434 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. 1 10 July, 1918. 



AUSTRALIAN POMOLOGY. 



Report of the Pomolo^ical Committee of Australia for 1918. 



E. E. Pescott, F.L.S., Secretary, Pomologist, Department of 

 Agriculture, Victoria. 



The fifth meeting of the Poniological Committee of Australia was 

 held at Adelaide, South Australia, in April, 1918. 



The following delegates were present : — Messrs. Geo. Quinn, Chief 

 Horticultural Officer; G. Laffer, M.P.; H. Wicks, representing South 

 Australia. Messrs. J. M. Ward, Fruit and Forestry Expert; and L. 

 M. Shoobridge, representing Tasmania. Messrs. W. J. Allen, Fi-uit and 

 Irrigation Expert ; J. N^eil, and F. J. Adamson, representing New South 

 Wales. Messi's. E. E. Pescott, F.L.S., Pomologist, Department of 

 Agriculture (Secretary) ; and James Lang, J. P., representing Victoria. 



Amongst the visitors who assisted in the deliberations were : — Messrs. 

 J. F. Bailey, Director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens ; G. C. Savage, 

 Manager of the Berri Experiment Farm, South Australia ; J. Cronin, 

 Curator of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens; R. E. Boardman, A.F.I. A., 

 of the Fruit World; A. F. Thiele, Doncaster, Victoria; and W. Cham- 

 pion Hackett, South Australia. 



In opening the Conference, Professor Perkins, Director of Agricul- 

 ture for South Australia, heartily welcomed the Committee to Adelaide, 

 and said that the intricate work on which the Committee was engaged, 

 and which would possibly take years to disentangle, would be of great 

 service. 



Professor Perkins freely offered the services of the Department to 

 assist the Committee in its work. 



The retiring President, Mr. L. M. Shoobridge, in a short opening 

 address, referred to the war, which resulted in the stoppage of the oversea 

 carriage of fruit. Tasmania was now evaporating her apple crop, and, 

 in doing so, relieved and assisted the other States. The work of the 

 Committee was not simply for the naming of fruits; the testing of new 

 kinds and new seedlings was a far more important work. The Com- 

 mittee should take up other questions, such as woolly aphis, blight-proof 

 stocks, and the standardization of fruits. Mr. Shoobridge urged that 

 advantage should be taken of the Commerce Act, so as to have all fruit 

 shipped under the approved names. He thought that the value of the 

 meetings of growers and experts was very considerable, and much good 

 would result from federated action. 



Reference was made to the loss by death of two members. Dr. Benja- 

 field, and Mr. C. C. Tucker. The loss of the former would be especially 

 felt by the Committee, as he was one of the greatest authorities on 

 pear nomenclature. 



Mr. G. H. Laffer, M.P., of South Australia, was then elected Chair- 

 man. The following resolution was passed by the fruit-growing members 

 of the Committee : — " That the importance of the work of the Committee 

 be placed on record ; and that we also record the forethought that moved 

 our ex-President, Mr. L. M. Shoobridge, to initiate the movement; 

 and also to record the whole-hearted assistance he has rendered to the 

 Committee since its inception; lastly, that we appreciate the interest 



