EDITORIAL: 
each State, and the remaining complete set will be retained and made 
available for purposes of comparison and reference by the Institute of 
Science and Industry. 
SHEEP-FLY PEST INVESTIGATIONS. 
A report of the New South Wales Committee on the sheep-fly pest, 
which is financed by the Advisory Council, has been issued in the 
form of a Bulletin of the New South Wales Department of Agricul- 
ture. The Committee is assured that the investigations have been car- 
ried out in the right direction, and states that there is every indication 
that by the general adoption of certain precautionary measures the 
seriousness of the pest will be considerably minimized and the mone- 
tary loss to ‘pastoralists proportionately lessened. The measures 
referred to are (a) the destruction of carcasses and offal, (b) the liberal 
release about pastoral properties of artificially-bred Chalcid wasps, 
(c) the protection of natural enemies, (d) the maintenance of the 
sheeps’ health by ‘the regular use of licks where necessary, and finally 
(e) the utilization of the fly-traps which have been perfected by the 
Committee. ; 
PLASTER OF PARIS FOR DENTAL PURPOSES. 
The Institute has taken action with a view to establishing 
the manufacture in Australia of plaster of Paris for dental purposes. 
For these purposes the plaster is prepared in several grades, according 
to the use to which it is to be put, the main uses being (a) for making 
dental casts and models, and (b) for taking impressions of the mouth. 
After consultation with various authorities, the Institute has sent 
particulars of a specification for the plaster to various manufacturers 
in the Commonwealth. Two or three of the firms interested are taking 
the matter up, and have prepared plasters which the Institute is having 
tested. 
. CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO IN AUSTRALIA. 
The question of extending the cultivation of tobacco in Australia 
was considered at the Conference of Agricultural Scientists held by 
the Advisory Council in 1917. The Executive Committee, considering 
that the questions involved are primarily of an economic and fiscal 
nature, urged the Commonwealth Board of Trade to take the matter 
up. As a result of this action, the Australian tobacco companies have 
offered to purchase, at satisfactory prices, if available, 2,000,000. Ibs. 
weight of Australian-grown, flue-cured tobacco each year for a period 
of three years, beginning from the date when the first year’s product 
is marketable. It is proposed that, in order to secure the co-operation 
of the various States, a conference of experts should be called to decide 
upon the best method of arranging for concerted action. Any experi- 
mental work necessary will be carried out under the «gis of the 
Institute: - i ips! pe ie 
“aD PAPER-PULP. | 
~ ‘Since the publication last March of Bulletin No. 11, a Paper-Pulp: 
Possibilities of its Manufacture in Australia,” information ‘has been 
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