Pillar of Empire’s Life

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 167, 5 October 1927, Page 1

Pillar of Empire’s Life

Importance of Agriculture New Zealand at Great Conference By Cable.—Press Association. — Copyright. Received 9.5 a.m. LONDON, Tuesday. WELCOMING the delegates to the Imperial Agricultural Research Conference—at which were present the Australians, Mr. Julius, Mr. S. S. Cameron (Director of Agriculture, Victoria), and Mr. A. E. V. Richardson (Superintendent of Agriculture, Victoria), and the New Zealanders, Dr. C. J. Reakes (Director-General of Agriculture) and Mr. Theodore Rigg (Assistant Director of the Cawthron Institute. Nelson)-r-Lieut.-Col. Walter E. Guinness, British Minister of Agriculture expressed the opinion that never before had the knowledge and experience of experts all over the Empire been concentrated to assist the Empire’s greatest industry.

JN this time of complexity and change the industries standing still would quickly be , left behind. Research must be used to improve agriculture, which was the giant pillar of the Empire’s life and prosperity. As an example of Empire co-opera-tion, the Minister mentioned the Aberdeen Institute's research in the mineral ' contents of pastures, which linked up the work of Australia, New Zealand and Kenya. The conference would ensure that each part of the Empire would be educated in the others’ research discoveries. In a speech, Mr. Julius said that Australia’had embarked on an ambitious programme of research. 9U per cent, of which was devoted to primary. production and agricultural research. Australia was a tremendous field In which there were few workers. This was probably due to the lack of reward for scientific work in former years. One of the most important subjects on. the ageudiJ is that of animal and

plant pests. The members of the conference will have before them the recent developments of applied science in its efforts to combat these pests. In an article on this subject in the “Evening Standard*’ the Professor of Zoology at King’s College, London. Mr. Julian Huxley, says noxious insects such as the cotton boll weevil and the gipsy moth inflict damage on the British Empire to an amount of tens of millions of pounds in a few months. There are, he says, noxious plants such as the prickly pear, which, last year robbed Australia of an acre of land every minute, or the blackberry in New Zealand, which in its new environment has formed impenetrable jungles over thousands of acres of what was once fine dairying land. Luckily these insects and these weeds have, says Mr. Huxley, also their own I particular insect enemies, and many j of these latter attack nothing but one animal or plant. j Mr. Huxley says that under the i auspices of the Empire Marketing ; Board a “Parasite Zoological Garden” j has been established in England, | from which duly-tested and warranted j parasites may be shipped to all cuiar- | ters of the Empire to help to destroy I animal and plant pests. ■ \ ■