My dear Prime Minister,

PASTORAL RESEARCH

In my last letter [1] I mentioned this subject to you and told you
the impressions that I had gathered from Orr's [2] letters. Orr
got back to London on Monday last and we dined together last night
and had a solid four hours talk on Australian problems. It is, in
some ways, one of the most interesting talks that I have ever had.

It causes me very real regret to find that it was not possible for
you to see Orr a day or two before he left, when he could have
expressed his real views about Australia after he had had a very
rapid rush round which the shortness of his trip necessitated.

Since he left Australia, he has had a week in New Zealand
discussing Animal Husbandry problems with the authorities there
and about a week in Ottawa. After these experiences, he has
arrived back convinced of the immense importance of the
development of all three Dominions but emphatic in the view that
the development of all the branches of the Pastoral industry is
the biggest immediate thing that can be done for the development
of primary industries within the British Empire.

He gave me a number of examples but I will only mention one or
two. He said that on the south coast of New South Wales in the
dairying districts he saw cows standing knee deep in apparently
magnificent pasture but the cows showed obvious physical signs of
suffering from mineral deficiency and he found that the milk yield
was going steadily down each year. In Queensland he found pastures
that would fatten prime cattle but on which it was impossible to
get sheep to breed, probably owing to some unascertained mineral
deficiency. He saw country where one sheep was being carried to 25
acres which, with an improvement in the mineral contents of the
soil, the carrying capacity could readily be doubled. He, of
course, cited the better known example in the good rainfall
districts where land that has been carrying one sheep to 3 acres
could, with superphosphates and the right clovers and grasses, be
converted to a carrying capacity of 3 sheep to the acre. He said
that he was convinced that, given a great organized drive, it
would be possible, within five years, to add at least 10 million
to the value exports of pastoral products without increasing by
one act present devoted to pastoral production.

We then got on to the discussion of what was necessary to achieve
these objectives and here I think comes the most interesting part
of what Orr has to say. He is very favorably impressed with the
veterinary people whom he met in Australia and he suggested there
would be no difficulty in forming firstclass teams to work on the
practical application of the problem. He further says that, so far
as the bulk of the work that is needed is concerned, already
ascertained scientific knowledge-ascertained in many parts of the
World including Australia-only requires to be collated in order to
give not all that may be needed but certainly sufficient for an
immense advance in pastoral conditions to occur.

He points out that whereas in Scotland or in England the practical
scientist must be content to work with 20 or 50 sheep or cattle,
in Australia arrangements could readily be made for carrying out
comprehensive trials by thousands. He was impressed with the
interest shewn in this subject by Pastoralists, Veterinarians and
by the Pastoral Companies; in short he feels that we have the
problems-the information to solve them-the firstclass types of men
for the applied scientific work which will be necessary and the
will to undertake the campaign. What he feels is needed is someone
to bring all these factors together and to plan the forward
advance which would mean so much to Australia and to the Empire.

It was but natural that, when I had extracted from him all these
opinions, I should ask whether anyone in Australia had suggested
to him that it was desirable that he should consider rendering
that important service. He told me that Julius [3] had urged him
to consider the possibility of doing this work. I asked him what
his view about it was and he said that his commitments to the
Rowett Research Institute at Aberdeen were of such a pressing
moral nature that he very much doubted whether it was at all
possible but the attraction of lending a hand in this great stage
of Australian development was very great indeed.

We talked for a very long while about the position and I made the
suggestion that we should attempt to visualise a plan whereby a
really firstclass second-in-command should be appointed at the
Rowell: Institute and that, under a joint arrangement between
C.S.I.R. and the E.M.B. Dr. Orr should be seconded for a year,
eighteen months or two years to Australia to get this general
scheme underway. After further discussion Orr agreed that, without
any commitment on his part, he thought it was desirable that all
possibilities of such a scheme such as I mentioned should be
canvassed.

The reason why I am writing to you so fully on this subject is
because I feel that it has a very considerable political
significance. I am sure that Richardson [4] or Sir Arnold Theiler
[5] would immediately confirm all that Orr says. I have no doubt
that what Orr maintains can happen, will happen but the question
is in how many years and who will get the credit of it. If things
are left to take their natural slow course, the improvements which
Orr suggests can be achieved in five years will take twenty-five
years. As the type of work which Orr considers necessary is work
which would normally fall to the State Departments of Agriculture,
the Commonwealth and the C.S.I.R. would not obtain the credit
which one would like to see them achieve. I therefore suggest that
the matter should be considered to be a great national enterprise
in which C.S.I.R., assisted by E.M.B. in order to bring the whole
Empire conception into the picture and indeed in order to get the
necessary intellectual assistance from men such as Orr, should
declare its readiness to assist the State Departments of
Agriculture in every possible way. The C.S.I.R. could base its
reason for coming in on this problem on the ground that, in order
to make the rapid progress that was possible and that would mean
so much to Australia's whole economic position-team work, based on
the cooperation of all the best available men in Australia,
irrespective of States, was essential.

Orr tells me that Devereaux [6], of the D. & M. Commission, is
intensely interested and of course Julius, Richardson and Rivett
[7] are also extremely keen. He does not visualise any very great
expenditure being necessary and he believes that an immense amount
of work could be done without any further work in laboratories, so
far as the improvements he has in mind are concerned.

I am, of course, writing fully to Rivett and to Julius in regard
to this talk with Orr and at some shorter length to Gepp. [8] I
have arranged for a further conference between Walter Elliot [9],
Orr and myself on August 3rd when Orr will come up from Aberdeen
in order to meet the Business Mission.

I am going to suggest that, in certain circumstances, it might be
very desirable if you would consent to send a personal and private
cable to Walter Elliot urging him as to the importance of securing
Orr's services to organise such a scheme. I shall find out whether
Julius and Rivett agree. I propose to do this by cable but to get
the British Authorities to consent to let Orr go for a year or two
would need a tremendous effort and, unless we can get Elliot with
Orr, all my efforts might be fruitless. Elliot regards Orr as his
greatest personal friend and has many schemes in which Orr figures
as the centrepiece. What I, therefore, have in mind is that if, on
some date after the receipt of this letter, I sent you a personal
cable suggesting that you send a private message to Walter Elliot,
you should give it serious consideration. At this stage I think
that a personal cable from you to Elliot would be much more
effective than an official cable to the British Government-that
might be necessary later.

As soon as the intense pressure of work, which always occurs in
July, is over, I shall draft a general statement based on Orr's
ideas, shewing the direct way in which the accomplishment of what
Orr believes to be possible in Australia would affect British
trade.

You may think that I have written over enthusiastically but in
extenuation I would say that Orr's ideas are just the
authoritative confirmation of what I have felt and have tried in a
vague way to express for the last four years, namely that it is
inadequate to consider Australia's progress as sufficient just
because it compares favorably with that of other countries and
that, armed with weapons forged for us by modern science, we ought
to be able to make much more rapid progress and that, in the first
instance, progress should be on our already settled areas.

Orr's hurried survey just confirms the things that men like
Richardson, W. S. Kelly [10] and many Pastoral Companies have been
feeling after and which, in fact, is being demonstrated by the
exciting results achieved by top dressing in the southern parts of
Australia.

I should be particularly grateful if you would try to let me have
your reactions to this letter as soon as you conveniently can.

[11]

Yours sincerely,
F. L. MCDOUGALL