CAWTHRON INSTITUTE

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 33, 8 August 1933, Page 12

CAWTHRON INSTITUTE

ITS VALUE EMPHASISED

A SOUTHERN COMMENDATION

Tlic value of scientific research as an aid to the development o£ the industries of a country such as New Zealand has been increasingly emphasised :ind recognised of late years, and in ' ;iny ;ippr;nscmen( of the research anLivitios Hint .arc' carried on the work .ii! I ho Ciiwthron Jnstilulu must tiikc v piuuiJiiriiL place (says the "Otago Daily j limps"). j Tlio .account of that work which I has been furnished by Dr. Miller, juhief of the entomological department of the institute, is both interesting and impressive. It is a world strange and mysterious to the average person, but n-ithal extraordinarily fascinating, that J the entomologist makes the subject of his export study. An annoying insect may take it into' its head to play havoo with the lawn of a' blameless citizen, who may or may not be sufficiently well-informed to find a certain consolation in the thought that he is face to face, not with a merely trivial perprcxity, but with one of the major problems of the day—the grass grub. The farmer, better versed in these matters, has more than a shrewd idea of what is happening to his turnips, and it is to the Cawthron Institute that ho has to look for a prospect of muchneeded relief. Dr. Miller has explained briefly what tho institute intends to do in the way of the introduction of parasites which, it is hoped, will copo effectually with this particular pest. This is one illustration only of many which explain the nature of tho'activitics of the Cawthron Institute in its various departments. An immense amount oil experimental work is, of course, required, and the task demand* unremitting patience. Even when tho ivay seems clear, success cannot always ho" assured. Even parasites may be iimlcpcndable. Tho blackberry flaunts itself as luxuriantly as ever in tho Dominion 'despite the snare laid by the uitomologisfc for its destruction: This, Dr. Miller has explained, has been due to; the fact that the parasite soleeted and" employed against the blackberry showed a weakness for related plants suet as frnit -trees. ,Therefore there must'be- a "search"-for'something more reliably' hostile to the blackberry. The number of serious pests . that await destruction in New Zealand in the interests of agriculture is impressive, while, tho damago theso aggres- ■ sive despoilers contrive to do is, when viewed in a statistical light, little less than appalling.' It has been estimated that the agricultural revenue of tho .country is reduced by 'a million and a I Quarter by the ravages of ihreo insects only, that the maggot-fly and the "bidibidi" levy tribute on the sheep industry to the extent of nearly three-quar-ters of a million a year, and that if the experiments that are being conducted with «i view to tho elimination of the grass-grub and the blackberry were successful, there would bo a saving to tho Dominion of at least £1,000,000. When confronted with a few details concerning other pests, some of them very familiar, that await destruction, tho layman may well feel himself humbled in contemplation of the magnitude and importance of the task which the Cawthron Institute has in hand, and feel thoroughly disposed to cheer it on lustily in tho stern battle which it is waging to render the path of the agriculturist moro smooth and profitable. It is a matter for regret that the work of tho institute should bo seriously handicapped at present through the curtailment of monetary grants. Tho Empire Marketing Board has been 'a good friend to tho institute, but its own position has becomo. somewhat dubious," and.it Has boen unable to continue;the-mcasure of assistance extended by it in the past. Btit the farmers' organisations in the Dominion :iro alive to tho economic value of tho work which the Cawthron Institute is doing, and all who give the subject duo consideration must recognise that it is of great importance to the cquutry that'the problems that1 -are -being tackled at this centre of research should be successfully solved, that this work should be continued without interruption'or handicap, aiul that there are revelations worth "understanding in what entomological science is doing in tho service of mankind.