THE SCIENCE CONGRESS.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XVIII, Issue 2, 20 February 1919, Page 99

THE SCIENCE CONGRESS.

AGRICULTURE WELL REPRESENTED.

The first Science Congress of the New Zealand Institute was held at Christchurch from 4th to 8th February, under the general presidency of Dr. L. Cockayne, president of the Institute. The formal opening was performed by the Governor-General, Lord Liverpool; the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. G. W. Russell, also addressed the gathering. The Congress, which was well supported as regards attendance, papers, &c., was organized in four sections, representing (1) Biology and Agriculture, (2) Geology, (3) Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering, (4) General. Plenary sessions were held as required. Evening public meetings were also held, at which popular addresses on various scientific subjects were given by leading authorities. All meetings were in the Canterbury' College buildings. Dr. C. J. Reakes (Director-General of the Department of Agriculture) and Hon. G. M. Thomson, M.L.C., were elected president. and vice-president respectively of the Biology and Agriculture Section, with Dr. F. W. Hilgendorf (Lincoln College) and Dr. C. Chilton (Canterbury College) as honorary secretaries. The prominent position which this section occupied in the Congress proceedings may be noted with satisfaction as befitting the predominance of agriculture in New Zealand. Contributed papers of direct agricultural interest included the following : Agriculture’s Debt to Science,” by Sir James Wilson ; “ Control of Transmissible Animal-disease in New Zealand,” by Dr. C. J. Reakes , “ Yellow-leaf Disease in Phovmium tenax,” ,by Dr. L. Cockayne and Mr. A. H. Cockayne ; “ Plant-breeding,” by Dr. F. W. Hilgendorf ; “Control of Succession in Surface-sown Grassland,” by Mr. A. H. Cockayne ; “ Cold Storage in relation to the Fruitgrowing Industry,” by Mr. E. G. Loten and Mr. . W. C. Morris “ Seed-testing in New Zealand,” by Mr. E. B. Levy ; “ Nitrification in relation to the Calciumcarbonate Content of Canterbury Soils,” by Mr. L. J. Wild ; “ The Status of Entomology in the Economy of the Dominion,” by" Mr. D. Miller; “ Compatibility of Spray Mixtures,” by Mr. W. C. Morris ; “Die-back and Bud-dropping Diseases of the Peach and Nectarine,” by Mr. G. Brittin; “Need of a Comprehensive Dominion Herbarium,” by Mr. D. Petrie. Dr. Cockayne’s opening presidential address also made reference to several agricultural subjects in relation to science. Papers were contributed in the General Section on “ Afforestation in New Zealand,” by Mr. W. Skinner, and “Forestry in High Country by Mr. W. G. Morrison.

Among excursions made by the Congress was a numerously attended one to the Canterbury Agricultural College at Lincoln, where the visitors were shown over the farm by the Director, Mr. R. E. Alexander, and Dr. Hilgendorf. Resolutions of the Congress having a direct bearing on agriculture included the following : That the Government be urged to pass a Pureseeds Act; that a soil survey be undertaken as soon as possible ; that

the Government be asked to introduce legislation to provide for the purity and standardization of spray compounds ; that a New Zealand herbarium be established in Wellington. The arrangements for the meeting of the Congress had been entrusted to the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, of which Professor C. C. Farr is president and Mr. W. Martin honorary secretary. Mr. Martin, who also carried out the multifarious duties of general honorary secretary to the Congress, holds the position of Agricultural Instructor under the Canterbury Education Board. The Congress, which may be recorded as a distinct success, cannot fail to give a stimulus to science and applied science in the Dominion, and the New Zealand Institute will doubtless feel encouraged to hold similar gatherings at periodical intervals in future. .