hard evento obtain copies of the poems. That heis also a clear and interesting speakerwas evident to the large audience whichgathered to hear him speak on Frenchpoetry in the Museum Building " Bearpit" last Thursday.Mr. Hartley’s talk covered a generalsurvey of 20th century poetry in France,dealing with the principal differencesbetween that written before and thatafter 1914, which he said was a turningpoint in its developme.ut. He pointedout the influences on the French literatureat that time and spoke of manyindividual poets and their relationshipste one another. He also said a littleabout the difficulties facing a foreignerwho wishes to understand modern Frenchpoetry, mentioning amongst other thingsthe current trend (particularly confusingin a foreign language) of poemswhich deal with many images andthoughts that run at a tangent from theprincipal t h e m e without actuallyme.utioning it at all.To conclude the meeting the Chairman,Professor Arnould, called on Dr. ConorO’Brien, who writes under the pen-nameof Donal O’Donnell and has previouslyspoken memorably at Trinity, a,ud Dr.Sheehy-Skeffington, who managed to saya few words before rushing off to casthis vote in the now historic P.R.division in Seanad Eireann.WPREPAID ADVERTISEMENTANTED--Two women students want Sub-letFlat for three weeks, 10th April-lst May, preferablyBallsbridge area. Please contact R.McIh’ath, 6 T¯C¯D.

4 TRINITY NEWS Feb:’uary 26, 1959[Ii :i: !illLetter from CambridgeThe feature which best typifies Trinitylife is the cobbled expanse of FrontSquare. This is the hub of College life,a place where one can find anybody inparticular or equally well ,nobody inparticular, where one can stand and talkor just stand and wait.The Trinity man in Cambridge looksin vain for the counterpart of FrontSquare.. The Cambridge courts, withtheir carefully tended lawns and flaggedpaths, provide a pleasant and secludedfront garden1 for their handful of residents,or a suitably picturesque sight fortourists, but they provide little else. Tofind the characteristic best typifyingCambridge life, we must seek elsewhere.It- seems to me that this is best foundat five ~ to nine any week-day morning,when the streets of Cambridge are filledwith a rushing, inte~veaving, chaotichorde of cyclists, gowns billowing outbehind, all determined to be in time fortheir .non-compulsory nine o’clock lecture.Rush and determination--how differentfrom life in Dublin--are these twotypifying features of the Cambridgeundergraduate. To an Irishman who isproud of the easy-going nature of hiscountrymen, this may be attributed tonational differences in temperament.This is largely true, but is not, I feel,the whole answer. The large percentageof English students in Trinity does notchange its essential character becausetaken away from his natural e.nvironmentthe Englishman easily fits into anew system. The environment providedby Cambridge, in every field highly competitive,with no room for the justaverage person, must be accepted aslargely responsible for its highly geared~xay of life. On average, for every placeoffered, there are a dozen applicants foradmission to the University. This mea.nsthat with the exception of a smallnumber of places reserved for those ofoutstanding sporting ability, or sons ofinfluential parents, admission to Cambridgeis restricted to specialiststudents and only the very brightest ofthese can hope to be accepted. Althoughprobably unavoidable, this restriction toa particular class of student is, I feel,regrettable. It ~ecessarily introduces a"narrowness to the University life which,fortunately, does not as yet affect us inDublin. It is a privilege of the studentat Trinity to mix among ordinaryCh~85PROGRESSSATISFACTORY ?by "One of the Pieces"There has been so much activity inthe Chess Club this term that we haven’thad time to acquaint our readers withthe progress. One of the Pawns triedto make amends last week, but got hisfacts rather confused. That’s the waywith these Pawns. Anyhow, the "A "team, playing in the En.nis Shield competition,have beaten U.C.D., Dublin andSackville.The match with Kevin Barry "B "’was drawn because W. E. D. Alexander’sadjourned game had not beenproperly analysed. Last Friday nightthey met Kevin Barry " A." D. G.Cochrane and N. A. Rowe lost on boardstwo a,nd three and the other tour games~,ere adjourned. To win this competition,Trinity must win or draw this match.The " B" team, playing in theO’Hanlon Tournament, have