H.—29

progeny. The care of calves after weaning is not always sufficient to maintain healthy growth. In. some cases the faulty pasturing of ewes and lambs has led to avoidable mortality, and in the pig industry there has been widespread neglect of sow and litter. Basically the problem from the nutritional angle is the measurement of the requirements of the various types of our stock population in relation to the common feeding practices now operating in the Dominion. Coincident with the problem of nutrition, we must pay adequate attention to breeding and management. As stated by the Director-General in his last annual report, " the remedy generally advocated for the elimination of inferior breeding-stock is the importation of fresh blood from overseas. This no doubt is essential in a number of directions. More important is a proper genetical study of the various breeding-strains already in the country, and from it the standardization of type leading towards the elimination of inferiority and the development of superiority. Up to the present the Department of Agriculture has played little part in developing methods of stock-improvement as it has in the development of many other farm practises, and until it is properly equipped in this respect its full function as a national guiding agent in progressive agricultural development cannot be realized." The geneticist has already shown that the methods of genetical research and the results of genetical investigation can be applied to stock-breeding, and one of the first requirements in New Zealand in an analysis of the characteristics of our various classes of stock. Analysis must precede synthesis, and a more complete knowledge of the material must be gained before there can be any marked improvement. The problem is one for co-operation between the breeder and the biologist. Experimental-breeding work with farm animals is too expensive to be undertaken lightly by the private individual, and, moreover, it is somewhat embarrassed by conventional breeding systems. It is more profitable to procure animals of an established breed than to develop new strains, for, as definitions go, anything new cannot be purebred and, therefore, as a rule, does not command the market price of an animal whose pedigree is generally recognized. The State cannot afford to neglect the services of the geneticist, and the breeder without the help of genetics cannot hope to achieve the highest success. The extent of the usefulness of genetics to the breeder will be decided by the amount of support the breeder gives to research in this direction. The proper management of animals cannot be divorced from adequate attention to feeding, but there are also several non-nutritional factors which must be considered if stock are to be maintained in a healthy state. The provision of shelter or housing, the necessity for hygienic conditions, and the maintenance of clear pastures by rotational grazing are some of the points which have been emphasized by the instructional services of the Department, and, when we are considering new lines of investigation into animal husbandry, we must at the same time be careful not to neglect cardinal principles based on past experiences. The inauguration of a more extensive and intensive campaign of research into all aspects of animal production and management must be preceded by a plan of attack and a conception of the organization that is to carry out the work. We have the nucleus of such an organization in connection with the work which has been planned in connection with the outbreak of facial eczema. This investigation is being carried out by a team of research and field officers whose work is being co-ordinated under a committee of management, which includes both experts and representative farmers. The investigation is the most comprehensive that has ever been made into any single farming problem in New Zealand. The scientific workers include veterinarians, chemists, bio-chemists, plant-research officers, and field officers. After each officer had placed his aspect of the work before the Committee of Management a general programme of research was drawn up, and is now being carried out. In a lesser degree a plan on similar lines has been put into operation in connection with sheep-mortality in Canterbury, where veterinarians, chemists, parasitologists, and the stafi of Canterbury Agricultural College are co-operating in an extensive investigation. There is no reason why the principles of organization employed in these two specific problems should not be extended to embrace a general campaign designed to reduce the stock losses which are occurring in various parts of the Dominion. The central problem of maintaining a healthy animal population is too complex to be dealt with by one particular line of investigation. It necessitates the organization of groups of scientists and experts who have specialized in different aspects of the problem, but whose knowledge and talents are co-ordinated, and directed along particular lines of research requiring their attention.

6