WOOL-RESEARCH

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 236, 4 September 1945, Page 4

WOOL-RESEARCH

ENGLISH AUTHORITY. - VISIT TO MASSEY COLLEGE. 1 Lilies on which research is ’ ing in New Zealand in the production , and nianutacture of wool, and particu- ! iar problems affecting tlie industry ' here, are being studied by Dr. 13. n. 1 Wilsdon, director oi the Wool Research S-tatioii, Torridon, England, and advis- ' ory assistant to the British Govern--1 ment, in a fortnigbt’s 'stay in New ' Zealand. Dr. Wilsdon arrived in Pal- ' nierston North yesterday to visit Mas- ; sey Agricultural College, where re- ' search on wool problems has been car- ' lied out since the college's inception. ' Dr. Wilsdon was invited to Australia to report on phases of production and ' manuiaeture there, along with other | scientists, for the purpose of further research. He 1 and the others are ! putting forward independent reports, lor a long period the . Torridon Research station lias been connected with the Australian and New Zealand Governments, trying to work as' closely as possible with them on general problems connected with wool, Or. Wilsdon explained. When the International Wool Secretariat came into being there was developed a much closer association. The Australian Government, realising the difficulties facing wool and the disposal of the fibre lin the future, had decided to adopt a much bolder policy than previously in regard to research on wool produc- , tion and consumption, and it was in J connection with this research that he ■ had been invited there. * | It had been a great pleasure _to receive the invitation from the New Zealand Government to come to New Zealand also and seo what was being done here, Dr. Wilsdon added. In addition to studying the manufacture of wool, he would deal with the production side, and he would possibly see something of the woolgrowing hill j country today. He was very much interested in the activities of pastoral- I ists and breeders. I WIDENED SCOPE. | The Torridon Research Station was instituted on a voluntary basis after the last war, mainly to fill the needs of the manufacturers, Dr. Wilsdon explained. The idea had spread and the station had linked with producers of wool overseas as well as those in England. There was now a good, unified outlook'on the need for research to he undertaken, and the industry had expressed its intention of seeking compulsory powers through Parliament to spread the cost of research over the whole of the wool-using industry. j Research on general problems had been carried on throughout the war, said Dr. Wilsdon, who commented that the senior members of the staff at the research station had experienced a very hard time. There had also been carried forward special investigations for the Services. ! Tlnshrinkability was one of the main lines of research. This was a subject much discussed in the Press and one about which there was some misconception on occasions. More than one process had been discovered at Torridon —and some by other people-—which could remove that characteristic of wool of “felting up” when wasbeu, and each of these processes might find tin application in various sections of the whole wool industry. It remained with industry to use that particular process which it found most applicable to its needs. One of the greatest benefits Dr. Wilsdon hopes for from his visit is the greater correlation of research being undertaken at Torridon and in New Zealand in regard to wool. In his two days in New Zealand, lie said, he had. not been able to form definite opinions yet (he has still to visit Lincoln Col- | lege and' the manufacturing centres in the South Island). He would not indicate at this stage, after such a short stay, whether New Zealand should pursue certain selected avenues of production. “The best thing for New Zealand, he said, “is to take advantage of your very favourable conditions for the production of certain types of wool. In order that the producer should know j in what direction he should go, instead | of relying on the indication given by j the annual prices, there should be dose collaboration between producer and ! user. In that way the producer will know what wool to produce. All must be ‘on their toes’ to meet competition in certain lines, and there must be j a good sound reason for any decision to follow specific aims.”