SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN NELSON

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 212, 2 June 1921, Page 9

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN NELSON

THE CAWTHRON INSTITUTE BOW IRE WORK IS PROGRESSING A WIDE FIELD TO BE COVERED (Contributed.) In order that the general public might have an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the work of the Cawthron Institute, the buildings and grounds of the institute at "Fellworth,” Milton Street, Nelson, formerly the residence of the late Mr. John Sharp, were recently thrown open to visitors during the afternoons of four days. The whole staff was present, and willingly answered questions in connection with their researches. About eight hundred people took advantage of the public invitation, and the number would have exceeded a thousand had it not been for an exceptionally heavy downpour of rain during the whole of Saturday. This public inspection, following on the crowded and enthusiastic gathering of citizens at the official opening by the Governor-General in the School of Music, has done much to make the nature of the work of the institute understood by the layman. The visitors have shown by their expressions of appreciation how popular has been the action of the trustees of the institute in catering for that large section of the Nelson people which desires to understand what it is that the director and staff of the institute are attempting to carry out.

Though the institute was only officially opened a few weeks ago, the staff has been at work in the building for several months. It is only lately, however, that "Fellworth” has taken on the order!}' appearance which it now presents. The commodious and dignified residence of thirteen large rooms is meeting wonderfully well the new purpose# for which it is being used. In accordance with the recommendation of the commission which reported in 1917, the chief work of the institute is the solution of problems connected with agriculture in its widest sense. These problems have far more than a local importance. Speaking at Stoke in November last, the director (Professor Tlasterfield) said: "The trustees believe that special problems with a very wide interest should be the main objects of research at the institute, and, recognising that the difficulties of an agricultural community are problems that can mostly bo solved by either (1) the, soil chemist. (2) the entomologist, or (3) the plant pathologist, they have appointed their staff accordingly, with a curator in charge of a technical museum. The most important researches," added Professor Easterfield, "will require years to complete, but will then give a clear picture of the problems and their solution. Other minor investigations will be completed in shorter periods. All the knowledge gained should be to the ultimate advantage of-the community.” The Supreme Court has ruled that the word technical governs the nature of the work to be carried out in the institute. How keen is the interest of the director In problems of technical chemistry is well known to the manufacturers of the Dominion. Indeed, it would be difficult *io say whether the purely scientific or the technical side of an industrial problem appeals more strongly to him; and this was strikingly in evidence during the discussions at the recent Science Congress at Palmerston North. It is not, therefore, surprising to find that the Nelson District Association of Cool Store Engineers has asked him to organise a Series of experiments in connection with the difficulties experienced in cool storage of fruit, and that the Nelson City Pouncil has sought his advice in connection with the gas supply of the city. So also the flaxmillers have brought their flax refuse troubles under his notice; and comparative', experiments on New Zealand mineral oils are being undertaken tn his laboratory. In the soil laboratory, Mr. Theodore Rigg and his assistants are making steady progress with the analytical work attendant on a survey of the soils of Waimea county. The results are being co-ordinated with the available statistics of crop production, and with those of field and pot experiments. Bulletins will be published from time to time, and already some of the generalisations have been made known in addresses to scientific, agricultural, and horticultural societies. This branch of x he institute's work makes a general appeal by its practical usefulness. Mr. Rigg also has control of the orchard on tho Cawthron Trust’s estate at Annesbrook, which, although run on commercial lines, is being used for experimental purposes as well. Not less important is the work of the biological department. Its chief, Dr. R. J. Tillyard, as widely known as an entomologist. His recent visit to Europe, North America, Hawaii, and Fiji brought him into personal touch with scientific colleagues, many of vzhom he. had known before only through correspondence. The knowledge gained on his tour has been of advantage to all departments of the institute. During the past summer the chief entomologist Dr. Tillyard, and his assistant. Mr. A. Philpott, have studied Very actively the insect life of the whole district, including Mount Arthur and the Dun Mountain. The chief biologist recently visited the fire-bligjit areas of the North Island in order to gain first-hand knowledge of this disease and to inaugurate certain experiments with the object, if possible, of finding a method of treatment. The connection of fire-blight with the hawthorn hedge has received much attention at his hands. The present activities of the biological department of the institute include (1) a complete’survey of tho insect life of the Nelson district, with special reference to insect pests; (2) the question whether certain plant diseases cannot he more successfully controlled by injection than, by spraying; (3) experiments on the treatment of fire-blight; (4) the introduction, of beneficial insects; and (5) an investigation of tho causes of tho rapid deterioration of trout fisheries in New Zealand waters. With regard to the fourth of these matters, it is to be noted, that an attempt to esablish a minute wasp,’ Aphelinus mail, introduced from America, and a natural enemy of the woolly aphis, appears to have been very successful. The mycologist, Dr. Kathleen Curtis, is consulted oy all classes of horticulturists. Besides directing her attention to the main problems of fungoid diseases of plants, sho has given advice and information i t. a large number of cases. A skilled photographer, with an extended experience of various ’ kinds of scientific work with tho camera, the curator, Mr. W. C. Davies, has produced a large number of photographs, including photomicrographs, enlargements, and lantern elides, of’outstanding excellence. Under his supervision, portions of the apjrroaches to the institute have been tastefully laid out. In the coming planting season the number and variety of the shrubs and other plants of interest will be increased. Mr. Dlivics is preparing a soriea of photographs illustrating the growth of native and exotic, trees in the Nelson province. These will certainly be of great value in the collection of data on forestry.

