Vol. XII, No. 294. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



245 



AGRinULTURAL COLLEGES FOR THE 

 TROPICS. 



RECENT MEETING IN LONDON. 



An account, in proof lorni, ot' a recent meeting at 

 the residence of Sir Robert Perks, has been received 

 at this office through the courtesy of the Editor of 

 Tropical Life. The gathering, which was an influen- 

 tial one, had for its objects the discussion of: (1) the 

 necessity for establishing agricultural colleges in the 

 Tropic?: (2) why it was necessary to have at least two 

 colleges, one in the East (^perhaps Ceylon) and one in 

 the West (probably at Trinidad); (■>) the scope and 

 possibilities of such colleges when established. 



The feature of the evening was Mr. Xonnan 

 Lament's speech, which is I'eproduced below. It will 

 be observed that in regard to the scope of the 

 proposed institutions, Mr. Lamont's remarks are in 

 agreement with predictive statements on this point, 

 made previously in the current volume of the Agri- 

 cultural Neo's on pp. 198 and 216. 



After referring to the suggested institution by 

 Lord Reay's Committee of Readerships in Tropical 

 Agriculture in England, and to the more recent pro- 

 po.sal of Agricultural Colleges in the Tropics, 



Mr. Lamont said:— 



This latter proposal is not a new one, but its importance 

 has only become recognized in the last few years. . . . 

 In the Colonies, themselves, it is creating not only interest but 

 enthusiasm, as we may see from their newspapers, and from 

 the debates and discussions in their Agricultural Societies. 



Why is there this increasing interest in the question? It 

 has long been recognized in temperate climes that .skill and 

 science are more and more necessary in agriculture; but the 

 rich virgin soils of the Tropics, their perpetual summer, and 

 their cheap labour, have enabled their crops to be grown so 

 easily, and harvested so profitably, that the idea became 

 prevalent that skill and science were altogether superfluous. 

 But now that soils are getting tired, it' not exhausted, 

 that prices are falling, that substitutes are being invented, 

 and that vast new areas are being rendered available for 

 cultivation by railway extension, and other improvements 

 in means of communication, it is seen that science is 

 imperative, that only the most highly-skilled and trained 

 men must be employed, that the last ounci: of produce must 

 be extracted from the soil, if cultivation is to continue 

 profitable. * 



In the sugar industry this ha.s, for some time, been 

 obvious. In the rubber-industry it has recently been brought 

 home to a host of new and puzzled Directors, themselves not 

 precisely experts in tropical agriculture, by the very great 

 difticulty of obtaining trained men as managers, and assist- 

 ants, on their plantations 



But the establishment of this College is needed not only 

 for the maintenance of the sordid, necessary dividend, but 

 for the advance of knowledge. It would be of great assist- 

 ance to Universities here; for a Tropical Research Station 

 would react very favourably on research work at home, and 

 most valuable new facilities would be atl'orded to post gradu- 

 ate workers, especially in the three important subjects of 

 Botanj', Entomoloey, and ^Mycology. Furthermore, the 

 interchange of teachers and students would certainly stimu- 

 late ideas. 



Again, new careers are opening out in these three 

 subjects for experts, specialists, advisers, inspectors, and 

 instructors under the Departments of Agriculture which are 

 being established, or enlargcnorl, by all our tropical Colonies. 

 At present, the young men of the better class in those 

 Colonies seek their fortunes far too largely in the two 

 professions of Law and Medicine. Our Institution would 

 give them a new chance of shaping a career interesting and 

 remunerative, and at the same time full of work important 

 to the future of their native land. 



So much for the need for the College; now a few words 

 as to its scope. This question of scope has been so thoroughly 

 argued in a brilliant article in Nature, over the well-known 

 initials .J.B.F., that the discussiou on this point may be 

 regarded as closed. The institution must be an Agricultural 

 College of University rank. A fullblown L^nivcrsity would 

 be too costly, too ambitious. Some of its departments would 

 certainly be starved, and its general prestige lowered in 

 consequence. Besides, needs, other than agricultural, can be 

 met in existing institutions, either in the colonies or here. 

 A mere agricultural college, on the other hand, would 

 doubtless be cheaper, and might satisfy local recjuirements 

 and the desires of the planters; but it would do so at the cost 

 of its usefulness to the Mother country. 



To be successful, it is essential that the proposed 

 institution should enlist the sympathy and support of 

 Cambridge, Edinburgh, Reading, Kew. Its object must be 

 not merely to spread knowledge, but to increase it. It must 

 provide facilities, therefore, not only for teaching, but 

 research. Our college must include a Tropical Research 

 Station for students from the United Kingdom to study 

 tropical problems on the spot. 



On the spot. What spot? This is a thorny question. 

 The British Empire undoubtedly contains many suitable spots, 

 but it seems to me that above all others, two localities stand 

 out preeminent. In size, wealth, population, healthiness of 

 climate, and variety of cultivation, as well as in their central 

 situation, no other colonies appear so suitable as the two 

 great fertile islands of Ceylon and Trinidad. As between 

 these two, I cannot attempt to decide. I can make no 

 claim to impartiality; and I have never visited Ceylon. But 

 surely in the Empire there is room for two such institutions. 

 And I do say this, that if the College or if one of two such 

 Colleges, is to be situated in the West Indies, then the fact 

 of the existence of the Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 will be of enormous advantages 



The Imperial Department was established about fifteen 

 years ago, as the outcome of one of the recommendations of 

 the Royal Commission of 1897, and under its successive 

 Commi-ssioners, Sir Daniel .Morris, and Dr. Watts, it has 

 done excellent work. It has already its staff of experts 

 engaged in research, and is therefore well suited to become 

 the nucleus of a University College. It is, however, situated 

 in the island of Barbados; and if I may say so in the 

 presence of Dr. Watts, its work in Barbados is done. Bar- 

 bados is a small island with only one industry — sugar: and 

 its sugar industry is already well cared for by a capable 

 Local Department of Agriculture. Neither in soil nor in 

 climate is Barbados typical of the other West Indian 

 Colonies, and it is no longer the junction of the various 

 steamer services. If, then, the Imperial 1 )epartment were 

 transferred from ]5arbados to Trinidad, you would renew 

 its usefulness, you would enlarge its field, and you would 

 lay the foundations, and lay them firm, of a Tropical 

 College of Agriculture which would be of service to our 

 whole Empire. (Applause.) 



