626 Journal of AgricuUure, Victoria. [10 Oct., 1917. 



causing disease amouuts iu Australia to millions of pounds yearly. The 

 most important of these are the cattle-tick, the worm which produces 

 nodules in beef, the sheep blowfly, and the tubercle bacillus. Special 

 Committees have reported upon the tick-pest and nodule disease, and 

 have formulated lines of action with a view to their control. The sub- 

 ject of tuberculosis in stock' has been investigated by a Sub-committee 

 of the Queensland State Committee, and its report has been published 

 by the Queensland Government. 



In connexion witli the control and eradication of weed pests, special 

 attention has been given to the prickly pear. Already some 20 million 

 acres of land in Queensland and 24 million acres in ISTew South Wales 

 are infested with prickly pear, and it is estimated that the pest is 

 spreading at the rate of 1,000,000 acres a year. A report, with recom- 

 mendations for a scheme for the control and eradication of the pest, has 

 been presented by the Committee to the Federal Government. Various 

 other weed pests have engaged the attention of the Committee. For 

 example, in the case of St. John's wort, inquiries are being made with 

 a view to introducing some insect which feeds exclusively on that weed 

 in England, of which country St. John's wort is a native. This method 

 of dealing with weeds — the introduction of the insect foes which keep 

 them within bounds in their native countries — has already been found 

 effective iu other countries. 



As regards the cultivation of new or improved crops, special atten- 

 tion has been given to cotton and flax, in the case of the former, with a 

 view to the introduction of a mechanical cotton picker, and, in the ease 

 of flax, with a view to the adoption of some chemical method of retting 

 the fibre. A large amount of information has been collected, and plans 

 are being formulated with a view to large scale experiments. Several 

 other matters connected witli the agricultural and primary industries 

 have engaged the attention of the Committee. Chief of these are the 

 questions of a soil survey of Australia, the branding of cattle, the intro- 

 duction of the sparrow-pest into Western Australia along the transcon- 

 tinental railway route, and the breeding of new varieties of cereals and 

 fodder plants suitable for dry areas. 



In connexion with forests products, special attention has been given 

 to the production of wood pulp, destructive distillation (for methyl 

 alcohol, acetic acid, tar, and inflammable gases), and the utilization 

 of waste timber. Two investigations have been initiated with a view 

 to increasing our supplies of tannin, viz., the tanning properties of 

 mangroves in Queensland and of redgum in Western Australia. Other 

 investigations into vegetable products include the production of dyes 

 and of camphor and the utilization of grass trees. 



As regards fisheries, a Special Committee is investigating the marine 

 biological economics of tropical Australia, with special reference to 

 pearling, bechc-de-mer, troehus, and sponges. In connexion with the 

 mining and metallurgical industries, the most important researches are 

 those concerned witli the manufacture of ferro-alloys and the occurrence 

 of gold in quartz, the object of the latter investigation being to determine 

 the principles which have led to the localization of payable gold, and 

 thus, among other things, cheapen the cost of deep prospecting. 



A large ntimber of questions connected with the chemical industry 

 have been considered by the Committee. Many of the questions have. 