beatenT.C.D. " C," Phibsboro, Dublin " C,"U.C.D. " B," Dun Laoghaire and KevinBarry " C." They meet U.C.D. "A" onSaturday, and the only other undefeatedteam, Eoghan Ruadh "A," on Friday,March 6th. For best performance wemust mention J. A. Lutten and B.Harmon.The "C " team bare not done so wellwith only two wins. The best performanceon this team has been given by thecaptain, M. Robinson, and by A. Bonar-Law.RECORDSThe Gramophone Society has doneremarkably well this session. Since lastOctober it has acquired over 70 newmembers. The majority of these areJu,nior Freshmen, and this is probablybecause persons of a higher standingwere frightened away by the previousheadquarters in the Choral Society whichwere somewhat inadequate.The Society, under the direction ofRussell Teller, Peter Haley-Dunne andNick Cagey, has been presenting interestingconcerts of rare or infrequently performedworks, sad the aims of theSociety become progressively moreambitious. Later this term, PeterHinehcliffe is to give a talk on " Nunowon Record," and this promises to draw alarge audience.people, to live with non-specialists, forwhom our pass course still caters, andabove all to be able to enter into themany-sidedness of university educatio~viewed as a liberal training to fit us togo out into the world, rather than as aproduction line for highly trainedspecialists.This contact with experts in everyfield which Cambridge provides, thishighly powered intellectual atmosphere,is undoubtedly most stimulating and cez>ducive to serious study. And forCambridge to maintain the academicstandards which it does, such a system isprobably necessary. The advantagesmust, however, be counterbalanced bytheir consequent disadvantages.Cambridge and Dublin are examples oftwo different ways of life whoseessential characteristics I have tried tocompare. It would be wrong to judgec,ne against the other, because obviouslymuch depends on the temperament andthe aspirations of the individual. Butwe can be sure that we have in Trinitya way of life which is in no sense inferiorto that of our sister universityand one which may indeed promote abroadness of outlook less likely to befound i.n the more restricted and morespecialised Cambridge system.DAVID SPEARMANSte(:ltubesare.’. arrive at the party thrown by MissLisa McKenna, a bright, voluble girl~;ho has gathered together a crowd ofguys and dolls. Factually, SercnaCrammond making great play with theeyelash routine looks under said adjunctsat Patrick Keith Cameron, a tall guywith a smooth line in speech. An attractiveSpanish female whose name escapesme has hold of Tony Hickey and CliveMumford. On the whole, Clive lasts themost rounds and does not appear to pullany punches. Tony goes back to Judith.Teach-Teach Stack, a guy with more~air on his face than even MorgueDockrell, talks earnestly to coronetswingerNick Tolstoy, but later Nick isfound sitting by a short, very attractivegal called Sue Gregory, while Richard isless earnest with Penny Gibbon, a dollwho acts. Robin, known to his friendsas " tall, fair and handsome," is withMarion.An a,nother day stags Peeler Leemanand Alan Lucas are heard singingquaint ballads (from IreIand). Can thisreally be the Liz. inaugural reception?"Bi." MEETINGSThe Hilary term’s meetings of the "Bi"began with a paper by Mr. J. HewardThompson -- " Richard Bright, a CentenaryAppreciation." Professor J. H.Widdess arranged a small exhibition ofbooks of historical interest to illustratethis paper. The meeting also includedan outstandingly lucid account of thetreatment o£ acute renal failure by Mr.A. Walshe, F.R.C.S.I.In the succeeding meeting, Mr. G. F.Henry gave an account of the surgeryof intermittent claudicatioa, whilst Mr.A. Tomkin succeeded in the almostimpossible task of producing a genuinelyamusing paper on a medical topic (hiseight weeks as a resident student inGuy’s Hospital).Another unusual and stimulatingpaper was Mr. H. B. Smith’s account ofthe "Pathology of Genius," whichformed another " double bill" with e.nexhibit of a case of Motor Neuronedisease, very ably presented by Mr. A.lmg,ortantI suffer a great blow to my prestigewhe.n I am not invited to party givenby Harriet Chance, Betty Evans andJennifer Cronin. So, as ever, being unwillingto rely on secondhand info, willremind trio timt I suppose hooch goodand also conxersatie:~.In an effort to get over this sadnessI. creep into swell drugstore full ofbright students. In a corner Omar ElBadis is eyeing a beautiful, name ofFrances Wylie Graham--the