COTTON GROWING IN AUSTRALIA. 
(4) To stimulate similar development of the industry in States 
other than Queensland on the grounds that the larger the 
production of raw material the more likelihood 
there be of the establishment of factories for the manu 
facture of cotton goods. Once these are fairly estab- 
lished, the stimulus between the primary and secondary 
industries will be mutual. 
(5) To continue experiments that have been started aiming at 
the production of a cheap and efficient form of 
mechanical cotton picker. 
From such information as is available this Committee concludes 
that sufficient protection will be afforded without the imposition of 
any Customs duty. Stringent quarantine regulations must be prescribed 
and rigidly enforced. 
To assist in doing this, we recommend that a limited number of 
ports of entry be prescribed, and that adequate fumigation chambers 
and plant be installed at each of these ports. By this means the intro- 
duction of pests will be prevented, and, at the same time, the cost of 
fumigation, which should be paid by the importer, will afford appre- 
ciable and adequate protection to the growers. 
The Committee consider it absolutely essential, if the introduction 
of pests is to be prevented, that this fumigation should be established 
apart from any question of protection. As kapoc is imported from 
the East in quantities, it is considered essential that it should also be 
fumigated on importation. 
(Norr.—It has been reported to us that soldiers and others are 
introducing small quantities of cotton seed into the country, chiefly 
from Egypt. There is grave danger of the introduction of Pink Boll 
Worm and other pests into the county by this means.) 
Any attempt to encourage the growth of cotton in Australia should 
have as its ultimate aim the establishment of a cotton manufacturing 
industry in the country. Past experience at Ipswich teaches us that 
such an industry cannot flourisk without some measure of protection. 
As soon as the production of cotton has reached the stage where it can 
more than satisfy the requirements of the present consumers of raw 
eotton in Australia, the question of the imposition of a duty on manu- 
factured goods and the amount of protection needed will become an 
urgent one. 
In the meantime, it is the duty of the growers to demonstrate that 
they can profitably meet all present requirements. 
Action taken by the Institute—The Executive Committee has for 
some time been of the opinion that the most hopeful method of solving 
the labour problem is by the introduction of a mechanical picker, which 
would obviate the necessity of hand-picking. Inquiries were conse- 
quently made from numerous sources in the United States, and a good 
deal of information was obtained on the subject. As the result of 
a number of laboratory experiments, a machine has been devised, and 
is now being constructed, which it is considered will survive all prac- 
tical tests, and fufil the requirements for which it is intended. There 
is a limit, however, to the powers of this machine, or, indeed, of any 
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