A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vot. XVII. No. 413. 



BARBADOS, FEBRUARY 23, 1918. 



Prick Id. 



:'HE following, from an address given bv the 

 ^Secretarv of Agriculture of the United States 

 „ _- iof America, Jlr. Houston, to the Association 

 of American Agricultural Colleges and Experimental 

 Stations, is so apposite to present conditions, that no 

 apology is needed for reproducing it from Science, 

 November 30, 1917:— 



'According to the calendar it is almost a year to 

 the day since my last meeting ^vith you. Judging by 

 the experiences through which we have passed, it seems 

 more like a generation. Then this country was at 

 peace, though its patience was being sorely tried. 

 Now it is at war for reasons which I need not discuss 



before this bodj\ It had no alternative. It "either 

 had to fight or to admit that it had no honour, was 

 not a free nation, and would henceforth be subjected 

 to a mediii'val power that in the last analysis knows 

 no law but might. The nation was living on a peace 

 basis, and was not fully prepared for war in any res- 

 pect; but it was fortunately circumstanced in the 

 character of its agricultural organization, and the 

 number and efficiency of its expert agencies. 



'The nation may well pride itself on the fact that 

 it bad had the foresight generations ago to lay deep its 

 agricultural foundations. I congratulate the represen- 

 tatives of the land grant colleges on the fine opportu- 

 nity for service presented to them, and on the 

 splendid way in which they have seized it. The 

 Department of Agriculture had had great comfort in 

 the thought that these institutions, ably planned and 

 wisely directed, existed in every part of the nation, and 

 stood ready not only to place themselves at the service 

 of the national government, but also to take the 

 initiative in a vast number of directions. 



'^\'hen a state of war was declared on Apiii (i, the 

 food situation was unsatisfactor}-. The need of action 

 was urgent, and the appeal for direction was insistent. 

 The nation looked for guidance primarily to the Federal 

 Department, and to the State agencies which it had so 

 liberally supported for many generations. It was not 

 disappointed. 



'In i» cwo-day- session at St. Louis the trained 

 agricultural officers of the country conceived and 

 devised a programme of legislation, organization, and 

 practice, the essential features of \\ hich have not been 

 successfully questioned, and the substantial part of 

 which has been enacted into law, and set in operation. 

 This great democracy revealed its inherent strength. 