The institute has the beginnings of n good reference library, which already is of great service to its staff. To this department some gonerous gifts of scientific publications have teen made. The trustees have secured the library of Dr. David Sharp, formerly curator of the Cambridge University Museum. This oolleotion ifl believed to te the finest private entomological library in the world.

By the will of Miss Frances Charters Marsden, the institute was enriched

by a collection of valuable china, which commands instant attention in tho museum. She also gave a number of fine pictures, one of which is an oil painting by Nicolas Maes. A portrait of the foundei of the institute, Thomae Cawthron, Nelson’s benefactor, has a place of honour in tho vestibule of the institute.

"Fellworth" is now the official Nelson observatory for the Meteorological Department of the Dominion. Observations are published daily in th? local Press, and are valued by the community. The Cawthron Trust owns a considerable area of land on the Port Hills overlooking tho seaside suburb of Tahunanui. This is known as Observatory Park, as it was here that the late Mr. Cawthron proposed to establish _a solar observatory. Should Yale University, U.S.A., select Nelson as the location ot its proposed Now Zealand observatory, the Cawthron trustees are willing to give tho use of a site in this park. The slopes of the park are being prepared tor planting an arboretum for tho study of the growth of all kinds of timber trees under forest conditions. Every year a free public “Cawthron lecture” in connection with tho institute is delivered in Nelson by a selected speaker. The lecturers so far chosen have been Professor Easterfield, Professor Benham, Dr. Cockayne, .and Dr. Marshall. This year’s lecture will be given by Professor Marsden, of Victoria College. Reports of these popular scientific lectures are being issued among the publications of the institute, and that of Professor Easterfield on "The Aims and Ideals of the Cawthron Institute was circulated on the occasion of the Official opening. Other publications by tho institute to date aro an address bv Mr. Rigg on soil surveys (with special reference to the Moutere Hille), and an article by Dr. Tillyard on “The Hawthorn Hedge," calling attention to this menace as regards fire-blight. It is recognised that for some time to come the laboratory work of the Cawthron Institute will have to be continued in tho .present building at i ellworth." But the idea of buildings of a more permanent nature has to be kept in view. The first step in this respect should be tho erection of a fire-proof structure to accommodate the “brary and museum. Other extensions must follow, and it is quite certain that the funds, of which not more than are revenue producing, will bo greatly strained if efficient buildings aro to be greeted without help from some outside source. So far the expenses have been met out of accrued income, but this is not sufficient in amount to allow of any great extensions in the matter of buildings or scope of work, nor again to subsidise any pension scheme for the members of the staff. • ... The field which the staff of the institute is attempting: to cover is a wide one but it is obvious that a strict limitation must be placed upon the number of researches which any one investigator can efficiently carry out at one time. Investigations of a technological nature are invariably expensive, but history shows that in the majority, of cases the expense is overwhelmingly justified, lhe suppression of black spot, the discovery of a remedy for brown rot or fire-blight, the complete control of the woolly aphis, the solution of the problem of the economic utilisation of sawdust or flax waste, or of the poorer hill lands in the- Nel son and other areas, if successfiilly attacked, would in each case be north more to New Zealand annually than the whole income of the institute. The trustees, therefore, rightly hold that, m the interest of New Zealand as a whole then position should be strengthened in such a manner aS to allow of a rapid incieaso in the staff, tho provision of greater facilities for work, the erection of larger buildings, and the publication in readily accessible form of the results of the work carried out in the institute.