PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. < 



how few persons have ascertained any information about them. 

 A group of scientists steadily observing and experimenting could 

 do much in obtaining exact knowledge in a few years. In the 

 meat industry, the export of the excess of beef and mutton is 

 largely a matter of applied science. Frozen beef is not an 

 appetising food. Chilled beef is superior. We still await the 

 solution of the carriage of chilled beef to Europe and the East. 

 There is much opportunity for canning meats. The canning 

 industry consists of a series of partially solved problems. There 

 is abundant scope for applying science. A National Canning 

 Laboratory would be a boon to the State. It could deal not 

 only with canned meats, but also with canned fruits and vegeta- 

 bles. An example for study is asparagus. It grows here in 

 great profusion in some sandy soils. There is no canned aspara- 

 gus made in Australia, and we pay large sums of money for Cali- 

 fornian asparagus. 80 far we have failed to master this simple 

 preservation. Fish abound in some of our waters. Is there not 

 room for canning fish? 



If we pass to the agricultural industries, the problems of ap- 

 plied science are perhaps even more numerous. Insects and 

 fungi abound in our orchards. We want more knowledge of 

 their life-histories. Prevention is better than cure. When we 

 know sufficient of these pests, we shall learn whence they come. 

 It will then be easy to arrange conditions in which the pests do 

 not flourish. The orchardist needs scientists in the orchard, not 

 books written for his instruction. There is a wide tendency to 

 suppose that a problem is ended when its solution has been ob- 

 tained and published. I would refer you to what I said earlier 

 about experimental work with yeasts and bread-making. In 

 reality, work begins only when the solution of a problem has 

 been reached. Application needs constant endeavour. Again. 

 iu each locality the application is somewhat different. This is so 

 often forgotten. The transport of fruit and vegetables needs 

 study. The whole problem of cold transport is applied science. 

 In this country, cold transport and the more extended use of 

 refrigeration ought to be supplied. Those who use ice have often 



