SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
improvement of the sugar cane, sugar beet, the various methods of ex- 
tracting the sweetening matter from cane and beet, the various processes 
of refining, and the best methods for the use of sugar employed by 
manufacturers using sugar as one of their raw materials, as well as 
the discovery of the best uses of the after-products of both factory and 
refinery. In order to make the research work of the association of the 
greatest possible utility to the industry power has been taken, not only 
to encourage the training of research workers, but also to improve the 
technical education of persons engaged, or likely to be engaged, in all 
branches of the sugar industry. A survey is being made of the field 
of research which is likely to be beneficial to the industry, and it is 
hoped that members of the association will be willing to assist in the 
framing of a thoroughly comprehensive scheme by making suggestions 
relating to that part of the industry with which they are intimately 
acquainted. It is also proposed to establish a bureau of information 
for the sugar and allied trades industries, to which any member of the 
association can apply for assistance in the technical and other diffi- 
culties which he may encounter in his business. By means of its 
various activities as an association for sugar research, a bureau of 
information, and a centre for the furtherance of technical education, it 
is hoped that the British Empire Sugar Research Association will 
exercise a far-reaching and beneficial influence on the future welfare of 
this ancient and important industry.—The International Sugar Journal. 
AUSTRALIAN | WOODS FOR TOBACCO PIPES. 
The increasing scarcity of suitable woods for the manufacture of 
tobacco pipes has led to a number of inquiries being made of the 
Institute as to the suitability of Australian timbers for this purpose. 
Unfortunately, very little scientific information is available in Australia 
as to the possible successful utilization of Australian timbers for pipe 
making, and the subject is only one of very many which requires investi- 
gation. From time to time the importance of a forest products 
laboratory to Australia has been stressed in this journal, and this is 
but one of very many activities which might well engage the serious 
attention of such an organization. The timber relied on mostly for the 
purpose of local manufacture is known generally as the Australian 
mahogany, a species of eucalyptus, mostly obtained from Gippsland. 
Botanically, it is termed Hucalyptus botryoides, and it also often goes 
by the popular name of the laurel-leaved mahogany. There are several 
red mahoganies much similar, as, for instance, H. robusta (swamp 
mahogany), H. marginata (jarrah), HE. diversicolor (karri). They 
occur in several parts of Australia. Though other woods have been ~ 
employed, many have been rejected for various reasons. Some have 
been found to contain essential oils objectionable to the smoker, and 
others are found to burn too readily. On one or other of these grounds 
the employment of needlewood (Hakea leucoptera), redgum (JD. 
rostrata), musk root (Olearia angophylla), and red myrtle or negro- 
head beech (Fagus Cunninghamii) have been tried, and, as a general 
rule, rejected. Considerable interest has also been manifested as to the 
value of tulip wood (Harpullia pendula), which occurs in Queensland 
and North New South Wales, but technologists are of opinion that they 
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