ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19179, 9 December 1927, Page 11

ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH.

TO THS EDITOR OF THE TRESS. —Our expert Government officials, through long experience in entomological research, wisely take no risks , with experiments conducted under their control. They are well aware of the serious responsibility, for, however expart, the far-reaching results of anv given experiment can only |,e a matter for conjecture, and their decisions are governed finally b\ the balance of experience and evidence in favour of success. Therefore they move at a snail's pace in contrast with the methods advocated by your correspondent. Mr C H. Tripp, who drives through his subject like the proverbial Jehu, the soil of Nemshi 1 In entomological and palfeontological 'researches Dr. Tillyard's work has honoured him with a world-wide reputation. as his '.'F.It.S." testifies, and it detracts nothing from his palreonto-

logical reputation if equally eminent entomologists deplore the lack of fossil evidence and- characterise present results as. mostly a dreary succession of insect wings. To students .an. enthusiastic nomination of the world's greatest entomologist sounds foolish. This is an ago of specialisation, and your columns could bo fijled with names of men' with world-wide reputations who excel in their respective specialities. Some entomologists receive large salaries, and I venture to say that the .salaries of the world's entomologists with the highest qualifications would rank them among tho worst-paid men in the community, as a class. It is doubtful .if the work of the Cawthron Institute is on a par with years of successful research conducted by Government experts and scientists' throughout New Zealand, and the Cawthron has, no just claim to superiority. The success claimed for tho experiment with woolly aphis is, as your correspondent claims, a matter " for congratulation, and • quite rightly is highly appreciated by the fruitgrowers as a check. There are problems in connexion with the future of aphelinus mali that are not; overlooked by specialists, and' a note by Slingersland and Crosby to the effect that the combined efforts of a list of other checks besidtes . a .mali dp .not sufficiently control the aphis, so as to make remedial measures unnecessary, especially ori '• young trees, should afford food for thought. (Pp. 157.) It is news that-Dr. Tillyard "alone discovered'! . the. beetle that, lives, on the seeds of gorse'; and Dr; Tillyard's own report of apion ulicis the experiments earned on' alongside, the Rothamsfcead Experimental Station under Dr. Imms makes' interesting reading, in which Dr. Tillyard's becoming modestv makes, him, refrain from publishing' his discovery. ("Insect Control of Noxious Weeds," New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, February, To introduce an insect is one thing, to establish it successfully is another, and there are many who will try more than once to swallow the statemeut that the beetle is thriving, and so far affording any very encouraging signs of emulating A. mali. The technical difficulties that have still to be overcome do not appear, in Mr Tripp s letter, nor is the average reader of your columns acquainted with them. Is one solitary experiment (apart from A. Mali, which still has the future ahead') vet at a stage when wild enthusiasm is advisable? To apply "absurdity;" "jealousy," and "interference" to the responsible Government officials is neither thoughtful nor fair and has little more value than hot air. When our Government is less hampered with lack of funds, wisdom will prompt it to pay its own tried experts in economic entomology salaries adequate to their vitally important work for the future prosperity of New Zealand. Systematic and palceontological research, while of great importance in scientific progress, are of less importance than purely economic entomology to pastoral, agricultural, and industrial interests. If individual opinions have value, then tho opinion that economic research lags far behind the large amount of splendid work that has been issued under the auspices of the Cawthron Institute may have some validity, also the opinion that' possibly there may be other men in New Zealand equally qualified to handle the extremely difficult problems that in New Zealand are yet in their initial stages, as compared with a future progressive organisation and distribution of an army of defence throughout New Zealand against insect and *her pests. Another protest should be made against the conservatism and scepticism of Nelsonites, who dub the Cawthron Institute "an old man's- home,' while gladly availing themselves of its success with the first of many Puccesses that may follow through the years to come,. as the result of persistent experiment, conducted by men who will, with the old British spirit, refuse to acknowledge defeat, and so win their Waterloos in the long run. Yours, etc., J. W. CAMPBELL. New Brichton. ' December'Bth. 1927.