COOPERATION IN SCIENCE

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22004, 30 January 1937, Page 20

COOPERATION IN SCIENCE

AGRICULTURE IN AND AUSTRALU

INTERCHANGE OF OFFICEB3

ADVOCATED

[THE PRESS Special Service.]

BLENHEIM, January 29.

The field is open for more co-opera-tion among the agricultural scientists of New Zealand and Australia, in the opinion of Dr. A. E. V. Richardson, director of the Waite Agricultural Institute. Adelaide, who. with Dr. B. T. Dickson, chief of the Plant Research Division at Canberra, is visiting New Zealand. They have spent some days at the Cawthron Institute, Nelson. Dr. Richardson said that Australia had already taken advantage of the training facilities at Palmerston North to send an officer to the Dairy Research Institute for a period from 18 months to two years. That provided an example of a scheme for interchanging officers, which, he thought, would prove to be eminently desirable. In fact, he added, the co-operation of scientists in the two countries might have its effect in obtaining more cooperation in other fields. Both Dr. Dickson and he himself had been intensely impressed with the work of the Cawthron, Institute, he said, and they were glad that after making contact at the Science Coni gross at Auckland they had been able to visit the institute. It had made wonderful progress in a short timn and its work exercised a wide inila* ence. Its value had been striking]}; demonstrated through the use of fer* tilisers on orchards in the Motuehg hills, which did not appear to be firsU class land, but the superiority of feA tilised plots over non-fertilised wag very marked both in the health aim vigour of the trees and the yield ad| quality of the fruit. The visitors had also been impress'# with the way in which second-cia® pasture land was being brought almon to the state of first-class land througf the liberal application of superphoS phate and the use of appropriate seen mixtures. From their observation in various parts of New Zealand, - j seemed that there were good oppeaf tunities for the development and iml provement of pastures. Dr. Dickson said that the tobacco in> dustry was particularly interesting because of its newness, but there was no doubt that many problems would have to be overcome before reasonable yields and high-grade quality could be ensured. There was evidence, for instance, of some disease among the crops. The problems were difficult and required'the application of highly-trained men. and of necessity considerable time would be involved. Investigation work among tobacco crops was also being carried out extensively in Australia and the work was one which lent itself to collaboration between the two countries.