THE COMMONWEALTH

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8361, 22 February 1913, Page 9

THE COMMONWEALTH

"Oh. Australia, fair and lovely. Empress of tho southern sea.

Mr Woodward, Assistant Government Geologist at Perth, reports the discovery at Poonah, on the Murchison field, of emeralds of a promising character. Some of the best stones have been posted to Mr Streeter, gem expert, 1 London, for examination. The Government chemist, Mr Simpson, reports on a stone submitted to him by Mr Woodward, weighing 32 carats, that it is a pure emerald —that is, an emerald green translucent beryl. Onethird is valueless through paleness and lack of transparency, and the .balance so much fissured that the largest stone that could be cut from it would weigh only a fraction of a carat. Three small stones under 2 carats are much better in respect to brilliancy and transparency, but defective through small internal fractures. Beryl-bearing veins extend below the alluvial tin workings on tho Poonah Creek. The Queensland Prickly Pear Commissioner (Dr T. H. Johnson), who is abroad investigating the prickly pear plant in the hope of devising a plan of destroying it in Australia, has forwarded a report dealing with his work in Ceylon, He paid special attention to the destructive habits of the cochineal insect, which in that country is ,the natural enemy of the pear. A number of specimens of the plant infested with the insect have been forwarded. The commissioner found that in Ceylon this insect was quite capable of keeping the pear in subjection, and generally destroying it. The insect is in appearance like the ordinary mealy bug, excepting that the filamentary processes wore not in existence. Di Johnson pointed out that the imported insect might meet with a formidable enemy in a small local beetle, and its larvae- —Crypto-laenus Montronzien which preys' upon bugs. The Queensland Entomologist (Mr H. Tryon) has inspected the consignments of pear, and he has certified that the varieties are similar to some that are already growing in Queensland, so that there is no danger of a new pest being introduced in the pear line. The Agricultural Department has taken the insects in hand for the purpose of carrying out tests. t

Of the £50,000 voted by tho Federal Parliament for the construction of a chain of wireless stations in Australia, in the financial year ending Juno 30th, 1913, £40,000 has already been expended. Excellent progress has been made with the work. The stations which are now transacting public business are the Melbourne, Sydney, Fremantle, Adelaide, Hobart, Brisbane, Thursday Island, and Port Moresby. The mast of the Townsville station was erected quite recently. The masts of the Cooktown, Rockhampton, Mount Gambler, Geraldtoii and Esperanoe stations have also' been placed in position. The Mount Gambler station ’? now open, while the Townsville, Cooktown, and Rockhampton stations should be opened by the middle of- next month. Stations are also in course of erection at Roebume, Wyndham, and Broome, on tho north-west coast of West Australia, and at Darwin, in the Northern Territory. These will complete the programme for this financial year, and they should all be open for traffic by June 30th. Special provision has been made to render the stations on the north-west coast of West Australia safe from the assaults of the “willywillies,” as the violent storms that rage at certain seasons of the year are called. On© “willy-willy’ is recorded as having-reached a velocity of 125 miles an hour. Tho masts and stations will bo only 140 feet in height, and they will be equipped with a double set of guys and extra heavy lines. The buildings, which will be of ferro-con-crete, will be weighted- with heavy anchors, which will be sunk in a concrete bed.

In opening the Agricultural Show at Berry, Mr M. F. Morton, M.L.A., referred to some remarks made by Mr H. C. L. Anderson, Under-Secretary for Agriculture, in regard to the failure of experimental farms in this State. That gentleman, in his annual report, Mr Morton said, made the astonishing confession that' after ton or twenty years’ experience of a number of farms, there was no ground for 'belief that a Government institution, under existing conditions, could demonstrate to the ordinary farmer profitable and successful farming. Figures quoted in the report showed that losses had been sustained at all tho experimental farms in Now South Wales. In 1910 the farms took £26,000 and spent £87,000, leaving a debit balance of £61,000, and in 1911 the revenue amounted to £27,000, while the expenditure totalled £97,000, showing a loss of £70,000. Referring to the operations of the Wollongbar Stud Farm, Mr Anderson’s report dealt with the reduction of the value of the oow from £9 to £6 4d, despite the fact that butter had increased in price, and said that no private employer who had incurred such generous expenditure on stock equipment and labour would be satisfied with such a record, and it would bo necessary to have a diligent inquiry into all Hie causes that were contributing to this and other failures in tho department. “To demonstrate in practice what was preached in theory, it seems to me, said-Mr Morton, “that Mr Anderson s remarks have not yet been sufficiently noticed by either the department or the press. They must either bo repudiated or some explanation given as to the reason for the failures.’’ Mr Morton also criticised the Board of Health for - their severity against the farmei regarding the quality of the milk in this State. He said a man was classed as a criminal until he proved himself innocent. Tho board’s activity was rather amusing, in view of the fact that at a Government institution recently 60 per cent, of the cows supplying the milk to the inmates reacted to the tuberculin test, whereas on the coast, out of 3936 cows examined last year, only 95 head, or one in 360 were found to bo diseased. The farmer, concluded' tho member, was the best man to manage his own affairs, and Government interference was unwarranted and unnecessary.