SCIENCE AND COTTON 301 



are beginning to ask. The study of fine cotton on irrigated 

 land can be effected in two ways : primarily by study in the 

 field, and in laboratories situated in the field ; secondly, by 

 investigations carried out on cotton material in laboratories 

 situated in the temperate zone. To recommend the second 

 method is frankly dangerous. Many of the errors which have 

 been perpetuated in the scientific literature of cotton are due 

 to conclusions drawn from the abnormal behaviour of plants 

 grown in greenhouses. Nevertheless, provided always that 

 the scope of such work was severely restricted to its proper 

 functions, an immense amount of valuable research might be 

 effected, and at a price which would be less than if the same 

 work had to be done abroad, though the industry could afford 

 to pay for it at a rate which would tend to raise the standard of 

 payment for research in general. 



Taking first the work which must of necessity be carried 

 out in the cotton-fields, with suitable equipment, one essential 

 must be fulfilled, if any real efficiency is desired, namely, 

 residence of the workers on the spot. To fulfil this condition 

 in the equipment of an experiment station may seem extravagant, 

 but those who have attempted intensive research on crops in a 

 sub-tropical or tropical climate will know that it is not only 

 a prime necessity but also economy. Its fulfilment is not by 

 any means easy in many cases, since land in such a position as 

 to be readily in contact with a large town, and with the other 

 scientific workers of the country, cannot always be obtained at 

 a reasonable price. Nevertheless, the history of applied science 

 contains so many examples of money, time, and labour thrown 

 away by unsuitable localisation and equipment of Experiment 

 Stations, that the two desiderata of residence and accessibility 

 might with advantage be laid down in future as a part of the 

 definition of such a station, without which it would be frankly 

 entitled either a demonstration plot or a farm. 



The first purpose of work done in such a station, beyond 

 the studies in genetics and seed-supply with which we have 

 already dealt, would be the precise recording of the existing 

 crop. Such records should be made a piece of annual routine, 

 and a portion of the work of the station should be organised 

 to deal with them uninterruptedly. The aim of such records 

 should be to eliminate all accidental influences, other than those 

 which were common to the whole district in which the station 



