290 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



September 22, 190ff. 



would thus be developed for the advantage of the 

 uianuf^icturers and consumers and, at the same time, 

 for the benefit of the native inhabitants. 



Professor Dunstan then proceeded to emphasize 

 the aid which science, in several of its branches, and 

 especially the science of chemistry, could render to this 

 work of developmeiRt. 



Considerable progress had been made in recent 

 years in developing the resources of the tropical 

 possessions. Tea, coffee, jute, and rubber, for example, 

 were being more and more extensively produced within 

 the empire, while the cultivation of cotton, hitherto 

 principally carried on in the United States, was being 

 vigorously proceeded with in India, the West Indies, 

 and in West Africa, as well as in Egypt and the Soudan, 

 and it might be anticipated that in the future these 

 countries would supply the British manufacturer with 

 a large proportion, if not the whole, of the cotton he 

 required. 



There were, however, vast resources, both mineral 

 and vegetable, in the colonics and protectorates, which 

 were awaiting development for an exact knowledge of 

 their composition and properties. The British manu- 

 facturer was in need of increased and better supplies 

 of the raw materials on which his industrial activity 

 depended. 



Science could render most important service to 

 existing industries and their extension by contributing 

 to the imperial problem of ascertaining, and rendering 

 available for the manufacturer, the vast undeveloped 

 resources of Great Britain's tropical possessions. Such 

 work could not be systematically carried on b\- private 

 enterprise ; the successful accomplishment of it could 

 be brought about only by combined effort on the part 

 of the manufacturer and the Government. 



Experience had shown that the most effective 

 manner of promoting the commercial development of 

 a new country was for the Government to carry out 

 systematically, with its own officers, the preliminary 

 work of exploration and examination of natural 

 resources, and then, having established the fact that 

 particular products of value could be found or cultivated 

 in a given country, to leave commercial enterprise to 

 do the rest. 



Many of the Crown colonies and protectorates 

 already had agricultural departments, which included 

 officers engaged in exploring and developing the 

 vegetable resources of those countries, especially by 

 experimental planting. To some of these departments 



chemists were attached. Valuable work was being 

 accomplished, for example, by the various Government 

 Chemists in the West Indies, which illustrated the great 

 services which the science of chemistry might render, 

 not only to tropical agriculture, but to every branch of 

 economic development. It was desirable that each of 

 the principal Crown colonies and protectorates should 

 have an agricultural department with the services of 

 a chemist at its disposal. 



If Great Britain were to compete successfully with 

 foreign countries, it was necessary that the position of 

 science in relation to tropical agriculture should be 

 definitely recognized, and a colony now required 

 a scientific department with a proper complement of 

 properly trained officers. Professor Dunstan also urged 

 the importance of focussing the work which was being 

 accomplished b}" these various departments, and of 

 rendering available in other colonies the results 

 obtained in one colony. In other words, to unify the 

 work of all such establishments by co-operation with 

 a central department. 



The remainder of this very interesting address was 

 devoted to a review of some of the more important 

 investigations in connexion with the chemistr\- of 

 certain of the raw materials employed in the principal 

 manufacturing industries of the city of York, dealing 

 especially with those connected with the production of 

 India-rubber or caoutchouc. 



TRINIDAD AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The following note is extracted from the Proceed- 

 imjs of the Trinidad Agricultural Society : — 



Towards the close of 190-5 some questions arose as to 

 whether the society was working strictly in accordance with 

 the provisions of the Ordinance, Xo. 9, of 1894, under which 

 it was incorporated, and also as to whether the scope of its 

 influence and utility in other directions might not be enlarged, 

 if it were reorganized under a new Ordinance which would 

 simplify the procedure and leave the direction of details 

 entirely in the hands of a committee to manage on behalf of 

 the society. 



His Excellency the President nominated a special com- 

 mittee to consider the matter, consisting of Professor 

 Carmody, F.I.C., F.C.S. (Chairman), the Hons. G. Townsend 

 Fenwick, C.M.G., S. Henderson, C. deVerteuil, and 

 Mr. J. G. deGannes. The select committee reported 

 to the general committee who adopted the report on 

 !March 5. The report was sent to the Governor, and, being 

 approved by his Excellencj-, forms the basis of an Ordinance 

 about to be placed before the Legislative Council, which 

 will repeal tlie existing Ordinance and re-incorporate the 

 society on a new and, it is hoped, a better and sounder footing. 



At a meeting of the Legislative Council on 

 September 10, an Ordinance was passed giving effects 

 to the recommendations of the committee. 



