Department of Scientific and Industrial Research

Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 20, 9 October 1944, Page 7

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research

A KORERO Report

c c yrrTHAT is New Zealand doing about yy science ? Are we to be content merely to import our science, paying toll to the country in which the original development was made ? ” There is a difficulty here, because in most countries scientific research is instituted by the great secondary industries with increased profits to make from new discoveries. We, having no immensely wealthy industries, cannot do this, so many of our best scientists seek wider fields overseas. Science can help our production, whether primary or secondary, whether for peace or war, and realizing this, the Government has instituted a Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. This Department has functioned only since 1927, but has already done noteworthy work in many fields. Unfortunately, scientists are seldom good propagandists and, even if they were, much of their work is intelligible only to the experts. Occasionally a paragraph slips into the bottom of a newspaper column and we learn that the D.S.I.R. has discovered the cause and cure of a blight or of an insect pest. What kind of work does the D.S.I.R. tackle ? New Zealand’s greatest source of wealth is still her primary industries and the bulk of research work is directed to solving the problems of the farmer. We still find the occasional Farmer Hayseed who talks like this : I’ve worked this land for forty years, and no so-and-so professor can tell me anything about it! ” The scientists might reply that if Farmer Hayseed had accepted a little advice on soil chemistry and on the control of stock diseases he might have retired by now, instead of still working his land. However, the average farmer to-day realizes that farming is a com-

plicated business and is duly grateful for any help which a specialized study of his problems may bring. What Taints Butter ? The Dairy Research Institute is one of the most important sections of the Department, and deals not only with the farmer’s problems but with those of the butter and cheese factory and eventually of the overseas market. Why does cheese become discoloured, and how can we prevent it ? The answer of the D.S.I.R. is that this is partly due to fermentation and partly to bacterial action : it can be controlled by improved methods in the factory and greater cleanliness of milk, and by lower temperatures for the storing of cheese. White-pine is in short supply ; will Pinus insignis do for butter boxes ? Pinus insignis taints the butter, as does matai. Rimu, however, is suitable, providing a method can be found for avoiding splitting the wood while nailing up the boxes. Why does land-cress taint butter and cream, and what can be done to prevent tainting ? Benzyl isothiocyanate was found to be present in land-cress, but this was later proved not to be the sole cause, because some herds seemed able to eat unlimited land-cress without tainting their milk. This problem is only one of many still occupying the Dairy Research Institute. Others of current interest are the prevention of “ openness ” in cheese, the production of dry butterfat, and research work on “ starters ” for cheese manufacture. The results will affect firstly the farmer by showing him a way in which he can obtain better prices for his products and a larger yield from his herd, and secondly, by improving the quality of our goods on the overseas market, the economic position of the country as a whole.

Plant Research Bureau All farming depends in the first instance on growing something from the soil. Whether it be grass, wheat, tobacco, or fruit-trees, the Plant Research Bureau will study its problems. The Agronomy Division of this Bureau is interested chiefly in matters affecting arable crops, and is particularly concerned with new and improved strains. The certification of seed, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, is one of its chief services. Certified seed is sold with a Government certificate that it contains only a certain strain and is free from disease or weed seeds—a definite advantage to the farmer. The development of linen-flax has been studied. Suitable manures and a weed eradicator (with the delightful name of. Sodium dinitro orthocresylate) have been evolved, tested, and approved.

Another Division of this Bureau is the Plant Diseases Division. Are your apples developing a strange type of scab ? Send samples to the D.S.I.R. They will study them and endeavour to find the cause and cure. Mosaic disease in tobacco crops ? It was found that the germ of this disease could live for forty years in smoking tobacco and could affect a growing crop from the workman’s hands when he knocked off to roll a smoke. The answer—-steriliza-tion of smoking tobacco. The problem of mosaic has now been handed over to the Tobacco Research Committee, but the Plant Diseases Division continues to investigate similar problems, particularly those relating to fungus and virus diseases of fruit and vegetable plots. Pasture Problems The Grasslands Division studies all pasture problems, especially the breeding of new and improved strains of grass and clover. Tainting of cream, for instance, is often due merely to badly

composed pastures. The development of air transport, too, has meant new problems. How are our 7,500 acres of aerodrome to be made to stand up to the wear and tear of heavy planes in all weathers ? The D.S.I.R. is still working on this, and the results so far have been satisfactory. When Japan decided to enter the war our supplies of agar were cut off. This substance is obtained from seaweed and is of great importance for canning work of all kinds and a host of other purposes. Scientists of the Botany Division found that local seaweeds contained agar, and a new industry sprang up : small, it is true, but fulfilling a need and solving a problem. Another point of interest is the growing of plants for medical drugs, carried out by the same Division. The Maori tohunga had a whole materia medica in the bush and many of his remedies contained drugs which we have imported at high prices. Government scientists are now isolating these drugs and improving the strains of plants used in their production. Atropine, ephedrine, digitalis, castor oil, and peppermint oil are only a few of them. The Entomology Division is concerned with insects. It is best known, probably, through its efforts to control the ravages of the white butterfly— efforts which have been far from unsuccessful. Healthy Stock What of the problems of the stockman ? The Animal Research Section is devoted to his particular difficulties. Unthriftiness of stock and “ bush-sickness ” have been traced to cobalt deficiency. It has been found that stock require one part of cobalt to ten million parts of dry feed — that is, feed without the water, which forms from 50 per cent, to 90 per cent, of green fodder. This infinitesimal part of a cobalt salt works wonders even with good herds and flocks. Another problem still receiving attention is that of facial eczema, which threatened at one time to become a major plague in New Zealand. The transport of meat and factors influencing the market condition of animal products

