19171 EDITOKIAL. 605 



science, pointed out the need of a vigorous support of scientific re- 

 search as a war measure. In this he embodied a warning by Dr. Lyon 

 Playfair, sixty-three years previously, in which the latter deplored 

 the holding " to mere experience as the sheet anchor of the country, 

 forgetful that the molds in which it was cast are of antique shape, and 

 ignorant that new currents have swept away the sand which formerly 

 held it fast, so that we are in imminent risk of being drifted ashore." 



The publication by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries of a 

 comparative study of British and German agriculture served to call 

 sharp attention to the lower food producing power of British agricul- 

 ture and the far smaller efltorts given to promoting agricultural in- 

 struction and experimentation. In this paper it was shown that al- 

 though the soil and climate of Germany are the less favorable to 

 agriculture, one hundred acres of land in that country feeds from 

 seventy to seventy-five persons as compared with only forty-five to 

 fifty persons in Great Britain. This advantage of Germany has come 

 about within the last forty years. Various causes are assigned for the 

 change, but a great deal is attributed to the system of agricultural 

 education and research. Thus, the use of artificial fertilizers has 

 largely increased, and according to the article, *' the chief factor in 

 developing the use of artificial manures in Germany was unquestion- 

 ably a well-organized system of technical education. Investigation 

 at the research stations established the precise uses of these manures ; 

 trustworthy advice was supplied by institutions, by peripatetic in- 

 structors, by technical leaflets, and by agricultural newspapers; and 

 the farmer, even the backward Bauer, like other Germans, brought 

 his methods into line with 'Authority.' " Similar testimony has re- 

 cently been given by Professor von Riimker of the Royal Agricul- 

 tural High School of Berlin, who states that " the great progress 

 that agi'iculture has achieved in Germany during the last quarter of 

 a century is the result of the union of practice with science." 



Early in the present year an important letter from Lord Blyth 

 appeared in the Times^ emphasizing the necessity for the close co- 

 ordination of science with practice in agriculture for the purpose of 

 increasing food production of the country. He proposed the imme- 

 diate appointment of a commission of men of science to devote its 

 entire attention to research and experimentation. Nature reported 

 on January 25 that the formation of such a commission was under 

 consideration and expressed its approval of the undertaking. 

 " Throughout the war," it went on to say, " the agricultural colleges 

 and experiment stations have rendered useful service and have 

 demonstrated more convincingly than ever the close connection be- 

 tween science and agriculture. Indeed, never before has agricultural 

 science had so much recognition as now, either from farmers or from 



