148 president's address — section g. 



To make the farmers' condition more stable, and thus raise the 

 status of the settlers, wiio Avill found a generation of farmers, 

 instead of squatters' dummies, to make agricvilture tiie 

 mainstay of the country. 

 To assist in extending our markets for the disposal of the surplus 

 of such crops as fruit, maize, wine, Sec. ; to enlarge our pro- 

 ductive capacity, so as to completely supply our own wants 

 in such crops. 

 Above all, to bring the agriculturists of the colony into such 

 close and cordial relations with the department as will make 

 them acquainted with its work, and inspire them with con- 

 fidence in its ability to serve them, and at the same time 

 make the officers of the department informed of the dilfi- 

 culties and needs of the tillers of the soil. 

 In choosing a scientific staff for the new department, the Minister 

 was very fortunate in securing the services of the most able men — 

 each in his own line of work — available in New South Wales, and 

 their record of original investigations has amply justified his choice. 

 Dr. N. A. Cobb has done work of the utmost value to the other 

 colonies as well as to New South Wales. He has investigated and 

 identified the principal fungi attacking our farm crops, fruit trees, 

 and vines, has figured and described their diseases, indicating 

 either the approved remedies or those likely to prove etfeciive 

 under our conditions. He has fully investigated the different 

 rusts that affect our cereals, more especially the Puccinia graminis 

 and P. rubigo-vera. His series of articles on these rusts, illustrated 

 by his own drawings, have enlightened our farmers as to the true 

 nature of this parasite, and have convinced many of them of errors 

 of treatment in the past. Acting on the valuable suggestions of 

 the three intercolonial conferences on wheat rust that have met 

 successively in Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide, Dr. Cobb has 

 devoted several months to the examination of each of the 600 

 wheats cviltivated experimentally by Mr. W. Farrer, of Queanbeyan. 

 His methods, lines of investigation, and practical deductions were 

 published, admirably illustrated, in the Agricultural Gazette of 

 New South Wales, vol. 3 (1892). Following up this profitable 

 line of work, he has photographed and accurately described the 

 375 best varieties of wheats grown in Australia, a complete stool of 

 each of which has been sent to each of the other colonies for 

 reference purposes. These sorts are being further tried by Mr. 

 Farrer, working with Dr. Cobb, and by the latter on an ex- 

 perimental plot of ten acres at Wagga Wagga, as well as by over 

 500 of our farmers, to whom small packets of the best sixty-five 

 varieties have been issued. It may be confidently expected that 

 the result will be much additional light on the exact conditions 

 that favor the spread of rust ; the inherent properties of the plant 

 ■ that enable certain varieties to resist rust better than others ; and 

 the methods to be adopted to raise, by cross-fertilisation, varieties of 



