26 SCIENCE AND THE STATE, ETC. 



regard with little concern the retrenchments which have un- 

 fortunately to be made in various departments devoted to 

 scientific research. I had occasion on my voyage out to Queens- 

 land to spend a few weeks in Java. In this tropical island, 

 agriculture has been carried on for centuries, and it might 

 rensonably be supposed that such long experience had taught 

 the inhabitants all that was worth knowing with reference to 

 the cultivation or their land. A rich volcanic soil, abundance 

 of mountain streams and rivers, a wonderful system of irriga- 

 tion, and the labour of industrious peasants, have made Java 

 the garden of the East, and have enabled it to support a popula- 

 tion which has increased from three millions at the beginning 

 of last century to about twenty-five millions at the present day. 

 Yet, with all these natural advantages, I found it universally 

 admitted by those engaged in the cultivation of coffee, tea, 

 Peruvian bark, rubber, rice, sugar-cane, and other crops, that 

 the splendid results were largely due to the assistance given by 

 the scientific researches conducted at the Botanical Gardens at 

 Buitenzorg and other experimental stations under the able 

 direction of Dr. Treub. The Government gives a very large 

 subsidy for the maintenance of these gardens, which are ad- 

 mitted to be the finest in the world. Immense services have 

 been rendered by the scientific staft" in experimentally ascer- 

 taining the most suitable varieties of plants for cultivation in 

 Java, in chemically analysing their products and in investigat- 

 ing insects and other pests, and suggesting the necessary 

 remedies. To those who may call into question the value of 

 scientific knowledge, especially as applied to agriculture, I do 

 not think it would be possible to give a more convincing answer 

 than by referring to the practical results of the researches daily 

 carried on in the science laboratories and experimental gardens 



in Java. 



SCIENCE IN QUEENSLAND. 



In Queensland the policy of combining science with prac- 

 tice in agriculture has by no means been lost sight of. The 

 annual reports of the Department of Agriculture bear eloquent 

 testimony to the excellent work carried on at the State farms 

 and by the whole of the scientific stafl". If I may be pardoned 

 for referring more particularly to those subjects which especially 

 interest me, I would call attention to the invaluable work of 

 the Government Entomologist, Mr. Tryon, whose reports are 

 models of careful scientific research, and are of the greatest 

 practical importance. I cannot refrain from mentioning the 



