Papain Under Examination

In New Guinea

THE possibility of developing the papain industry in the Pacific, to which references have been made in this journal during the past year, is under examination in Papua-New Guinea.

The Department of Agriculture there has been in touch with various oversea authorities on the subject. It has re ceived detailed advice from the Queens land Department of Agriculture. A ref erence sample of “Reference Papain’’ has been received from the Pacific Islands Trading Co., of San Francisco. Samples of the seed of the short-stemmed variety of paw-paw has been sent to the Depart ment from Tanganyika.

A circular, for distribution to planters, is being prepared by the Department, and some of the junior staff presently will be instructed to do preliminary field work in relation to papain.

Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Cahill, of Madang, New Guinea, arrived in Brisbane recently on an extended holiday.