are also dealt with by this Section, which has, however, left the D.5.1.R., and is now with the Department of Agriculture. The Wheat Research Institute is officially controlled by the D.S.I.R. with the assistance of a management committee comprising three wheatgrowers, three millers, three bakers, and four other persons representing Government Departments and other special interests. The Institute is financed by voluntary levies from the three branches of the industry, subsidized by the Government. There are also sections dealing with Fruit Research, Soil Survey, and Tobacco Research. What would be the best manure for fruit trees ? The Fruit Research Section has tried them all, singly and in combination, and has evolved a " complete ” manure containing phosphates, potash, and nitrogen which under good conditions has given a 77 per cent, increase of crops. Spots, scabs, internal cork, and similar problems are still exercising this section. Problems of storage are dealt with mainly by the Fruit Cold Storage Section. One of recent interest is that of determining what effect fertilizers have on the keeping qualities of apples.

The Soil Survey Section is engaged in surveying the whole of New Zealand from the point of view of type, level, water, and general fertility of soil. The work of the Tobacco Research Section has been touched on above. Briefly it studies the problems of the tobacco grower in exactly the same way as the Fruit Research Section does those of the orchardist. There are two Research Associations, organized on a plan similar to that of the Wheat Research Institute. The Leather, Pelt, and Shoe Research Association has done valuable work in improving the standard of New Zealand leather and in solving the various technical problems associated with tanning and the footwear trades. The

Wool Manufacturers’ Research Association has done similar work in connection with such problems as hairiness in wool and difficulties in textile manufacture. Not Only the Primary Producer The Department, however, does not confine itself entirely to the problems of the primary producer. A Building Research Committee has been set up and is investigating such problems as timber decay and the ravages of termites and borer. Much valuable and interesting work which it might have taken up has been postponed until after the war, and in the meantime the Committee is concentrating on problems of timber preservation. In the study of borer, for example, some eight thousand five hundred beetles of the Anobium punctatum (house borer) were collected and confined in breeding cages for study. The growth of mould in houses presented another problem to the Government, and the answer was quickly found by the D.S.I.R. —application of a 2 per cent, solution of sodium pentachlor-phenate to the finishing materials. This will inhibit the growth of mould. This Committee, incidentally, co-ordinates the work of various branches of the D.S.I.R. and co-operates with other Government Departments. In fact, this is the rule throughout the D.S.I.R. : although the work of the sections is highly specialized, a problem may be under consideration by a number of sections at a time each dealing with it from its own particular angle. A comparatively new section of the D.S.I.R. is the Industrial Psychology Division. Why do accidents occur in factories ? Why is there a problem of absenteeism ? Why is the sickness rate higher in one factory than another ? With more and more factories springing up all over New Zealand, problems such as these are assuming greater importance, and once again it is to the scientist that we look for an answer. The Core of the Department In addition to these sections, which are set up to deal with specific problems, the D.S.I.R. maintains a number of

permanent scientific services. These, though perhaps less spectacular in their work and results, are in a sense the core of the Department. Probably the best known is the Dominion Laboratory. This is also one of the oldest sections of the Department, having existed for some sixty years before the formation of the D.S.I.R. in 1927. It makes regular examination of milk supplies, tests drinking water supplies, and co-operates with all Government Departments as required. In a police case glass splinters found on the clothing of a suspect were found in the Laboratory to correspond in specific gravity, reaction to ultra-violet light and refractive index to glass from a shattered windscreen. They differed from samples from a hundred other sources. The police acted accordingly. lodine in relation to goitre, the chemical treatment of ragwort, investigation of processes for retreading tires, camouflage paints—a hundred other activities are carried on in the Dominion Laboratory. A tin of powder in the pantry—is it baking soda or rat poison ? The Dominion Laboratory will tell you.

Allied to the Dominion Laboratory is the Dominion Physical Laboratory. This body handles problems more peculiar to the physicist : pyrometric furnace controls, the repair of x-ray tubes (a valuable service undertaken in view of the shortage of all such supplies), cooperation with the Army Inspection Department on such questions as that of the effect of humidity on radio parts, and so on through a range of fascinating problems. There is also attached to this section a metallurgical laboratory. Its problems are very technical, though of interest even to the layman. Why did the rocker-boxes on a certain type of aircraft engine fail ? A metallurgical

problem obviously. The new Whirokino Bridge is to be built of welded girders ; what is the best welding procedure ? Metallurgists are studying the problem with test welds and strain meters. The Dominion Observatory is known to New-Zealanders chiefly through its time signals. These, by the way, very seldom vary by more than a quarter of a second from New Zealand Standard time, and are checked daily by radio from Greenwich and Washington. The study of earthquakes (seismology) and astronomy are also part of the work of the Observatory. The Meteorological Branch was transferred to the Air Department for the duration of the war and the daily weather forecast for some time became a State secret. The Geological Survey has concentrated its energies on the accurate surveying of New Zealand from a geological or minerological aspect. Research into the possibility of locating petroleum in New Zealand has been one of its latest endeavours. Coalfields, goldfields, phosphate deposits, and the location of other economic minerals such as lime and water supplies have been mapped. Up-to-date information on these is available. When New Zealand mobilized for war, the D.S.I.R. was naturally involved. At the service of all Government Departments, as it normally is, it was called upon to solve new problems due to the extension of their activities. Much original and independent work has been undertaken in conjunction with the Armed Forces, but most of this is, of necessity, secret. This, then, is the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. It serves all Departments and is at the service of all sections of the public. Although New Zealand hears but little of its activities and many people hardly know of its existence, there is no part of our national life which does not owe something to its work.