THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 13 



before the eyes of his audience of 1898, Crookes laid it again by the 

 comforting words, ' The future can take care of itself. The artificial 

 production of nitrate is clearly within view, and by its aid the land devoted 

 to wheat can be brought up to the 30 bushels per acre standard.' We 

 who are living within a few months of the fateful year of 1931 are unaware 

 of any wheat-shortage. Sir William Crookes' forecast of 1898 as to the 

 advance in the production of combined nitrogen has been fully realised. 

 Artificial fertilisers are not in view only, but at hand and in mass. More- 

 over, the northern limit of successful wheat-culture has been greatly 

 extended by the production of new strains with ever shortening period 

 between sowing and reaping, while the establishment of new varieties is 

 extending the productive area in South and West Australia into regions 

 where the rainfall is of short duration, and restricted in amount. The 

 future, since 1898, has indeed taken care of itself ; so that, notwithstanding 

 the warning of so great a man as Sir William Crookes, the wheat-eating 

 public is still able to sleep well at night so far as the wheat-shortage is 

 concerned. What better example than this could we desire, not only of 

 the importance of aj)plied botany, but as showing also how its advance 

 follows on research independently pursued. For the production of 

 synthetic nitrogen, which has now become a commercial proposition, and 

 the improvement of the strains of wheat by selective breeding along 

 Mendelian lines, are both involved in solving this crucial question of food- 

 supply. And both owe their origin to advances in pure science. 



In conclusion, we shall all be conscious of the fact that a most distin- 

 guished former president of the Association has lately passed away, one 

 who more than any man has influenced the policy of government in relation 

 to science. I mean Lord Balfour. We recall how in 1904 he, so 

 thoroughly imbued with the spirit of his Alma Mater, presided over the 

 meeting in Cambridge. He was distinguished as a philosopher, great as 

 a statesman, and particularly so under the stress of war. He it was who, 

 after peace returned, used his rare influence in transforming the war-time 

 experiment of a committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial 

 Research into a permanent and essential part of modern government. 

 But this was not all. His critical, constructive and experienced mind was 

 led to formulate a still wider plan. A Cabinet Committee for Civil Research 

 was to be established on the lines of the Imperial Defence Committee. He 

 designed it so as to bring the whole national administration within the 

 range of scientific influence. The Department of Scientific and Industrial 



