HELPING THE EMPIRE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 5 January 1928, Page 8

HELPING THE EMPIRE.

VISITORS TO AUSTRALIA. COMING TO 1 NEW ZEAT.ANT). SYDNEY, Dec. 23. Two distinguished Britons whose work has iboou of extreme- value to the Empire at- large, and is likely to continue to develop the Dominions, arrived iu Melbourne this week cm tours of which the object is to study the resources of the Dominions and to form opinions as to how they could best he used and improved' to develop and assist the whole Empire, says the Sydney correspondent ot the i ‘Auckland Herald.” They were Dr. A. W. Hill, Director of the Rloyal Botanic Gardens, Kew (London), and Dr. Leslie Haden Guest, a fanner Labour member of the House of Commons, who left that party because of its attitude in regard to the protection of British subjects in China, but who had previously demonstrated his great interest in the work of making the British Empire greater. Dr. Hi Mi is visiting Australia at the invitation of the Commonwealth Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and he will proceed to New Zealand at the conclusion of his studios in this country. Dr. Hill really comes to. Australia as a member of the Empire Marketing Board, whose grant to the Kew Gardens enabled Dr. Hill to. make his long voyage. By doing so he is only continuing the work of the gardens when they were .part of the Domain of George 111. , Under the first director, Sir Joseph Banks, and Iris successors, trained botanical observers were sent to new I British communities to see how far the I resources of Kew could assist iu dej veloping and supplementing natural botanical material for the establishment of industry, the supply of foodstuffs, the maintenance of public health, and so forth.' The grant of the Empire Marketing Board has enabled the Kew Gardens to resume the sending of collectors abroad to secure valuable plants and seeds for distribution throughout i the' Dominions —a. work that' had to cease when the gardens were nationaf- ■ ised in 1841, and-lack of funds caused ' this branch of its activities to be abanl doned.

“The value, of personal observation in various countries by trained botanists can hardly be over-estimated,” Dr. Hill told a Melbourne Interviewer, in explanation of the objects of his tour “A new fibre plant may be found, or areas located where tea, cocoa, sugar and other important products can be successfully grown on a commercial scale. In such eases, the resources of Kew Gardens are made, available to establish the necessary plantations. In the field of medicine, also, the gardens have rendered great assistance. It was through the activities of the Ke-.v Gardens that- the chinchona plant, from which quinine is derived, was established in India to combat malaria. We are now sending to the Dominions where leprosy is prevalent the cliaulmoogra plant, a nativei of Burma, from the seeds of which an oil is extracted which, after certain chemical treatment, is regarded as a. very effective specific for the dread disease.”

Dr. Haden Guest is on a more or less private mission. His interests include a weekly publication in London devoted to the furtherance of the Empire, but lie is mainly interested in the marketing problems associated with Dominion products. To study the growing and preparation for marketing of these products is Dr. Haden Guest’s principal aim, especially in the fruit industry. Hisi plans call for a stay or several months in Australia, and he will then probably go to New Zealand.