SCIENCE AT WORK

Hokitika Guardian, 16 April 1929, Page 5

SCIENCE AT WORK

HANDMAID OF INDUSTRY,

PROGRESS IN AUSTRALIA.

SYDNEY, April 4.

The activities of the Australian. Council for Scientific ~and Industrial Research should be of-grefit interest to" New Zealand, for it is not a selfish concern, working for the good of Australia alone, and has often expressed its will-' ingness, its desire in fact, to work in close co-operation with similar concerns , in other countries. An even association with the Dominion would be welcomed. Much is heard from time to time of the Council’s work, but the public, strange to say, is not greatly interested in science. Still the work goes on, and the last annual report' shows that the amount spent by the Council last year was £BO,OOO. There was a very wide sphere of activities divided into four main sections—animal nutrition, entomology, botany, and forestry. All these subjects are of basic importance to Australia, and New Zealand, and- each is presided over by a chief who, in the words of the Council, is an “ eminent authority ” in the science concerned.

An example of the scientific work that is being carried out is that of economic botany, a division in charge of Dr. B. T. Dickson, formerly Professor of Plant Pathology, McGill University, Canada, who was brought to Australia for the purpose. His division is engaged in investigating the prickly pear pest, tomato wilt, bitter pit in apples, banana leaf spot, and tobacco diseases. All these diseases cost Australia thousands of pounds a year. An insect (Cactoblastis cactorum) lias already been introduced into the prickly pear with very successful results. The cause of tomato wilt has been found, and fairly definite indications of the cause of bitter pit in apples have been discovered.

Ai other division deals with animil problems, including poison plants,,horse diseases, parasites, paralysis in pigs, pleuro-pneumonia in cattle, braxy disease in sheep, and cattle tick. AH these evils are of serious consequence, and all are being investigated with an encouraging measure of success. Other subjects being examined are paper pulp, artificial silk, tannin, meat problems, wireless, soil problems, fuels, pottery, and the geophysical method of prospecting for minerals. In short, the work of the council is spread over the whole continent; it is concerned wifi, every primary and many of the secondary industries. Investigations are proceeding in the privacy of the laboratory and in the open field. The outlay a heady incurred will undoubtedly be recouped to the Commonwealth at large many times over. 1’ rom a financial aspect, in fact, the Bureau cf Scientific and Industrial Research has already paid for itself as a result of the valuable knowledge already gained regarding some of Australia’s most costly and destructive pests.