564 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



farm has been laid out and for some years now the many 

 problems of Indian agriculture have been the subject of close 

 study and unremitting investigation. Valuable results have 

 already been obtained. Each Province has been provided with 

 an Agricultural Department on similar lines, the officers of 

 which deal with the special problems of the Province and by 

 demonstration farms, by direct teaching and by personal inter- 

 course with the people on the land make them acquainted with 

 new discoveries, new crops, new implements and the advan- 

 tages of adopting improved methods of cultivation. The great 

 primary industry of India is well provided for and in the years 

 to come the country at large cannot but greatly benefit by the 

 thorough and patient way in which the capabilities of the soil 

 are being examined. 



The lengthy discussions on the methods by which the indus- 

 trial problems are to be solved have not yet crystallised into 

 the form of a comprehensive declaration of policy on the 

 part of the Government of India and the Secretary of State. 

 The various Provinces have examined the question, have sub- 

 mitted proposals and in some cases have tentatively embarked 

 upon active measures ; but no clear line of action has been 

 marked out as in the case of agriculture. In the education 

 departments, the need of improved science teaching has been 

 admitted and, through the munificence of the late Mr. Tata 

 and his sons, an Imperial Institute of Science has been estab- 

 lished at Bangalore for post-graduate work and research which 

 should in time do a great deal to attract the highest intellect 

 of the country to practical pursuits. 



The subtle mind of the Hindu delights in philosophic 

 speculations and in unravelling the intricacies of legal enact- 

 ments ; it is possible that the same qualities applied to scientific 

 investigation would afford their possessors equal gratification 

 in probing the hidden mysteries of natural phenomena. That 

 the practical aspects of such inquiries would appeal to them 

 is less certain but, whether or not, their work will be insensibly 

 influenced by the growing need of the country for scientific 

 help in solving the problems which the increased activity of 

 the people will force upon public attention. 



The important principle is gradually meeting with acceptance 

 that scientific education must precede attempts at technical 

 instruction and that the latter can only be usefully provided 