girl whosends everyone. Pity she doesn’t knowsome of the new pseudos in College. Ihear a dame called Eleanor yelling aboutsomething or other--gather she’s a newgirl. Somebody tells me I must mentionMike Bogdin, but I prefer to watchJames Graham trying out a conversation.Some character. Tl~rough thewindow I see Guy Milner, so healthylookinghe needs no coffee at all. Henever knows where all these partiesNor for that matter does a pal calledEccles Gibbons--guess he gets more funin the Reading Room. And that’s whereI must go--so in the lingo of the oldRom,%ns--" Vale."O. Williams. Indeed, the standard ofpreparation and presentation of all thepapers read during the term has beenunusually high.Last Monday, February 23rd, Mr. J. H.Thompson read a paper on " SubarachnoidHaemorrhage," to which Mr. P. C.Carey, M.Ch., of the Richmond Hospital’sNeurosurgical Department, spoke. Thismeeting also included several films, inciudingone of pre-medical interest, andone o~ " Marrow Puncture," which hada similarly witty presentation to the filmon " Venepuncture " which gave rise tomuch interest and amusement when itwas shown last year.In the last two years the custom hasgrown up of inviting a guest speaker toaddress a special meeting of the Associationduring Trinity term. I~ is hopedto continue the practice this year and inaddition the Society will act as hostsfor an inter-debate with the equivMe~tsocieties of the other Dublin medicalschools.Medical students may also be interestedto hear that the British MedicalStudents’ Association will be holding aClinical Conference18th to 21st March.They are important to Stewarts and Lloyds’ 28,000 customers at home and abroad, inmanufacturing industry, in transport, in agriculture, in building and in all essentialservices... They are important to the nation’s export trade. Stewarts and Lloyds themselvessold £30,000,000 worth abroad last year, quite apart from the overseas sales ofthe many companies in the U.K. who depend upon Stewarts and Lloyds’ tubes ....They are important to the Stewarts and Lloyds Group’s 40,000 employees in the U.K...THEY MAY ALSO BE IMPORTANT TO YOUStewarts and Lloyds recruit each year small numbersof Science, Engineering and Arts Graduates for theproduction, research and commercial activities of theCompany¯ Your Appointments Secretary has fulldetails. Alternatively, you can obtain details from theAssistant Manager/Personneh~STEWARTS AND LLOYDS, LIMITEDClydesdale Steel and Tube Works, Bellshill, Lanarkshirei.n Belfast fromTtits (m stiof AltoYawasdeci~’1877Stat~NatibecaJbeento coprintinan.follo~purcttheparsassisa co]eve~bepStateorgmdepo.’suchF.A.(theAlsootherandUnit,whic]perlepape~forcentuTh,develdecadvoluning rquantTheCast/severWilli~able :LieutmendthoseLalorearlyGeor~script"ConbThiwhosums]Yo~doingThilbutaimsfaultsgenerto b,fallacSourodemm~FationWithe~Iodm##remai:totall,certaiel~t s~Proba~adeAdmi~"T]be lil~havinlmegatStatesof I9estim~~ould!and t:saraedeadmillioGOver~ustregar

~26, 1959TRINITY NEWSTHE NATIONAL LIBRARYOF IRt LANDTHOMAS P. O’NEILL, M.A., F.L.A.I., Assistant Keeper of Printed BooksThe National Library of Ireland owesits origin, as do many of our nationali~stitutions, such as the Museum, Collegeof Art and Botanical Gardens, to thel~0yal Dublin Society. When that body~s founded in 1731, one of its firstducisions was to establish a library. In1877 that library was handed over to theState and became the nucleus of theNational Library of Ireland. Since itbecame the National Library it hasbeen the policy of successive librariansto collect every book relating to Ireland,printed in Ireland or written by an Irishsan.Also it has been part of the policyfollowed in the selection of books topurchase a representative collection ofe b~st books on every subject. Inpursuing this policy, the library has beenassisted, since 1927, by the operation ofa copyright law ua~der which a copy ofevery item published in the State has tobe presented. Also by the fact of theState’s membership of international0rganisations, the library has become adeposit library for the publications ofsuch bodies as U.N.O., U.N.E.S.C.O.,FA.0. Among its collections is a set ofthe League of Nations’ publications.Also the official documents, reports andother Works of the British Governmentand a great number of those of theUnited States are taken by the library,which also takes some seven hundredperiodicals and newspapers. The newspapercollection is extremely valuablefor