330 TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION K. 



apart from the special case of the Coe varieties of plums and their presumable 

 co-derivative, Jefferson. We may mention the great success which is attending 

 the establishment of a school of technical education and research by the Royal 

 Horticultural Society at Wisley. This is maintained by liberal funds, and 

 by means of its well equipped laboratories and extensive trial grounds it offers 

 unique facilities for solving problems of great value as affecting the future of 

 British horticulture. In sympathy with the work at Wisley private firms are 

 also setting up laboratories of their own and employing men of high standing 

 so that a just balance will be maintained between science and practice. By 

 such means research will be stimulated and encouragement given to individual 

 initiative which is recognised as fundamentally important in the advancement 

 of science. 



In schemes of intensive cultivation so ably advocated in reference to food 

 production, it is well to bear in mind that it may be possible in some instances 

 to go beyond what is necessary to achieve the object in view. Russell is of 

 opinion that ' the more intensive the cropping the greater the opportunity for 

 the various pests to live. . . Further, most pests have their parasites, and 

 wholesale sterilisation may help the pest by destroying the parasites. Imms 

 has recently noted two cases where this is said to have happened. ^^ I may add 

 a third instance of this character in the case of the Moth Borer attacking sugar- 

 canes in th'j West Indies. For probably something like two hundred years the 

 moth borer had been regarded as the most destructive enemy of the sugar-cane. 

 Its life history was unknown until Lefroy, then attached to the Imperial De- 

 partment of Agriculture, discovered the eggs which were deposited in a greenish 

 cluster on the back of the leaves of the sugar-cane. The egg clusters were so 

 inconspicuous that they had entirely escaped notice. The first steps were to 

 employ boys to cut off portions of the leaves with the eggs and burn them. 

 It was afterwards discovered that many of the eggs were parasitised, and the 

 planters were thus unknowingly destroying the parasite, and practically in- 

 creasing rather than diminishing the attacks of the moth borer. On the further 

 advice of Lefroy the leaves with the egg clusters were not burned but spread 

 out in the shade to enable the parasites to hatch out, with the result that in 

 the later stages of the crop nearly all the moth-borer eggs were parasitised, and 

 the losB in canes in that and the succeeding crop was largely reduced by 

 natural means. 



The progress made in the elucidation of problems in tropical plant pathology 

 shows not only the necessity for well trained and experienced mycologists and 

 entomologists, but also for the correlation and combination of knowledge gained 

 in their several lines of study. It is suggested that research work should be 

 organised on the broadest possible lines, and combine the biological services 

 of the "whole Empire. We have a first step in this direction in the Imperial 

 Bureau of Entomology, with its headquarters at the British Museum. Those 

 acquainted with the efficient work done by this Bureau and the excellent pub- 

 lications issued by it will very heartily welcome the establishment of the 

 proposed Imperial Bureau of Mycology, to carry on its work on similar lines. 



In this brief review I have endeavoured, however imperfectly, to place on 

 record some of the activities that have taken place in the domain of Botany 

 in recent years. It has only been possible to select a few of the most striking 

 incidents where progress has been made. This has been done in the hope of 

 arousing wider interest in work of prime importance as affecting the interests 

 of the home country and the Empire. Botany in its widest aspects affects so 

 largely the welfare of the human race that it is impossible to slacken our efforts. 

 Advance has necessarily been slow, but the creative impulse of science cannot 

 fail 10 bring in a large harvest of results. This may be possible by encourag- 

 ing individual efforts, by organising active co-operation and in associating with 

 us men who are practically grappling with difficulties that seem almost impossible 

 to solve. I have attempted to show in what vast fields of enterprise botanical 

 science has already rendered signal service. As regards the future, if we enlist 

 the best intellects imbued with the true spirit of progressive research, we shall 

 ensure a continuance of discoveries that have proved so effectual. We must also 



" Address, 1916, p. 17. 



