SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21144, 30 March 1932, Page 11

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.

ffHE CAWTHRON INSTITUTE. CAPPING of soils. UKEATMENT by prescription. HELP for fruitgrowers. when tbo trustpos of tho Oawfhroii Request announced tb.it (hoy intended to found a research institute at Nelson, one of the Wellington newspapers was nnkind enough to say that the chosen location, lone: known as "Sleepy Hollow," did not promise well. The paper affected |0 f Pa r that the ntmosphei- of the place , ?o ,ild sap the researchers' zeal and that tfie public would have to wait long for results. Such doubts, if anyone really held them, have proved quite groundless. So far from taking things easily, the scientific staff of the institute has shown tirejess industry, and its record of concrete achievements in a comparatively short term of years is truly remarkable. Indeed. those of its members who have been sent on visits to Europe and America found fellow-workers overseas almost, incredulous of what the institute bad accomplished. When Mr. Cawthron's foundation came into being, about the close of the war period, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research did not exist—it was not created until 1926. The new institute had therefore to plough its own first furrow without any Government advice or co-operation except in its quite informal relations with the Department of Agriculture. Empire Marketing Board. That condition exists no longer. The institute's work is recognised and assisted not only by tho Department of Research but also by the Empire Marketing Board, which provides annual subsidies for certain researches and gives help in other ways through its experimental stations in Britain. During the first- years, the trustees and scientific staff recognised that they had a special duty to the Xelson district, in which Mr. Cawthron had spent the greater part of his long life. There was plenty of work to be done, because the orchard industry, especially apple-growing, was expanding very rapidly, and trees were being planted in thousands on very intractable lana that had never been turned to real account before.

One task which the agricultural chemists took in hand as soon as possible was a soil survey of the district within the two mountain chains which run on either side of Tasman Bay. This area is varied and interesting geologically, and the survey showed soils of many types within areas of a few square miles. Maori Agriculture. The resulting map has been of the utmost value, not only to would-be purchasers of farm or orchard land, but also to present occupiers. It immediately links np the institute's theoretical and practical soil researches with definite areas of land, and enables farmers to profit by the experience of others who are on the same type of soil as themselves. One surprising discovery was made in the course of the survey. When certain soils in the valley of the Motueka River and near the coast were examined, it was found that their composition was not due to natural agency, but to the work of old-lime Maoris. Not finding land that suited their ideas of what was best for growing kumara, . these people had conveyed soil from a distance and mixed it with the natural soil of the plantat:ons. Seeing that this had been dene over thousands of acres, the total amount of labour must have been enormous, especially as the soil could only have been carried in baskets on the backs of women or slaves. Later inquiries into the methods of kumara-growing used bv the surviving natives of the district fully confirmed the theory that the soil had been artificially prepared. Fertilisation Procedures. Surveys of the same kind would be of great value to farmers and settlers in many parts of New Zealand. The Cawthron Institute is now co-operating in a reconnaissance survey of the soils of the central part of the North Island, with the special purpose of defining the boundaries of the different volcanic showers." Local surveys have been made at various tnne.s by the Department of Agriculture. but for reasons of expense it may hp long before anv other district is with the same care as Nelson. concurrently with its survey, the in- | stitute undertook investigations of soils i n! Inn w bich development was taking place, "he most notable of these comprised | thousands nf acres of infertile rolling hills i which were believed to bp suitable for i ipple-grovving. .After laboratory analyses | ®nd field tests, the chemists were able j to prescribe a coin sr- of manorial treat- i ment with which success could be virtu- | ally guaranteed. Later, they developed i a procedme by which the output of rasp- ' berries from gardens on certain classes j of soi] practically doubled itself. The i institute's researches have formed the ; basis upon which tobacco-growing has ! been established in the district. The I peatest achievement—the utilisation of j t«e intractable " pakilii" lands for dairy j pasture—has been described in an earlier article. Fighting Fruit Pests. Concurrently .with the soil researches, | the entomological and mvcologi-a! depart- j nients began the investigation of insect J pPSts and fungoid diseases affecting anple j ®nd soft-fruit growing. The woolly j "phis was overcome bv the introduction ! ot a t !n y wasp, and invaluable help con- I tiniiPs to bo rrivon ,n growers in con- | .1 of disease hy sprays, the selection : ®' resistant strains and in other ways, j his; Work is actively roiini forward, and tie troubles dealt with are far too nniner- ; O'Js to mention. Tile work begun bv Dr. R. J. Tillvard, j entomologist to lb«> Commonwealth : government, and cair : ed on bv his successor. 1),.. j). |V , t j]],.,.. fnnr'ierly New j " ea 'aild Government entomologist. con- j ' Prns not. only Nelson, but the whole ominion. and is sponsored bv the Empire Marketing Board. Already millions of of an msict tli,it devours r*gwort. nave been distiibuted in all the districts j Wost affected. While the inseet alone | prohahly 'annot wipe out the weed, it is exported to givf. „ m . !. help in keeping It in check. ' , The institute is bearing a large share • n a preat and eompn hensive research "to the mineral content, of New Zealand ; Pastures, the results of whiHi should be j f ' Immense ultimate value. Its invest!- j in the eiml-Mor:."* of apples have ; already | ; ,sums to tlie growers. : j together, the <;200.000 with which the j Stituto was endowed un<ler its founder's j * :. ''as given a bounteous, though not j * as, 'y assessable, return.