the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies.The department of manuscripts hasdeveloped and expanded greatly in rece.ntdecades. It contains about 10,000volumes of bound manuscriuts (includ-~g nearly 1,000 in Irish) and a largequantity of deeds and unbound items.The Ormond papers from Kilkerm~Castle are of particular importance for~venteenth century history, and theWilliam Smith O’Brien papers are valuablefor the nineteenth. Papers of LordLieutenants, such as the Duke of Richm0nd,stand shoulder to shoulder withthose of patriots such as James FintanLalor and Lord Edward Fitzgerald. Theearly amvels in the handwriting ofGeorge Beraaard Shaw and the manu-~ripts of "The Portrait of the Artist"This"Common Sense and Nuclear Warfare."By Bertrand Russell. 3/6 from anybookshop.This book should be read by anyonewho wants to stay alive, which pre-~nably means you.Your life is threatened; what are youd0ing about it ?¯ This may seem an extreme statement,~.t it is provable. Bertrand Russell~ns to prove it and, whatever otherfaults we may find in his philosophy inwe caamot consider him likelypanicked into making logicalHe uses facts from officialsources as far as possible when he isdemonstrating his argument. Thus:--~From the National Planning AssociofAmerica’s pamphlet: " 1970Arms Control; Implications ofWeapon Technology ":--"... not only does the danger of war¯main a possibility, but the probabiliWtotalled over time increases, becoming a~rtainty if sufficient time elapses with-~t succeeding in finding alternatives."---Also referring to " Estimate of~bable casualties in the United States~ade by the Federal Civil DefenceAdministration (F.C.D.A.) :--"This statement considers what wouldto happen if nuclear weaponsa combined yield of 2,599were dropped on the UnitedTaking the population as that0f 1950 -- namely, 151 million-- theytimate that, on the first day, 36 millian¯ ould be dead and 57 million injured,by the sixtieth day (from thethere would be 72 millionand 21 million injured, leaving 58uninjured. Mr. Dulles’s own0vernment made this estimate and we~ust therefore suppose that it would~gard such an outcome as constitutingvictor~ provided the number of~sian dead were even larger .... "are two comments to be madethis. Firstly, that figures by themmeanvery little and, secondly,this is very strong talk for a manis respected the world over as aand acclaimed even by hisSuch a man would not riskreputation for some mere fad orHe must have a very good reasonit. The temptatioa~ is to repeat his~0gUment verbatim and add comments.wever, this would only confuse themay be found with the thirteenth centurydescription .of Ireland by GiraldusCambrensis. The variety of the collectionis enhanced by the acquisitionof microfilms of manuscripts in otherlibraries. The British Museum, LambethPalace Library, Oxford and Cambridgeand many other places ia~ Britain havemanuscripts of great importance forIrish historians. So also have thelibraries in Paris, Madrid and Rome.From all over Europe, microfilm copiesof manuscripts have been obtained andresearch, which was not possibleThe main front ofpreviously without expensive foreigntravel, has been put within the reach ofpeople in Dublin.A good collection of maps, rangingfrom the sixteenth century to the presentday, is maintained and the sectiondevoted to prints and drawings containssome 70,000 items. Many of these areportraits of Irishmen on engravings ofIrish scenes of which there are publishedcatalogues. There are alsopictures of Irish life and history and anumber of caricatures in the collection.In this department also is a uniquecollection of photographic negatives,about 250,000 of them, acquired from oldConcernsissue. The arguments are clearlystated for all to see, my aim is to givereasons why you should look at them.Firstly figures. Figures become moremeaningful if they are related to actualexperience. The figures given by theF.C.D.A. above mean very little in termsof human lives. They can be givenslightly more meaning by the following:Suppose you were to walk into Collegeand find all the other studentsslaughtered; their bodies thrown togetherin a heap in Front Square. Wecan just picture this heap if we thinkof the number of people on Buffet andthe number of people in No. Six togetherwith those who eat elsewhere. We canform some sort of idea about the sizeof the pile. The pile of corpses atHiroshima would have been twenty timesfirms of photographers, includingLawrence of Dublin and Peele ofWaterford.The