280 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO BULLETIN. [XVITI. 4. 



review of the present position of affairs, and with an account of the 

 further steps which in your judgment should be taken in the near 

 future. 



I have, etc. 



MILNER. 

 The Officer Administering 



the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. 



The despatch was submitted to the Board of Agriculture, a Committee 

 appointed, whose report, subsequently adopted by the Board follows : — 



ECONOMIC RESOURCES OF THE EMPIRE. 

 Assistance for Agricultural Scientific Research. 



Report of Committee. 



The Committee of the Board of Agriculture, consisting of Mr. W. G. 

 Freeman, B.Sc, Acting Director of Agriculture (Chairman), Messrs. 

 C. Forbes-Todd, Wm. Greig, W. S. E. Barnardo, W. C. Jardine and 

 C. S. Rogers, (Conservator of Forests) ; makes the following recom- 

 mendations : — 



Trinidad and Tobago, in common with all the other British West 

 Indian Colonies, are mainly dependent on agriculture for their economic 

 welfare. 



In tropical agriculture there is a great field for continuous research 

 work, with both immediately practical problems and others which may 

 lead to practical developments. A large amount of useful research 

 work has been and is being carried out chiefly by officers of Government 

 Agricultural Departments, but progress is necessarily retarded OAving to 

 most of the officers having also administrative duties. Scientists visiting 

 the West Indies, or otherwise taking a special interest in the work, often 

 express surprise that so much has been accomplished in spite of this 

 obvious heavy handicap. It is an urgent necessity that this condition 

 of affairs should be improved, and that additional resources in men and 

 money should be available for the prosecution of research work of vital 

 importance to the West Indies and to the Empire as a whole. 



It is difficult, however, to provide these funds locally, and in the 

 West Indies there are no universities or other endowed seats of learning 

 to assist in research as in the United Kingdom. The chief agricultural 

 products, including in this term timber and stock, are sugar, cacao, 

 fruits (bananas, citrus, &c.), coconuts and copra, lime juice, cotton, 

 coffee, rice, spices (nutmegs, &c.), tobacco, timber and stock. 



The conditions under which they are produced and also their diseases 

 and pests are more or less similar throughout the West Indies, and 

 many of the problems awaiting investigation would, when solved, bear 

 results of practical importance to several of the Colonies. For these 

 reasons one central research Institute would be the most economical and 

 efficient means of providing for the agricultural development of these 

 colonies, and Trinidad appears to possess advantages and facilities 



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