50 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



FEBnuAEY 15. 1913. 



several West Indian Colonies have been referred to, or 

 have taken an active part, but so far as the British 

 West Indies are concerned nothing t>t a definite charac- 

 ter has yet emerged; though it is to be observed that 

 in recent years much ijood work has been done in intro- 

 ducing the teaching of science subjects with an agricul- 

 tural bearing into the secondary schools in all the 

 colonies and thus preparing the way for the higher 

 scheme which now demands recognition. 



Id most of the discussions that have already taken 

 place in this connexion, ideas have tended to narrow 

 themselves down to the training of young men for par- 

 ticular tropical colonies and even for particular indus- 

 tries; as a result a difficulty has arisen and, it is 

 believed, has arrested the development of more than one 

 promising scheme. The difficulty lies in the fact that if 

 students are to be trained chiefly for local employment 

 it is soon realized that the maintenance of an efficienl 

 college involves either ihe existence of a larger number 

 of students than can tind employment locally; or, if the 

 number of students is to be sufficiently low to satisfy 

 local needs, then the tea;hing staff and educational 

 equipment necesisary for adequate instruction become 

 disproportionately large and costly for the results 

 obtained. 



When, however, consideration is given to the 

 training of students for the whole range of the West 

 Indies, and when it may be anticipated that an institu- 

 tion of good repute may attract students from Central 

 or South America as well as many turning their atten- 

 tion to West Africa and other tropical colonies, it may 

 seem that by expansion, one of the main sources of 

 difficulty besetting an agricultural college will be 

 removed. 



The outlook admits of further enlargement in 

 that a growing need is felt in our British Universities 

 for the means of completing the training of those 

 students whose interests are centred on tropical prob- 

 lems; and as Tropical Schools of Medicine are now 

 recognized as essential, so it is felt that Tropical Schools 

 of Agriculture are necessary. In agriculture, however, 

 it is not possible, as in medicine, to bring cases for 

 study to the Mother Country: if anything effective is 

 to be done it is clear that the Tropical School of 

 Agriculture must be located in the tropics and, as is 

 pointed out in TAc Times article, the West Indies 

 afford an admirable locality for such a purpose. 



In this connexion it is to be recognized that the 

 students of our Universities who are desiring to eijuip 

 themselves for work as experts in matters pertaining 



to tropical agriculture are now seriously handicapped 

 by havmg no tropical station in which they can com- 

 plete their training; and excellent as is, no doubt, the 

 great store of tropical material existing and available 

 for teaching purposes in our museums and universities, 

 it can never have the force and efficiency that come 

 with acquaintance with things on the spot existing as 

 matters of real, live concern to the place in which they 

 are seen. This applies to most of the phases of such 

 science as Zoology including Entomology, Botany, 

 Mycologj'. Chemistry — the tropical aspects of which can 

 only be adequately appreciated in the surroundings 

 where tropical conditions obtain. 



Again, those ;who are engaged in advising in mat- 

 ters pertaining to tropical agriculture are met constantly 

 and with increasing force by the circumstance that 

 our knowledge of facts is painfully limited; information 

 is continually sought, which has lacked the opportunity 

 to be found: inferences drawn from the conditions 

 in temperate countries are often misleading: and so the 

 teaching of advisers in tropical agriculture is often 

 merely tentative and may be \yrong. It is increas- 

 ingly evident that stations for experiment and research 

 are urgently needed. In recent years, certainly, there 

 has been a growing tendency to increase the facilities 

 for experiment, and good results have been obtained; 

 these developments have been the concern of several 

 colonies and of necessity have had relation to local 

 problems and requirements. These efforts, also of neces- 

 sity, have had regard to problems of a utilitarian 

 character, and have met their chief support in colonial 

 couununities from the belief that they are likely to 

 prove remunerative. 



Workers in the field of tropical agricultural knowl- 

 edge lire asking- with increasing insistence for informa- 

 tion of a more abstract character — are asking for 

 abstract research. It is improbable that this will be 

 provided by colorlial comnainities: it lies beyond their 

 immediate needs, powers and resources, and for its 

 attainment renders necessary an appeal to a wider field. 

 Utilitarianism will largely limit the activities of 

 individual communities, so that special efforts are 

 required to extend the outlook, and to include those 

 in the home country and those in the colonies who 

 are interested in the general development of tropical 

 affairs. The utilitarian aspects of the work of the 

 experiment stations may be regarded as a province 

 of the various active local departments of agriculture, 

 while the prosecution of research may well become 

 the function of the Tropical University. 



