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PLANT PESTS.
Annual Loss of £5,000,000.
SCOPE OF RESEARCH WORK.
Investigation, of plant posts nnd' diseases,
to which considerable attention is being
given by State departments of agriculture,
is being undertaken by the Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research.
Though reliable figures are not available,
£(3,000,000 is a conservative estimate of
the loss suffered each year m Australia
through plant diseases alone. The council
is continuing certain investigations
initiated by the former Institute of Science
and Industry, but before it adopts any
definite policy ns to the future develop
ment of this work, it will secure a report
on the investigations now in progress, and
the facilities available in tho different in
stitutions throughout the Commonwealth.
With this end in view, the council ap
pointed Professor T. Ci. B. Osborn, De
partment of Botnny, Adelaide University,
to mnko a' thorough inquiry in each State.
He will bo assisted by the State com
mittees of the council, which is preparing
information ns to the institutions con
ducting research on plant problems, the
mnttcrs on which work is alrendy in pro
gress, their economic importance, and
urgency of tho different problems.
The Vice-President of - the ' Executive
Council (Senator Pcai-cc) Btnted yesterdny
that > the importance of .agricultural re
search in a country like Australia, . where
the ; primary industries were responsible
for the production of , so large a part of
our wealth, could hardly be overstated.
The dairy farmer, the pastoralist, the
wheat grower and other primary producers
were continually finding themselves faced
with Borne problem which could be solved
only by investigations of trained men.
While a great deal of very valuable work
on plant problems was already being car
ried out by tho State Agricultural depart
ments, _thc men responsible for this work
wore often bumpered by routine duties, or
through having u number of different
problems allocated to them. There wns
need not only for co-ordination of effort,
hut also for concerted effort being made
to attack in a systematic way many of
the fundamental problems underlying the
practices of. the agriculturist. The scope
for investigational work in Australia wa's
vast, and limjted only by the personnel
nnd funds available. The former Institute
ot Science and Industry had found that
tlie State Agricultural departments were
anxious to co-operate, and investigations
on a co-operative basis had already been
conducted successfully, e.g., on the prickly
pear pest, bunchy-top in bananas, we. It
was obvious that by pooling our resources
nnd concentrating effort, useful results
were much more likely to be achieved than
hy the piecemeal uttucks on the problems.
Liberal expenditure on agricultural re
search must be regarded as a wise national
investment.
Professor Osbovn would include in his'
report suggestions as to those problems
which could bo taken lip in existing in-
Bututiottti where scientific direction and
equipment was already available, and a?
to those which Would require the develop
ment of special facilities. When his re
port was received tho council would con
sult vnripUB institutions concerned, and
then make recommendations to the Com-
inonwenltli Government, with, a view to
'ftjinff the foundation for tv Hystomatic
scheme of research of lasting benefit to the
agricultural mdnstriosof Australia.
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