description of the contents of thelibrary gives some idea of its value forreaders. In general, readers must beinterested in advanced work before beinggranted facilities to use tbe library.Those engaged in literary or historicalresearch will find it essential to makeuse of the facilities provided. A generalcatalogue arranged under authors’ namesand titles of societies and periodicals ismaintained in the Reading Room, andthe National Library--Photo courtesy of Bord Failte Eireannalso there is a subject index. The ReadingRoom is open. each week-day from10 a.m. to 10 p.m., except on Saturdayswhen it closes at 1 u.m.Specialist bibliographies are preparedby the staff of the library and includeDr. R. I. Best’s bibliographies of Irishliterature and philology; Dr. R. J.Hayes’s " Cl~r-litridhe~cht ,ha nua-Ghaedhilge "; James Carry s bibliographiesof Irish higtory covering theyears 1870 to 1921, and Miss RosalindElmer’s catalogues of the portraits andtopographical prints in the prints anddrawings collection. The library staffhave also prepared lists of l~eriodicalsYouWith Bind-Your-Own Book Covers you can now transformyour favourite but dog-eared Penguins, Pelicans orsimilar paper-backs into attractive, casebound volumes.Build up your own inexpensive lib~’ary that will last alifetime ! You’ll be amazed to find how simple it is, so seethem to-day at your local bookseller. They’re only 7/6d.for six covers, or singly 1/6d, each.Bind-Your-Own Ltd22, Chartng Cross Road, London, W.C.2greater. The atom bomb which fell onHiroshima on August 6th, 1945, killed410,000 people. The hydrogen bomb inthe F.C.D.A. report would kill 170 timesthat figure. Here again ideas about sizebecome vague.Many people in Ireland sit optimisticlyon the .outside of all this destruction andhope that neutrality will protect them.Nothhag could be further from the truth."The damage to neutral countries maybe as high as 5-10 per cent. of thatsuffered by belligerents." This does notinclude embryonic and nee-natal deathsor defective children.For this reason and for the sake ofthe emigrants, people living in Irelandcammt afford to ignore the situation.The danger to you and your family isvery great.taken in Dublin libraries which havebeen of great value to students wishingto locate copies of journals which theywished to consult. A major scheme ofa national bibliography is at pre~entbeing undertaken and when it is completedit will be a combined catalogueof all printed aa~d manuscrip~ records ofIreland, including periodical articles.The libra~T provides also a photographicservice which includes photostat,microfilm and photographic processes.This makes available to students outsideof Dublin copies of documents whichthey cannot othe~vise use. TheGenealogical Office in Dublin Castle,which is a department of the NationalLibrary, has a large collection ofgenealogical manuscripts and a heraldicmuseum. This office, which was formerlythe Office of Arms, grants coats of armsand arranges for genealogical searches,for which there is a set scale of fees.Over the years many students havestood on the steps of the NationalLibrary and discussed the research andreading¯ Perhaps one of the mostfamous was James Joyce, who has immortalisedone such conversation in"Ulysses." As other generatio~as ofresearch workers pass, ~hey contributeto the great tradition which the libraryand its readers have built up in itshistory.MigratoryChangesDr. J. Desmond Smyth, Professor ofExperimental Biology and Professor incharge of the Zoology Dept., is leavingnext week for Australia to take up aSimilar post as Head of the ZoologyDept. of Canberra University.Prof. Smyth has been engagedprimarily in research for a number ofyears, and his departure means that anew Prof. of Zoology will be appointedsoon to take charge of the Zoology Departanent,swork.Prof. J. Bront~ Gatenby, Prof. ofZoology, who has also been engaged inresearch work for the last four or fiveyears, has now been appointed to aspecial research chair in Cytology.Two Unionistsand Unionism.Las.t@Tuesday our information on twoumomsts was increased. The first ofthese, Mr. J. Hunter, Auditor of theHistory Society, was reading hisInaugural Address ~ about the second," Carson the Creator." Mr. Hunter’spaper was a good ’one; it was very unfortunateindeed that the usual courtesiespaid to it by the speakers were unnecessarilyplatitudinous. The essayistwas a unionist, and clearly an admirerof Carson. We were told he had tremendousmoral