ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19178, 8 December 1927, Page 11

ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PBESS. Sir,—l think some protest should be raado against Dr.. Tillyard leaving the Dominion and accepting an appointment in Australia. A friend of mine writing from England some time ago mentioned that Dr. Tillyard was Sought most highly of there, and m his opinion was the greatest hymgjintomofogist.- The Americans are paying their entomologists very high salaries, and these entomologists have ceedingly high opinion of Dr. Tillyard, witness the packed audience at a .lecture Dr. Tillyard gave aV Honolulu on a short notice when his steamer called on the way to Vancouver. " By the success he has achieved .n introducing the natural enemy to the woolly aphis alone he hassayed thousands of pounds, not only in the expensive oil, that is the only effective artificial remedy, but also in the time wasted in spraying and painting the trees. Then again ho alone discovered m England a beetle that lives on the seeds of corse, and this in England prevents gdrie spreading, though it, of course, does not destroy the tree. \et if introduced here, it would save almost millions in gorse grubbing and stock . carrying capacities •of farms, and make it sate to plant gorse fences He has' these beetles thriving m the Cawthron Institute but some absurd jealous Government regulation will not allow him to distribute them until he has tried them on everv other seed, which will take a lifetime, and in the meantime the countrv suffers. He has, I believe, tried them on dozens of other seeds, and is satisfied in his own mind (which is good enough for mc) that they don t injure nnv seeds but those of corse. He is likewise nt the blackberry, and numerous other rests, and if given a bit more time and a free hand and less Government interference will in time eradicate or alleviate most of our pests and save .farmers, orchardists, and others untold waste of money. I would suggest the Government offer him the untrammelled head of their •Entomologists and Agricultural Pests Departments, with double thp salary the Australian Government offers him, nnd so keep him here if possible.— Yours, etc., p fi Timaru, December 6th.