1918.] EDITORIAL. 707 



its functions much as in 1914, although crop reports and similar 

 data have been withheld by the Central Powers. 



The immediate result of the war upon the Institute has been on the 

 whole to increase and stimulate its activities. The need for accurate 

 statistical data regarding the world's food supply has never been so 

 urgent. Information as to improved farm methods and economic 

 measures has been eagerly sought for and with more prospect than 

 ever before of its practical utilization. As regards technical material, 

 particular efforts have been made to render available data as to 

 means of diminisliing the impoverishment of the soil, overcoming 

 the shortage of fertilizers and labor, and increasing the use of farm 

 machinery. A special function has been the answering of inquiries 

 regarding agriculture in countries whose own agricultural and sta- 

 tistical departments have been disorganized by the war. It is an- 

 nounced that these various efforts of the Institute have met with 

 unusual appreciation from the governing authorities of many 

 nations. 



The officers of the Institute are also looking forward quite opti- 

 mistically to the future of the institut.ion after the war. They be- 

 lieve that the return of peace will bring with it vast agricultural 

 problems of international significance, and that during the recon- 

 struction period the Institute will have a specially important func- 

 tion to perform. There will be a great demand for accurate informa- 

 tion along statistical, economic, and technical lines, much of it inter- 

 national in its scope, and for the collection and dissemination of 

 which a central clearirrg-house, such as this, will have unique possi- 

 bilities. The Institute is already making plans for service in these 

 directions, and more specifically in such projects as the control of 

 locusts, the improvement of the economic status of the farmer, the 

 establishment and development of small holdings, maritime transpor- 

 tation of farm products, the unification of methods for agricultural 

 statistics, farm accounting, control of seed adulteration, and con- 

 centrated feeding stuffs, and the development of rural sociology. 



Despite the unexpectedly difficult problems it has encountered, the 

 Institute thus enters upon the second decade of its operations with its 

 organization virtually intact, its publications and other lines of 

 work going on with little interruption, and an ambitious program 

 being formulated for the future, 

 62077°— 18 2 



