“CHEMISTRY IN ACTION”

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29799, 16 April 1962, Page 8

“CHEMISTRY IN ACTION”

Last Lecture In Series Of the many hundreds of thousands of substances which had been synthesised for control of plant growth, only a few occurred naturally in plants. Professor R. H. M. Langer, professor of plant science at Lincoln College, said to secondary school pupils during a lecture on the chemical control of plant growth. This was the third and last lecture in the series “Chemistry in Action,” arranged by the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry for secondary school pupils. Though scientists know how to use these substances in agriculture and horticulture, they were unable to say how exactly they worked. At the moment a tremendous argument was going on about this, said Professor Langer. Auxins, or plant growth substances, were used mainly for the promotion of roots, control of fruit setting and the thinning of blossoms, the production of seedless fruits, the inhibition of sprouting by prolonging the dormant period of vegetables such as potatoes and onions, and the control of weeds, he said.