PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 481 



which have grown some useful permanent educational institutions. But these 

 courses were often barren of result, owing partly to insufficient ' sympathy ' 

 between the lecturer and his audience. A young man fresh from the University 

 who was waiting for a more permanent job was brought into touch with the 

 practical man in the lecture hall, and the contact was, so to speak, not good. 

 Between the two was a gulf across which the lecturer shouted, and his words 

 often conveyed little meaning to those on the other side. A great deal of 

 money must have been spent with incommensurate results. 



On the other hand, we must be careful to work economically and not wear 

 out high-class tools on rough work. I think there is some danger of this in 

 connection with certain courses in horticulture for women. Girls who have 

 had a good general education enter, at the age of seventeen or eighteen, on a 

 course of study, lasting for two or three years, of horticultural methods and the 

 kindred sciences. So far, good ; but after all this training the finished product 

 should aspire to something more than market gardening in competition with 

 the man who left school at twelve or f oiu'teen, has learnt his business practically, 

 and has a much lower standard of living. 



The utilisation of waste lands is a big subject and trenches on the 

 domain of Economics. But important botanical problems are involved and 

 careful ecological study will prepare the way for serious experimental work. 

 The study of the growth of plants in alien situations is fraught with so 

 many surprises and apparent contradictions that successful results may be 

 looked for in most unlikely situations. I remember a striking instance near 

 Lake Tarawera, in the North Island of New Zealand. The area in question 

 had been completely devastated in the great eruption of Mount Tarawera 

 in 1886, the ground being covered -with ash to a depth of several feet. "When 

 I saw it two years ago the vegetation of a considerable area was almost purely 

 Central European. The trees were poplar, Robinia, and elder, with an under- 

 growth of dog-rose, bramble, &c. 1 was not able to find out the recent 

 history of the locality and there were very few signs of habitation, but 

 it was not the kind of vegetation one would expect to find growing so 

 naturally and freely in such a locality. But the subject of utilisation of 

 waste lands will occupy us later. 



The study of the diseases to which plants are liable, and their prevention 

 and cure, offers a wide and increasing field for inquiry, and demands a larger 

 supply of trained workers and a more definite and special .system of training. 

 For the study of those which are due to fungi it is obviously essential 

 that a thorough general knowledge of fungi and laboratory methods should 

 be acquired, preferably at some Pathological Institution which would also 

 be in touch with the cultivator and naturally approached by those requiring 

 advice and help in connection with disease, on the same principle that a 

 medical school is attached to a hospital. An important part of the training 

 should be the study of the disease in the field and the conditions under 

 which it arises and flourishes. From the point of view of Mycology much 

 useful scientific work remains to be done on the life history of the fungi 

 which are or may be the causes of disease. The study of preventive methods 

 must obviously be carried out in the field, and, while these are mainly 

 mechanical processes, they need careful supervision; the question of the 

 subsequent gathering and disposal of a crop must not be overlooked. Experi- 

 ments in the use of dust instead of spray as a preventive of fungous .'lud 

 insect attack have recently been carried out in America. Other plant diseases 

 afford problems for the physiologist, who is a necessary part of the equipment 

 of the Pathological Institute. 



The anatomical and chemical study of timbers might -with advantage 

 occupy a greater number of workers. The matter is of great economic 

 importance. Questions of identity are continually arising, and in the present 

 vague state of our knowledge it is often difficult or impossible to give a 

 satisfactory answer. Samples of timber are put on the market shipped, say, 

 from West Africa under some general name such as mahogany ; the importer 

 does not supply leaves and flowers for purpose of identification, and in the 

 present incomplete state of our knowledge it is often impossible to make 

 more than a vague attempt at determination. Or a merchant brings a sample 



1916 I I 



