ARDUOUS WORK.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18904, 20 January 1927, Page 8

ARDUOUS WORK.

THE CAWTHRON INSTITUTE. RESEARCH INVESTIGATIONS. . " Unfortunately j the attitude of mind which regards the accurate appertaining of knowledge as of more ultimate importance than the immediate finding of | a remedy for BOine trouble, is altogether J too common," said Professor T. IT. Easterfield when speaking to a Press reporter last night. Professor Easterfield, who is Director of the Cftwtlirpn Institute, intimated thjt the public somotimeg failed tp SBprepiate tho nature P? th° research BWds at'Vhe Institute, Very msny people would l>ail us « groater public bene, factor a 'disooverer whp ahpwed IIPW to produce, greater diyideudp, than one who showed how to manufacture an improved, class of article. As an example of work which the Institute had nndertaken, and which had entailed labour beyond its sphere of activity, the Professor instanced the aphelinus. The insect was introduced to cut out the woolly aphis on apples. Owing to the demand for insects, over a thousand packages of them had been distributed over New Zealand. "The aphelinus is about half tho size of a flea," ho explained, "and each insect has to be pipked from a tree. . As each package contained approximately 100 insects, this meant that three men had to employ their whole summer catching fleas. You need to be very, enthusiastic to do work like that, though,'' he added, "one, man became quite an expert, and. would collect a thousand insects a day. It took, at leosi four years frprp the time we. decided to introduce the apheJi- • is to the time when they had been effectively distributed, and it is not inir probable the- gamp thing would occur with other post exterminators if wp were prepared to undertake thpir distribution. What we are now doing is to find the remedy and introduce itthen the growers interested can obtain it from thp district where it has been introduced."

Increasing Yields. The Professor gave an indication pf some of the work the Institute had in hand. Fungus growths were, twice as hard to cope with as woolly aphis, as the spores were carried everywhere by the wind. Some fungi, moreover, always, began at the root of a tree, and it was doubtful whether trees so affected could be saved. It became necessary, in that case, for the tree to be taken out, the ground sterilised, and another tree planted. At present great attention was being paid to blacJC'Spot on apples, and certain investigations pointed to the probability that far, mere complete control might be arrived at in the not very distant future, than had been the case in the past. Similarly, with brown-rot, one 6f the biggest pests the stone-fruit grower had to deal with. In crop production a great deal of knowledge had been accumulated during the last five years. The Institute was at wor.'s in. regard to particular types of example, conditions necessary in the area, for the sureness' of the growth of lucerne. Some soils considered absolutely unfit for lucerne had now given satisfactory yields at an initial expense which had been mora than justified. The study of increased yield in tomatoes and raspberries, also,' had received much attention, and the results were very deeply appreciated by fruit-grow-ers and market gardeners. "Eaoh year," the Professor con* eluded, *'some pew problem always turns up in every department of the Institute, It must be borne in mind that, just as jn the case of medicine, we appear to be as far as ever from the position where even the greatest of experts is justified in speaking dogmatically in regard to any point in the profession.''