FRUIT RESEARCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20302, 9 July 1929, Page 8

FRUIT RESEARCH.

FORWARD MOVEMENT.

THE VALUE OF SCIENCE.

CAWTHRON INSTITUTE'S WORK.

In addressing the conference of the New Zealand 1 Federation of Fruitgrowers upon fruit research in Wellington last week, Professor Easterfield, director of the Cawthron Institute, said that his plan was to show something of what had already been done, sc that the fruitgrowers might appreciate the magnitude of the benefit which they might expect by the intense application of scientific research to their problems in tho future. He confined his attention to the work carried out at tho Cawthron Institute during the past ten years. The first member of the staff to bo ap. pointed to the institute, said Professor Easterfield, was Mr. T. Rigg, and tho value of his work on soil survey, corn crop experiments, and orchard manurial schemes had been inestimable. Under treatment recommended by him there had been an extraordinary increase in the vitality of tho fruit trees, and in certain soil types it had been clearly demonstrated that the application of a well-balanced manurial scheme had greatly increased the resistance of the fruit to cool store conditions, thus reducing materially the loss to the grower. Tho investigations in the cool stores carried out by Messrs Tiller and McClelland on tho conditions most suitable for tho storage of different varieties of fruit had gone far toward tho solution of the problems connected with tho local storage of fruit. They had demonstrated for the first time that tha humidity of the stores must be kept down, but that at tho sapie time other factors were of at least as great importance. This work needed to bo greatly extended so that tho conditions under which each variety should bo stored might bo laid down with certainty. Tho fact that tho loss by wastage on tho passage to Eng. land of Cox's Orange alono was at least £IO,OOO annually surely indicated that it was worth while spending time and money on tho accurate investigation of tho problem. Research on Plant Diseases. Other lines in urgent need of investigation, and upon which tho orchard chemists were engaged, were the question of the most suitable root stocks for the different soil types, and whether tho nature of root stock affected the keeping quality of the fruit. A largo number of urgent problems had as yet, however, received only superficial treatment. A largo amount of work had also been carried out on the manuring of small fruits and of tomatoes. Turning to research on plant diseases, the work of Dr. Kathleen Curtis, mycologist at the institute, had demonstrated how essential it was that thero should be an early spraying, as she had shown that in the early spring thero was a tremendous distribution of the ascospores of tho black spot, which had wintered in the fallen leaves of the apple trees. By announcing to the orchardists each year the time when the distribution was -about to commence, tho growers had been able to apply their sprays at the correct time. The date of maturity and distribution' of the spores differed in different seasons, being affected by temperature and moisture conditions. With regard to peaches, the fungal investigations had shown that brown rot could be completely controlled. This gave great hopes that the peach industry might revive. There were, however, certain economic factors affecting tho question, and on these lie was not prepared to speak. Tho mycological work on tomatoes included some very interesting work on disease-resisting varieties " A Sensational Success." When tho New Zealand Government made a grant to the Cawthron trustees in 1921 to allow them to send Dr. Tillyard to the Entomological Conference in England, Professor Easterfield had asked him to make a special study of tho woolly aphis, and by consulting a very large number of entomologists he had found that certain entomologists in tho United States were studying the natural enemies of this parasite. Two different parasites were then supplied from tho United States to the Cawthron Institute. The one, a giant ladybird, was, as far as could be gathered, a complete failure, The other, Aphelinus mali, had been a sensational success, and had given an almost complete control of the trouble. The benefit to the industry was probably at least £IO,OOO per annum. These examples illustrated something of the work which had been done, ;ind raised the question, "Are tho New Zealand orchardists going to stand still or to go for a forward movement in fruit research ?" He had sufficient confidence in the fruitgrowers' common-sense to believe that they would endorse a policy of advance, even though they themselves had to contribute toward it. Something had already been done in their subsidy toward the bronze beetle investigations, which were still in their infancy. Fruit Research Institute. The professor then stated that in his opinion the time had come for the establishment of a Fruit Research Institute on similar lines to the Dairy Research Institute. Naturally ho would like tho institute to be established in Nelson, and attached to tho Cawthrown Institute. It was essential that the institute must bo placed in a fruitgrowing centre. Such ail institute should have not only an orchard already in bearing, but a quantity of land on which the effect of soil conditions, both from the point of view of cultural and of manurial conditions, etc., could be investigated from tho very first planting of the seedlings. He anticipated that tho knowledge obtained would put the fruitgrowers of tho future in a far safer position than they were now. Obviously tho establishment of such a station would depend very largely upon finance. If the fruitgrower would tax himself to tho extent of one halfpenny per case on his exported and cool-stored fruit, it would yield no less than £3OOO per annum, and an equal subsidy from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research would make £6OOO. Ho considered that not less than a farthing a case should be considered as the sum with which to commence.