250 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [July 
can only reach a stage far from perfection. Our scientific duty as a nation 
is not only to apply to the best of our ability our present knowledge, but 
by means of purely academic investigations to discover further funda¬ 
mental principles on which the greatly improved farming of the future 
will depend. Suppose, for example, such characters as we wished could 
be bestowed at will upon certain fodder plants or food plants— i.e., that 
the plant-breeder could by methods now unknown create exactly the plant 
suitable for a special environment, just as one can forge a special tool. 
Experiments of seemingly the most worthless kinds in genetics might lay 
the foundation for such knowledge, the value of which is beyond our wildest 
dreams. Even open-air studies on the plants of bog, or lake, or forest, or 
mountain-top well might lend valuable assistance. 
Finally, with regard to the New Zealand Institute—and, indeed, with 
regard to this Dominion’s science in general—what should be some of our 
immediate aims, having regard to those special New Zealand problems 
which early in this address I declared could only be carried out on New 
Zealand soil ? In this farming community nothing more demands years 
of close study than this soil itself. The world over, soil science, notwith¬ 
standing many books on the subject, is in its infancy. Chemical analysis 
of a soil, even were the methods for so doing far more satisfactory than 
at present, is only one portion of the question. The extremely difficult 
matter of soil-physics at once confronts the investigator. Then there is 
the rich soil-flora and the rich soil-fauna. When more of a fundamental 
character is known as to the relation of soil-physics, soil-chemistry, and soil- 
biology to one another, then undoubtedly new methods of soil-utilization 
will®be in sight. 
Turning to a very different matter, there is the science of economics— 
really hardly a science as yet. A small community such as we are offers 
material not too bulky to estimate rightly. The effect of our legislation 
called “ experimental,” and of that which is non-experimental also, ought 
to be gauged with fair ease. Problem after problem is offered, but all such 
problems must be approached in the spirit of true science ; all political bias 
must go to the winds ; doubt may unhesitatingly be felt for many accepted 
dogmas ; the accurate methods of science must alone be used. 
In the domain of anthropology there is no need always to confine one’s 
investigations to primitive races. Amongst the settlers of a new land 
evolution in certain directions goes on apace. The question of dialect 
among the people of New Zealand would form a valuable study. The 
mere record of how various words of the English language are generally or 
occasionally pronounced in various parts of the Dominion would make a 
beginning in the study of that gradual change of dialect which is taking- 
place, but which is far more noticeable by the old than by the young. The 
Oxford Dictionary lays down the so-called correct pronounciation of each 
word. But no one follows its dictum. On the other hand, according to 
its tenets the most cultured are constant sinners. 
Education—still far away from being a science—should be approached 
by true scientific methods. At present the best that can be got are 
opinions more or less biased. The teacher of classics of the present day 
will explain that Latin affords the perfect mental training : the school¬ 
master in Queen Elizabeth’s time would explain that it was necessary to 
read and write the Latin tongue fluently, since it was the written language 
of the learned. Many subjects are taught not because any one really 
knows that they are essential, but because it is the fashion to teach them ; 