courage, making him afrequent party rebel at Westminster,and his career was traced gloriouslyfrom the platforms of the Belfast shipyardsthrough the House of Lords to hisbronze statue in front of that grandiosemonument to the nadir of our architecturalprogress, Stormont. Biased~prejudiced--it may have been, but it waspainstaking and well delivered, and itcreated that impression, even in onehostile to its spirit, which sincerity cannever fail to make. But with the contributions’of the speakers to the paper(Professor McCraeken of Londonderry,Professor Mansergh of Cambridge, andPro~essor Moody in the Chair), somemore critical points were to emerge.Firstly, Carson may have been a creator,but he created by accident--he didn’twork for a separate Ulster with HomeRule, but for a United Kingdom of GreatBritain and Ireland. Professor Manserghsuggested that the real creator wasBonar Law -- Carson took action (likethe Duc D’Orleans) as he might takea bath--he shut his eyes and jumped in.The result was perhaps that by savingsix counties to the United Kingdom helost Ireland to the Commonwealth.Secondly, he was the most reactionaryof conservatives in English politicshardly a sign of great moral courage,’or even of high political intelligence.Professor McCracken and ProfessorMoody both hastened to efface the effectsof the more objectionable parts of thepaper ~ the ridiculous account of the1916 Rising, the gross underestimationof all Southern Irish leaders exceptRedmond (" Jim Larkin and his Dublinroughs "), and the failure to realise thatrule of gun was as much the fault ofUlster as anywhere else. ProfessorMoody concluded by pointing out thatthe useless Convention of 1917 metwhere the present meeting was beingheld -- in the Regent House -- a finalstimulus in a stimulating evening.5

Tailorin@Under the supervision ofour London-trained cutterGOWNS, HOODS,CASSOCKS, BLAZERSBRYSON ,LTD.3 CHURCH LANECOLLEGE GREENSPORTSNEWSCome toevpenhagene°IIee Danish Snacks;~ l~, n, and PastriesRATHMINES EOAD, DUBLIN,i,i}Rugby 1st XVA VERY NEAR THINGTrinity Outplayed for mostof GameD.U,, 5; Instonians, 3.RARELY have the Trinity 1st XV left College Park with a luckierwin behind them. In the game last Saturday afternoon, Instonianswere on top all the way through, playing far superior rugby, until in thevery last minute when H. O’Connor broke across the line near the postsand A. Reid-Smith converted.This game, not the most spectacularby any means seen in the Park thisseason, will be remembered mainly forits one-sidedness. The play was invariablyin the Trinity half and .only theweakness of Instonians’ centres preventedthem from romping home tovictory.The continual defensive play thatTrinity was forced to adopt resulted inR. McMullen, upon whose future manyhopes are pinned, displaying his verytalented game as full-back. His cool ~n~unhurried manner, gathering at the feetof the oncoming forwards and ~)vercomingof the many hazards of the highwind by same superb touch kicking, allmark him out as a possibility for a provincialfull-back.In the 16th minute Instonians openedthe scoring when J. Hewitt avoidedMcMullen’s attack to touch down farout. The atempt at conversion was wellout.Trinity continued the" defensive game,endeavouring to keep Instonians’ scoredown more than anything else. Thatwas the position until almost on fulltime,when the surprise try and conversioncame to give the home side amatch which was won, strangely enough,by defence.* * *3rd XV AWAY WINTerenure College 2nd XV ......... 5Trinity 3rd XV .................. ,it" 8A strong wind was blowing down thepitch and Trinity found it hard goingin the first half. However, they took asurprise lead in the opening minuteswhen Mulraine broke from a scrum andscored near the posts. The conversionwas missed and from that minute onT~, ity were under constant ¯pressurefrom the Terenure backs. The play inthe first half fluctuated between theTrinity "25 " and goal-line. It was nosurprise when the Terenure backs brokethrough and scored a try which wasmade into a goal. The visitors werenotdismayed. N. Jones, who played an outstandinggame, leading the Trinity pack,led a forward rush and scored near theposts for McG0vern to convert.There was no scoring ~n the secondhalf and this was perhaps due toTrinity’s continuous attempts to pass theball instead of using the " Garryowen "into the favourable wind. The centresdid not have the thrust of the homeRALEIGHTHE ALL STEEL BICYCLEANDSturmey-ArcherequipmentWERE AWARDED