702 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 38 



from $500 to $8,000 each per year. Additional appropriations are 

 made by many nations for the translation of the publications 

 from French, the official language of the Institute, into their respec- 

 tive tongues. Some revenue is also obtained from the investment of 

 the accumulated reserve funds and the sale of publications. The 

 total income is normally about $250,000 per annum. Of this amount 

 the United States now contributes $16,600, of which $5,000 is toward 

 the publication of English editions and the remainder for the pay- 

 ment of its subscription quota and the maintenance of a permanent 

 representative. 



The management of the Institute is intrusted to two bodies, a 

 governing board laiown as the general assembly, and an executive 

 board termed the permanent committee. The delegates to both these 

 bodies are chosen by the respective governments, thus making the 

 Institute distinctly an international enterprise. The general as- 

 sembly was expected to meet about once in two years for sessions of 

 about a week's duration to vote the budget, review and approve the 

 work of the permanent committee, and authorize changes desired in 

 the plan and methods of work, but on account of the war conditions 

 no meeting has been held since 1913. The permanent committee, 

 however, which comprises the permanent resident representatives of 

 the various nations, has continued to meet about once a month and to 

 administer the affairs of the Institute along substantially the usual 

 lines. 



The original aim in founding the Institute is well set forth in a 

 letter of King Victor Emmanuel in 1905, advocating its establish- 

 ment, as follows : " Farmers, who generally form the most numerous 

 class in a country and have everywhere a great influence on the 

 destinies of nations, can not, if they remain isolated, make sufficient 

 provision for the improvement of the various crops and their dis- 

 tribution in proportion to the needs of consumers, nor protect their 

 own interests on the market, which, as far as the more important 

 produce of the soil is concerned, is tending to become more and more 

 one market for the whole world. Therefore, considerable advantage 

 might be derived from an international institute, which, with no 

 political object, would undertake to study the conditions of agricul- 

 ture in the various countries of the world, periodically publishing 

 reports on the amount and character of the crops, so as to facilitate 

 production, render commerce less expensive and more rapid, and es- 

 tablish more suitable prices. This institute, coming to an under- 

 standing with the various national offices already existing for the 

 purpose, would also supply information on the conditions of agricul- 

 tural labor in various localities, so as to serve as a safe and useful 

 guide for emigrants; promote agreements for mutual defence against 

 diseases of plants and animals, where individual action is insufficient, 



