The New Zealand Times. WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 1926. MULTIPLYING THE BLADES OF GRASS

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12456, 26 May 1926, Page 6

The New Zealand Times. WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 1926. MULTIPLYING THE BLADES OF GRASS

Fortified by the report of that acknowledged authority on the subject, Sir Frank Heath, the Government has decided to establish a Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Ihe need for such a central authority has been recognised for some time. Apart from the Board of Science and Art—which is more Art than Science—the country lacked a body which could co-ordinate the research work carried out by the Universities, other institutes, and private investigators, and advise the Government in the matter of endowments and grants. The department-to-be will remedy that deficiency. The record of Sir Frank Heath in this special field speaks for itself. On his record, the Government could have secured none more competent to provide it with a scheme. That world-renowned scientist, Sir Ernest Rutherford, along with a local committee, has lent valuable counsel. A summary of the report appears in our news pages. In brief it enumerates broad principles for the foundation of a far-sighted research policy. It has so impressed the Government that immediate steps are to be taken to give general effect to the recommendations. There can be no questioning the necessity for the systematic encouragement and organisation of scientific research in every phase of our national life. We know the indispensable part the laboratories played in the Great War. We know, too, the tremendous results achieved by American and German chemists, in especial, in the industrial sphere. More and more, the world is utilising every part of the pig but the squeal—and presently,, no doubt, a use will be found for even the squeal. We are breathless trying to keep pace with the fleet feet of modern Science. Research in New Zealand is, of necessity, a relatively undersized entity, and for obvious reasons. Our primary products are our sheet-anchor. Without having had to call on the aid of science to any great extent, we have managed to hold our end up in the overseas markets. But our competitors are increasing in number as in activity. The day has arrived when we must explore every means of enlarging and improving the quality of our produce. Our pastures, our stock, all processes of the various industries, must be improved. Waste that is convertible into useful by-products must not be allowed to remain waste. Here is where the new department enters. At no late date a central Agricultural College is to be established. An institution of the kind is long overdue. To that school is to be attached a special branch which will deal with problems affecting the dairy industry. So far as the assistance of science is concerned, the dairy industry has been something of a Cinderella, though it is worth in the vicinity of £20,000,000 per annum. Another inquiry of urgency is connected with the production and consumption of our fuel resources. A beginning in that direction has been made, but only a beginning. The less we have to rely on outside coal the better for everybody, from the miners downward. Finally, the requirements of our secondary industries are to receive attention, and rightly so. All efficient local manufactures, however humble, are worth encouraging. Scientific research in New Zealand, properly organised and applied, is an investment which will pay dividends as surely as it has done elsewhere.