Delegates Assess Work Of Grasslands Congress

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28128, 17 November 1956, Page 6

Delegates Assess Work Of Grasslands Congress

(New Zealand, Press Association)

PALMERSTON NORTH, Nov. 16. The seventh International Grassends Congress at Massey Agricultural College ended yesterday. The delegates shook hands, said good-bye, and made the first moves in their journeys home, the wiser for the interchange of ideas and opinions of experts representing 38 countries. Among delegates the general impression of the lessons of the congress seemed to be that, although New Zealand had a good head start on most countries because of its climate, much of the work carried out here, both in research and in practical farming, could be well applied under different conditions abroad. The greatest impression of Professor M. L. t’Hart (Netherlands), was of the growth of clover in New Zealand compared with that in his own country, which has to support five times the Dominion’s population, and of the quality of research, especially on the improvement of pastures with certified seed. He found the New Zealand outlook •differed in that, whereas this country was concerned with the output an acre, the Netherlands was more interested in the output a man. The organisation of the congress was highly praised by Dr. W. M. Heisey. who came from the Carnegie Institution of Washington. California. “The excellent organisation, by the elimination to a large extent of concurrent sessions, made it possible for us to take in all the sessions,” he said. “The intimacy of the groups was ideal. We got to know each other personally, and with so many common interests we had some stimulating discussions.” Mr W. J. Blackie, Director of Agriculture in Hong Kong, found he had made contacts at the congress that would assist in the importation of superior strains of grasses into Hong Kong. As a technical administrator, he found the congress had brought him up to date on new developments and had enabled him to meet persons with problems in similar environs. One of these problems in Hong Kong, he

said, was the high density of population. “The biggest thing about the congress as far as I was concerned was the coming together of so many parts of the world,” said Dr. J. D. Scott (South Africa). “Our pasture problems may differ, but in the swapping of ideas there is always bound to be something that can apply to your own country.” New Zealand has made as good a job as any country in the world in the evolution and improvement of pasture strains to suit the conditions of the country. This view was expressed by Professor C. M. Donald, of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute; Adelaide. The evolution ol short-rotation ryegrass and its proved superiority were a great achievement. Professor Donald said that Australia had not yet produced a single new variety of pasture plant, although it had exploited and developed naturallyoccurring strains of such plants as subterranean clover. Work at the Waite Institute, under the directorship of Dr. J. Melville, the previous Director of the Grasslands Division, was in progress on the development of special strains, but none was near the stage of commercial production. The leader of the United States delegation to the congress (Professor W. M. Myers) said he was interested to see that very similar research methods were used in the production of improved strains of pasture plants in New Zealand and in the United States. Research in the two countries was parallel, he said, but the smaller community in New Zealand provided an advantage in the rapid commercial establishment of these improved types.