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Co-operation in Research. As an illustration of the former I take " Co-operation in Research," of which the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs gave such an interesting account yesterday and to which the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand referred this morning. There can, of course, be no finality in research, and it would be very unwise to attempt to lay down for all times, or even for a lengthy period, the lines on which our co-operation in research is to be carried on. I am, therefore, very glad to see that we are to have an opportunity on this occasion to review what has been done during the last three years, and to consider and determine what our course is to be in the immediate future. ♦ Research Grant Board in South Africa. At the conclusion of the war we established in South Africa a Research Grant Board with the object of advising the Government generally in regard to the encouragement of research. This Board of ours is in a position to keep in touch with all research activities in the Union, and constitutes a co-ordinating medium in regard to scientific research in our country. It can conveniently be used to pass on information regarding the results of research obtained in Britain and other parts of the Empire which are of common interest and be used as a medium of communication between the Union and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in London. South African Students and British Research Institutions. Every year some of our South African students proceed overseas with the aid of scholarships, to engage in post-graduate research, and I think that in some instances it would be of great advantage not only to them, but also to the work of research generally, if these students could be attached to institutions such as Kew, the National Physical Laboratory, the Royal Horticultural Society, the Engineering Division of the Post Office, &c., where they could interchange views and experiences with students from the other Dominions. It is possible that the establishment of similar research boards or councils in Great Britain and in each of the Dominions might be the best means which we can devise, not only of keeping the various parts of the Empire in touch with each other in regard to the research and institutional work in progress in their countries, but also to institute, when called upon to do so, special investigations into problems which are common to more than one of the parties. You may be aware that we have an institution at Onderstepoort, near Pretoria, of no mean size, devoted to research into animal diseases and the methods of their prevention, where products such as vaccines are manufactured on a very large scale, and which is affiliated to the University of the Transvaal and is organized for teaching. The money voted annually by Parliament for the official work of this institution allows of experimentation and provides equipment on a scale which no purely teaching institution in the world could face. Exchange of Research Data and of Staff. Mr. Amery referred to the desirability of close contact being established between research institutions, and I quote a case in point. At the present time two almost identical experiments are proceeding—one in Ceylon and one at our institution at Onderstepoort—and it is only the accident of personal acquaintanceship of the investigators concerned which enables the experince of both countries to be combined in interpreting the data exchanged. Research Councils would be in a position to inform any worker of the names and resources of other workers engaged upon problems similar to his own and so enable an exchange of views to proceed throughout the actual course of specific researches. Ultimately, it might be possible to arrive at some system whereby experts in, say, the various branches of veterinary and entomological science might be loaned to other Dominions to give the benefit of their experience, or temporarily exchanged merely for the benefit of two institutions. The introduction of the element of human intercourse, the personal exchange of that experience and outlook which is never committed to paper, might be of incalculable benefit, more particularly in the case of workers in isolated centres pre-occupiecl with local problems and with limited facilities for the exchange of ideas. Suggested Investigations regarding Fruit. At a later stage of our work we shall be able to go into these matters in greater detail so that it is not necessary for me to do more to-day than to cite two investigations which we should endeavour to get put in hand and the work in connection therewith co-ordinated without delay. I refer to — (1) The arsenical contamination of fruit as a result of spraying—we are having some difficulty now in regard to this matter ; and (2) the presence in dried fruit of sulphur dioxide : that is another of the problems with which we are faced. Experiments in Cotton-growing in South Africa. Cotton-growing is another subject on which I might touch for a minute or two. From time to time for many years attempts have been made to grow cotton in South Africa but these efforts have met with failure owing to lack of knowledge and the want of gins and means of conveyance. In 1909 a division of the Transvaal Agricultural Department was created for the purpose of encouraging the development of the industry. Since that time there has been steady progress, especially in portions of the Transvaal and Natal. Experiments have been carried out in a number of likely areas in order to ascertain by actual field trials how the cotton plant would thrive under various local soil and climatic conditions. The seed of a large number of promising varieties was imported and experimented

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