DEVELOPING THE EMPIRE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3199, 25 September 1917, Page 7

DEVELOPING THE EMPIRE

WOBK OF THE IMPERIAL INSTi- ■ ■' TUTE. ■ The last report on the work of the Imperial Institute presented to the Executive Council, of which Lord Islington (sometime Governor of New Zealand) is chairman, states that apart from confidential reports to the Admiralty, the Ministry of Munitions, the War Trade Department, and other- Government Departments,' reports wore completed on the composition, value, and commercial prospects of raw materials from oighteen countries in the Empire overseas, -while the inquiries received and answered related to as many as thirty British countries. ■..','

Five tons of potatoes which were forwarded to the Institute from Egypt for trials sale in. the English market proved to be.of very good quality, and were readily disposed of in London, lealising prices up.to 5Jd. per lb. wholesale'. Whether potatoes from Egypt could, be sold at a profit in normal'times is doubtful, but it.is understood that the Egyptian authorities may decide to ship consignments of potatoes to England next i«in[ter, and the Imperial Institute has offerled to arrange for their eale in London. arrangements are being made for the dispatch;" of seed potatoes of the type preferred an England for trial in Egypt.- , . .

A possible new raw material for paper manufacture is indicated by the ing use of wattle bark by Britieh tanners. Large quantities of the spent bark are likely to be available in the United Kingdom, and investigations conducted at the Imperial Institute show that though the yield of pulp from the bark is somewhat low, the material is promising for the production of brown paper and: the, choaner grades of white or cream, papers, suoh] as- newspapers./ Arrangements are now being made at a British paper mill , for a large scale trial of the spent bark.

A , monograph (supplementary to twenty-nine others on varions minerals published in the "Bulletin of the Imperial Institute") IB now in preparation, dealing with the occurrence and'utilisation of zinc ores through the world, with special reference to the British .Empire'. An inquiry has been received from Zanzibar,' regarding the disposal of clove stems, which before the war were shipped principally to Germany. It is understood that this by-product of the Zanzibar doyq industry was used for two purposes: (1) grinding to powder, for use as a cheap spice in nlnce of genuine clove powder, and (2) distillation of volatile oil. There is not likely to be a large demand for the stems for itlie first of these purposes in the United Kingdom,' but the possibility of distilling oil from , them has been discussed with a -number of essential oil distillers, and us a result it appears probable that a irtaricet might be found for the stems for. that purpose.

In a football match for the Pearson Cup, played on Saturday last, the Eed Star juniors defeated the Carterton juniors by 20 .points to nil.

: The'question of dividing the district into two sections for the purpose of the shield matches is to be considered at a meeting of the Wairarapa Fowling Centre.