XVI 



Lake, but tfcey were unable to find it, the 

 greatest depth found was 20 feet. The 

 bottom of the lake was level, covered 

 with blue mud. There were three very- 

 remarkable islands in the lake. He de- 

 scribed the lake iind its surroundings 

 from a geological point of view. The 

 cock walls on the shores of the lake con- 

 stituted a remarkable formation. 



Mr. R. M. Johnston said Col. Legge 

 had T:-.aced him in possession of severa,l 

 rocks" from tfce shores of the lake, ^.11 

 more or lesg weathered portions of basalt, 

 of recent eruptive rock, often remark- 

 able for showing structures of radiated 

 pillars. No doubt there had been a. 

 damning up of recent eruptions of basalt'^ 

 at the eastern end. He wa& surprised that 

 a g/eater body of water was not dis- 

 charged all the year round from such a 

 large area. He warmly commended Col. 

 Legco's paper as a very valuable one to 

 this community. (Applause.) 



His Excellency thought that if_ Mr. 

 Kingsmill could give them some iufoi"i- 

 mation as to the waters of the lake in 

 relatiorn to irrigation, it would be useful. 



Mr. Kingsmill replied that it was ^lis 

 first visit to that country, and he had 

 not the opportunity of making extend- 

 ed observations. The head waters of the 

 Ouse flowed past the Great Lake, and 

 that river carried a much larger volume 

 of vrater than the Shannon, which flow- 

 ed out of the Great Lake. He tlliought 

 that the waters of the Ouse might be 

 diverted into the Great Lake, and thus 

 a much gfi^eat.er volume of water would 

 flow out of it. It was a question of level- 

 ling and survey i-tig. There must be a 

 rapid fall down the valley of the Shan- 

 non, which might be made available for 

 water power. 



"Agronomy in Relation to Science." 

 This was the subject of a paper read 

 by t^ie Rev. E. H. Thompson, in which 

 he advocated a systematic nomenclature 

 of our fruits, notably apples and pears, 

 showing how useful a recognised system 

 of nomenclature would be in many direc- 

 tions, particularly in connection with 

 ordering fruit trees true to name, and 

 in marketing as well as manuring, and 

 otherwise cultivating these fruits. A 

 botanical classification woiild help to 

 reliably observe and determine the vari- 

 ous processes of fructification and pollin- 

 ation, and the relation betweon scion and 

 stock, a subject, he said, about which we 

 practically know nothing, but which 

 must exercise a marked influence on the 



fertility and vigour of th-e trees. He 

 suggested a section of t^ie Royal Society 

 dealing with such matters. 



Mr. Thos. Stephens sent in some notes 

 on the same subj-ect, eommonding Rev. 

 E. H. Thompson's paper, and emphasis- 

 ing the importance of it. He hoped the 

 suggestion of forming a section of the 

 Royal Society would be carried out. 



Mr. L. Rodway emphasised the im- 

 portance of improving our fruit, especi- 

 ally seeing that the industry had increas- 

 ed to the output or marketing of about 

 a million cases a year. The knowledge 

 ?vlr. Thompson intimated was of a very 

 difficult nature to acquire. The Govern- 

 ment should establish a central school 

 for the teaching of agriculture and 

 fruitgrowing. There should be a. State 

 orchard for experiments, and the im- 

 parting of knowledge connected there- 

 with. It was very unfortunate that in 

 regard to fruit we had to depend so 

 largely on popular names. There cer- 

 tainly should be wax models of our 

 principal fruits, correctly formed and 

 coloured, placed in t^e Tasmanian Mu- 

 seum — (applause) — and growers made to 

 name their fruits in accordance with 

 such models. (Applause.) Mr. Thomp- 

 son's remarks about the importance of 

 cross-fertilisation he supported, especial- 

 ly in connection with the increase in 

 both quantity and quality of fruit from 

 shy bearers. It was to be hoped the Go- 

 vernment would take the matter up as 

 a branch of technical education. (Ap- 

 plause.) 



Rev. E. H. Thompson, in repl;\nng. 

 said there w-as hardly an apple grown 

 in Tasmania that was correctly and de- 

 finitely named by growers as a bodv. If 

 the Royal Society could not establish 

 a section as he suggested, then a Pomo- 

 logical Society should be formed without 

 delay. (Applause.) 



Mr. R, M. Johnston was surprised 

 that such a society had not already been 

 formed. 



FLOWERING PLAXTS AT 

 KETTERING. 



Mr. R. M. Johnston. F.S.S., present- 

 ed a paper, dealing with the characteris- 

 tic plants of Kettering and its immedi- 

 ate vicinity, containing a classified list 

 of plants collected within the limits of 

 the township in the month of November, 

 1902. The greater part of the shrubs 

 and herbs were in flower, and the collec- 

 tions, although far from complete, he 

 said, must be regarded as especially re- 

 •presenting the "characteristics of the 



