EDITORIAL. 
UTILIZATION OF SPENT MANGROVE BARK. 
In connexion with the investigational work on mangrove tanning, a 
request has been received as to the suitability of the spent bark for use 
in corroding work in the manufacture of paint. Messrs. Lewis Berger 
and Sons (Australia) Limited, Sydney, are desirous of carrying out 
researches on this matter, and arrangements have been made for the 
Special Committee in Brisbane to supply that firm with a parcel of 
the spent bark for experimental purposes. 
MAGRAMITE. 
A large number of inquiries has been received, both from Australia 
and abroad, for information regarding the manufacture of magramiic, 
the synthetic resin varnish devised by the Special Committee on Tin 
Plate Substitutes. Firms in Holland, Switzerland, and America have 
written for information, with a view to acquiring the manufacturing 
rights for their respective countries. 
COPRA DRYERS. 
The Institute has received copies of reports by Major J. J. Cummins, 
Chief Surveyor, Rabaul, on copra drying plants. The reports are 
accompanied by plans and conclusions reached by Major Cummins, 
who, in his spare time, has gone to a considerable amount of trouble, 
and devoted much care, to this proposition. In order that the report 
and plans may be available to any Australian planter requiring infor- 
mation on the matter, the Institute has recommended that they should 
be printed. 
BULLETINS. 
Bulletins are in the hands of the printers dealing with prickly pear, 
cattle tick, and Posidonia fibre. 
STANDARDIZATION OF WHEAT. i 
The Seed Improvement Committee, which is at present engaged in 
getting out standard specimens of types of wheat, has up to the present 
had its head-quarters at the National Herbarium, South Yarra. Unfor- 
tunately, owing to lack of proper storage accommodation at the 
Herbarium, a quantity of the material sent in from the several State 
Departments of Agriculture has been destroyed by mice. A grant has 
‘been made for the purchase of vermin-proof cupboards, and when these 
are available, temporary accommodation for the Committee will be found 
at the offices of the Institute. 
POSIDONIA FIBRE. 
Professor J. Read and Mr. H. G. Smith have completed a thorough 
investigation of a fundamental nature on Posidonia fibre. - Results of 
much interest and value have been obtained, especially in regard to pro- 
cesses for rendering the fibre less brittle, and, therefore, more suitable 
for textile purposes. The results of the investigations will be published 
at an early date as one of the Institute’s Bulletins. 
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