THE CAWTHRON INSTITUTE

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22004, 30 January 1937, Page 11

THE CAWTHRON INSTITUTE

MINISTER INSPECTS WORK

PARASITIC CONTROL OF PESTS

IFrom Our Own Reporter.]

NELSON, January 29,

As Minister in charge of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan today had an opportunity of seeing part of the research being done at the Cawthron Institute on behalf;of some of the Dominion’s vital industries. The Minister was told how this work was saving the producing industries of New Zealand many millions of pounds annually. The introduction of the insect which attacked bldi bidi and kept this pest under control by eradicating bidis had saved the country £250,000 annually. The eradication of fern, which destroyed valuable cattle country, had saved £1,300,000 a year, and the saving effected by the introduction of the cinnabar moth to combat ragwort ran into big figures. Orchardists had been saved £90,000 a year when the institute had its spectacular success with the introduction of a parasite to attack woolly aphis, one of the worst of the fruit-tree pests. Mr Sullivan saw details of all this work, and as he was leaving he was informed that the institute had even turned its attention to assisting human beings by a campaign against that most annoying of pests, the sandfly. A parasite to combat the sandfly was now established in the Matai Valley, Nplson, and its habits were being watched in the hope that it might drive the sandfly out. Another of the activities of the institute which the Minister was greatly interested in, and which is of importance to Canterbury particularly, was connected with extensive soil surveys being carried out to determine variations in soil properties. That these surveys were of value to farmers was revealed by the fact that after the Ashburton area survey was completed and a map published there was immediately a heavy demand from farmers in the locality for copies. These were acceded to. The surveys are followed by laboratory and field, experimental work, providing a great deal of information about soils, the nature of the problems affecting different districts, and suggested methods of overcoming them.

The Minister saw another investigation of interest to Canterbury—details of the way in which the horntail borer has been attacked by the ‘parasite which affects the larvae stage of the pest. This borer has been a great menace to pine forests in the Dominion. Another instance of this mass scientific attack on noxious weeds was seen in gorse, where a weevil attacks the seed pods, preventing in that way the spread of gorse. The institute is also paying special,attention to stock ailments, particularly those associated with particular soil types. The incidence of bush sickness has been investigated with some success,, and sheep diseases also have been investigated and methods devised to control them.

The mycological department, when inspected by the Minister to-day, was engaged on interesting experiments with tobacco diseases, and later in the day Mr Sullivan, visiting the tobaccogrowing district of Motueka, saw how seriously some of those diseases were affecting the crops. The Minister heard wherever he went valuable tributes to the work being done at the institute.