AGOLO MEDALAT THEB R U S S E L SEXHIBITIONbacks, still tending to run across field.The forwards played with zest against araw, boisterous pack, but heeled slowlyand gave little or no protection to theirscrum-half. Praise must be given to R.White who made few or no mistakes atfull-back when under constant pressurefrom the opposition and the wind.Hospitals: CupThe Dublin Hospitals’ Rugby Cupcompetition usuall~r produces some finedisplays of bright, open rugby. Thisyear’s campaign has been no exception.Last week the Dental team, havingpreviously disposed of Sir Patrick Dun’s,defeated the Adelaide by 9 points to 3.The fine work of the Dental backs wasinstrumental in their scoring three tries.Furlong kicked a penalty goat for theAdelaide.The Dentals should now meet theMater (who defeated St, Vincent’s 3-0)in the fmal. However, we learn that theAdelaide have objected to one of theDental players, claiming that he is nota properly registered Dental student. I.tseems rather churlish of them, since theborderline for eligibility for thesematches is always rather dubious.With a Pinch of SaltVagabonds, 10; Gentlemen of Players, 3In beautiful spring-like weather theeagerly-awaited clash between the VagabondXV and the Gentlemen of PlayersXV took place in College Park lastThursday. The encounter was played ina clean, friendly spirit under the hawklikedirection of referee Brian Hamilton.The first half was quite uneventfulexcept for a few dangerous bursts byguest player Kelvin Smythe, who, webelieve, plays for some other team inCollege. After a rather boisterous halftime,play was resumed, only to be interruptedby a character who vaguelyresembled my manservant Jeeves beari~ga tray of much-welcomed drinks.Despite strong protests from the PlayersXV, the game stopped for a few minutestill the referee restored order.Richard Tomki.ns scored two excellenttries for the Vagabond XV, one beingconverted by Harry Stevenson and theother by Dave Pearson. Only mishapof the game was a mid-air crash betweenJohn Goldberg and Run Pilkington whenboth tried to catch the fleet-footed MikeRead. Towards the end that mastertactitio~, Russi Wadia, scored a wellearnedopportunist try.Boxing Looking AheadFor the past three weeks the BoxingClub were in serious training for theIrish Universities’ Senior Championshipswhich were held in the Gym. lastTuesday at 7.45. These championshipshave always been considered as a finalwork-out for the U.A.U. Championshipswhich this year are being held inSheffield on Friday, March 6th. Trinityare firm favourites to retain the HarryPreston Cup which they have held forthe past six years, although strongopposition is expected from London,Loughborough and Glasgow. Althoughthe final composition of the team has notbeen decided, Sherlock, Tulalamba,Wheeler, Orr and Taylor are all formerU.A.U. champions and should provide asolid basis for the team.Last week in the Irish Universities’Junior Championships, Trinity suppliedtwo outstanding champions in D. Millarand R. Molesworth, both of whom displayedtremendous punching power andwon all their fights inside the distance.D. Hogan-Mcgee and J. McConnell alsoreached the final of their respectiveweights.Hockey 1st XIMill’s Cup in SightTRINITY TO MEET Y.M.C.A. IN FINALDublin University, 5; St. Ita’s, 3.AFTER twenty minutes extra time, Trinity defeated St. Ita’s by fivegoals to three on Saturday last, and thus qualified to meet Y.M.C.A.in the final of the Mills Cup.A fine goal by Byrn after only twominutes’ play gave Trinity an unusuallyearly lead. Subsequent goals by Byrn~nd Blackmore, allied with stout defencework, in which goalkeeper Stewart wasoutstanding, gave Trinity a three-nilinterval lead. What followed might bestbe described as a debacle. St. Ira’sscored three goals to leave the teamslevel at full-time. A casual observermight lay the blame at the feet of goalkeeperStewart, and in fact it was histwo mistakes which gave St. Ita’s theirfirst and third goals, but if St. ira’s hadrecorded ,goals for the mistakes-made bythe : other Trinity players ,they wouldhave reaChed’ double figtires. There wasoneexception, McCarthy, who played hisbest game to date. ,¯ Centre-half,Blackmore, . forced on to thedefensive, failed-to exert his ~nastery inmid-field, , Wing-halls Webb and Grigggave their ’ opposite numbers far toomuch ,scope, tilough.it must-be said thatWebb was considerably shaken by anearlier encounter which .cost him a tooth.Stewart ,~as not the confident custodianof the first-half.. But,, as has happenedso many times, Trlnity’"~ame ~ again."In the first period Of .extra time amesmeric run by ’Steepe saw McCarthyregain the lead for Trinity, and in thesecond period McCarthy crowned an outstandingperformance with a well-takengoal.The following have been awarded their" colours " for the season 1958-59:--*A.C. SteWart (Glasgow Academy),*H. D. Judge (Portora R’oyal School),*I. S. Steepe (St. Columba’s College),*K. G. Blackmore (St, PatriCk’s G.S.),M. G-. T~ Webb (St.: Columba~s College),D. B. Griggl (Deans Close SChool), *J.N. Lavan (Downside School), R.