28 W. H. WARREN. 
It will not be out of place for me to repeat here what I stated in 
my address on Engineering Education, delivered at the meetings 
of the Engineering Section of the Australasian Association for the 
Advancement of Science, held in Melbourne in 1890 :—‘“ The 
function of the Technical Colleges (such as those in Sydney and 
Melbourne), is to deal with the technical education of artisans, 
and for the Universities to deal with the professions. Both are 
equally important, and each should be encouraged by Government 
and other endowments to enable it to do its special work efficiently, 
and the two should be united in such a manner that they will 
work harmoniously together.” During the time which has elapsed 
‘since delivering this address, I have become more than ever con- 
vinced of the truth of the words quoted, and I consider that the 
recognition of the proper functions of the Technical College and 
the University of Sydney, both in mining and in other branches 
of engineering, would be a great advantage to both institutions, 
and would result in a very large saving in expenditure. 
The experience of the numerous engineering schools in America 
shows that graduates in mining engineering as a rule find profit- 
able employment more readily than those in other branches of 
engineering, and it appears to me in these days of keen competi- 
tion in every profession, and the evils of overcrowding which 
become more apparent in times of depression, that mining 
engineering in New South Wales offers a fair field for remunera- 
tive work in the future, which should not be lost sight of. 
Department of Agriculture.—The pathologist, Dr. N. A. Cobb, 
has commenced a systematic enquiry into the nomenclature of 
wheat. He has collected all the wheats cultivated in Australia, 
and has grown them side by side in experimental plots, and has 
‘devised a scheme of describing and illustrating them all for refer- 
ence purposes. Full notes have been made of the comparative 
value of each for resisting rust and for milling purposes. He has 
also investigated all kinds of plant diseases affecting fruit trees of 
all kinds, and has published the results of these investigations. 
He has devoted especial attention to the subject of ‘“‘Take-all ” in 
