NELSON INSTITUTE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, 14 July 1921, Page 5

NELSON INSTITUTE

SCIENCE BRANCH

A meeting of the Science Branch of the Nelson Institute was held last night, the President (Mr T. Rigg) occupying the chair. It was announced that at the next meeting Professor Easterfield would give a lecture on “Petroleum.” On the motion of Mr F. G. Gibbs, seconded by Mr T. A. H. Field, it was resolved to adopt a recommenda* tion of the committee that, in the case of members who joined last ydar , and paid a subscription of os, a levy of an additional 2s 6d be made, in order to make the income cover the expenditure; the subscription for tlie current year to be os.

RUSTS ON CEREAL CROPS Mr F. Whitwell addressed the meeting on the subject of rusts on cereals and other plants, with special reference to rusts on wheat, oats, and grasses. He said his paper was founded on observations made during the last fourteen years in, such intervals as were a H orded by the busy life of a farmer. After giving a general description of the rusts ho was dealing with, and some of the known facts concerning their occurrence, he indicated directions in which there were gaps yet to be filled in the knowledge of the subject. His experience was that rusts were increasing in incidence in this district. A good deal had been done in the way of breeding rust-resistant varieties of wheat, and some workers in Australia had been very successful in this respect. •He thought That, if what might be called a balanced ration in the way of fertiliser could be made up for wheat .or oats, a great deal might in that way be done to lessen the liability of those crops to rust. It was a good practice, moreover, to adhere to the system of rotation of 'crops and allow an interval of at least two years between spwiugs of wheat or oats on th©' same land. Late-sown crops appeared fo be more liable to rust than those sown earlier. Barley did not suffer very much from rust in New Zealand; this was different from the experience of European countries. Mr Whitwell touched on the point of. a genetic connection existing in Europe between cluster cups on barberry and rust on wheat* Attempts, made in Australia to infect wheaF in, this way had failed; and this was believed to apply to New Zealand also. In reply to questions, Mr Whitwell said that the economic loss from rust in this district was considerable, especially with the oat. crop. There was no law against- the, sale of rusty grain, such as the prohibitions on .the sale ,of fruit affected. by certain, diseases. It was not known how rust was carried oyer the winter to infect plants in the next season. A series of examples of rusts on oats and grasses were shown by means of microscopes.

WETAS Mr D. D. Milligan exhibited a number of specimens of wetas, some of which had been lent to him ,by the Dominion Museum, Wellington. He said these examples bf the Locuetjdao family of the Orthoptera were of special interest in that New Zealand seemed to have a greater variety 61 them than any other country. They were night insectkji and Fere,, to, be found, chmbing trees and boring .into their trunks, hiding unclor loose bark or among fallen and rotten wood, under stones, and in dark caves. Dr. TillyanLnot long, ago entered a cave near Wellington and in one scoop with a large net secured over thirty specimens from a small portion of the surface of the cave. New Zealand wetas had lost their wings. They were all thought to he vegetable feeders v. Oh the Mount Arthur plateau.-last;,Feb-ruary, however, Mr. A. Philpott found a weta on a veronica eating a amaß beetle. It was difficult to say what the enormous number of- wetas in toe Wellington cave lived on, though they might emerge at night to feed. Some of the wetas had a armar ment. One that was found in Nelsop had a remarkable head, with htjgb jaws. There were, larger species which had become practically extinct, and this, had been attributed to .the depredations of the Norway rat. The bite of a weta might be paiqful, but it was not inherently poisonous. Much remained to be done in the way Jo f describing and classifying these inExtracts from a paper by Mr W- WKnapp appears in another column* The thanks of the meeting were extended to the contributors or papers for the evening.