- F. Byrn(St. Columba’s College), J. F. McCarthy(Mountjoy School), *W. A. Findlater(Repton School), *V. H. Keely (Stoneyhurst).* Old Colours.The team to represent D.U. in theMauritius Cup match against :U.C.D. willnot be announced till later.SwimmingChalking Them UpD.U. Swimming Club had a doublevictory over Dublin S.C. when they metin a combined swimming and water polocontest on February 12th.The most exciting race of the eveningwas the freestyle. W. Tayler was justbeaten into second place by a touch inthe same time as the winner, Dublin’sT. May. O’Brien-Kelly and Upton were1st and 2nd in the backstroke, whileSharpe and Anderson were 1st and 3rdin the breaststroke. Trinity also wohthe medley and water polo squadronraces.Final points: D.U., 32; Dublin S.C., 18.Trinity had an easy win in the waterpolo despite a shaky start dur£ng whichgoalkeeper Williamson saved the situation.Result: D.U., 7; Dubli.n, 0.Trinity got a walk-over last week andnow stand second in the Leinster League.Last Friday night, U.C.D. and D.U.met in a friendly Freshman match.Trinity won the swimming, 24 points to23, but lost the water polo, 4-3.Both the senior water polo team andthe Freshman team travel to Belfast nextweek-end for th~ Irish UniversityChampionships. Here’s wishing themluck.D.U. SQUASH RACQUETS CLUBThe team selected to tour Scotlandfrom February 26th to March 2nd is asfollows: A. Bonar-Law, P. Heaney, J.Gillam, R. Roberts, D. Yeo, R. Pentycross.SoccerPRESS ON...D.U.A.F.C., 1; V.C., Bangor, 3The Soccer Club once again failedthis annual friendly match. The teamcontinues to display no cohesion whatsoever.During the whole 90 minut~there was barely one concepted passingmovement. As usual, Verbyla in goal,Prole and Ntima tried hard, but all tolittle effect. Ntima is a fine ball-playerbut needs to co-operate more with lminside-left. To judge from the halves’and forwards’ displays, one would hardly¯ have thought that they’d be~n play~together as a team twice a week all t~season. The hail-time score was 1’0 faBa,ngor. Trinity’s goal came near .the:end of the game from Davenp0rt, .V" ........Week’s OiaryD.U. HOCKEY CLUB--MAURITIAN CUFMonday, March 2nd--D.U, 1st XI v. U.~J},Londonbridge Road.Tuesday, March 3rd--Q.U.B. 1st XI v. U.C.I).Londonbridge Road.Wednesday, March 4th D.U. 1st XI v. Q.U.I~Londonbridge Road.D.U. CHESS CLUBFriday, February 27th "C " Team v. Phib~boro’. Home.Saturday. February 28th -- " B " Team v.U.C.D. " A." Away.Monday, March 2nd--"A " Team v. Eog~mRuadh " A." Away. " C " Team v. U.CJ).Away. Ladies’ "-A" v. U.C.D.-Ladies "A."Away.apartTuesday, March 3rd--Ladies " B " v. Sackville" A." Away.the ’(D.U. RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUBThursday, February 26th--3rd "’A " v. RoyalBank of Ireland. 4.30 p.m.All other matches Saturday, February 28th:1st XV v. Wanderers. Lansdowne Road, 3.1~.2nd XV v. U.C.D. Belfield. 3.15.3rd "B " v. Old Belvedere. 3.15.3rd "A " v. Old Belvedere 3rd "A." 3.15.3rd "B " v. Old Belvedere. 3.15.D.U. HARRIERS AND ATHLETIC CLUBSaturday, February 28th--v. Q.U.B. at Belfa~D.U. BADMINTON CLUBThursday, March 5th--Ladies v. Rathfarnha~Away.D.U. FENCING CLUBSaturday. 28th February--National Champio~ships,.Town Hall, Dun Laoghaire.S&TORD~Y SPECIi~W. Hall’s Castle Benito in the 4.30 atManchester gets my confident vote thisweek." Col. Tottering."CONSULT LIS ABOUT YOURPLANS FORPOST-GRADUATE TRAVEL!STUDY TOURS OF EUROP~OUR SPECIALITYWorld-wide Bookings arranged by Airand Sea, and all Tickets supplied toyour Home Town!Our Rates are the Official RatesOUR SERVICE IS FREE AND NOBOOKING FEE IS CHARGED! COM]~IN AND SEE US!O’SCANLAINTravel Agency Led,Authorised and Bonded Agencyfor all Steamship and Airlines46 GRAFTON ST., DUBLIN’Phone: 76531tacklibold ,leadi~r61es.Thebeenblood,halfbones.clarin’,~tann(Bypromiin Co:shouldparin~andPublished by tl~ Trinity News Com~ny and ~rinted by the Brunswick PresS. Ltd,$