SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
How tHe RequireMENnts CAN BE OBTAINED. 
A Forest Products Laboratory is an expensive institution. Montreal 
spends £12,000 a year, and its state is parlous because of lack of funds, 
Dehra £40,000, and Madison, during the war, £140,000. Madison has a 
reduced grant now, but it is still enough to keep a staff of 250 busy. 
Dehra is even now spending £500,000 on extensions of buildings, equip- 
ment, and staff. The present requirements for Australia for a labora- 
tory that is reduced to a minimum are a capital outlay of £20,000 to 
£25,000 and a yearly expenditure of £25,000. What hope would there 
be of doubling this? There is great need, then, to make the best of the 
one Forest Products Laboratory by the united support of all the States. 
The sum of money I have mentioned seems a lot to ask from the 
Federal Government. It can, however, I believe, be obtained if the 
various States will help. Let me outline what has already been done in 
Western Australia by the State Government and private citizens. 
Firstly, a grant of 25 acres of land for a site and a sum of £5,000 
towards the cost of the building has been granted by the Western Aus- 
tralian Government. The State Forestry Service has, from its research 
grant, already found, or signified its willingness to find, when the work 
is approved, various sums amounting to £1,100 a year as subsidy for the 
investigation of definite problems more or less local. In addition, the 
principal newspaper proprietors have agreed to find a sum of £500 
for plant for testing out any Australian paper-making materials. This 
is purely Federal work. The Victorian Forestry Service* is also finding 
£150 a year towards the paper investigations, provided a Victorian mate- 
vial is examined. This has all been obtained in the few weeks since my 
return. f 
It is easy to see that, if similar support can be obtained from all the 
States, it will not be difficult, with Federal assistance, to obtain even a 
larger sum than I have stated as a minimum requirement. TI am sure 
that other groups of business men can be induced to put up various 
sums of money for specific investigations. If the ease with which we 
obtained the £500 in Perth, by simply asking for it, is any indication of 
the fact that business men at last realize that research pays, then we 
ueed fear no trouble about funds. By pooling the possible financial 
resources of Forestry Departments for research, a sufficient sum should 
be obtainable, with Federal assistance, to enable the engagement of 
well-qualified specialists, and on this depends the success of the labora- 
tory. Poor salaries will not attract the men whose work will insure 
success. s 
I think there is need to stress this oint, even at a conference of 
specialists. Even in forestry I believe there is need for specializing in 
certain directions. Yet, as is common in most groups of professional 
men, it is not realized how far this same condition applied to other lines 
of work. At any rate, there appears to be a tendency to think that 
when a chemical problem arises all that is necessary is to hand it to a 
chemist. I venture to say that many of the problems in the utilization 
of forest products would long ago have been settled, and at great saving 
of money, had they been given to specialists instead of to any one who 
had some training and was ready to have a go. 
* Queensland and New South Wales have recently promised to contribute for similar investigations. 
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