Abstract
THE fifth annual report of the Australian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research shows that results of great economic value, far exceeding the total expenditure of the Council, have been achieved. Problems relating to the control of disease form one of the chief lines of investigation undertaken by the division of plant industry, and such outstanding success has been obtained in the control of bunchy top disease in bananas that it has led to the re-establishment of the crop on large areas. The heavy annual loss hitherto sustained from the development of bitter pit in exported apples should now be reduced to negligible proportions, since its relation to immaturity at picking time has been established. An additional activity of this division is the introduction from abroad of new varieties of plants likely to be of value, particularly in the drier districts. Following the success with which weed pests, such as St. John's wort, have been suppressed, the entomological division is extending the method of biological control to other noxious plants, and an appropriate insect for destroying the Noogoora burr having been recently discovered, on the completion of laboratory trials this fly will be liberated in the infested districts. The recently formed Division of Forest Products has carried out particularly valuable work on the seasoning of hard woods for the manufacture of cases, and has further devised a rapid and cheap method for treating wood to be used for butter boxes so as to avoid the development of taint, but although attention has been given mainly to problems of immediate importance, fundamental research has not been neglected.
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Research in Plant Industry in Australia. Nature 130, 993 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130993b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130993b0