500 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECORD. 



attendance during the 36 weeks and its organization and course of study have 

 been approved by tlie commissioner of education. The board of supervisors 

 must provide for the maintenance of the school, the repair and improvement of 

 the buildings, land, and the equipment. 



Agricultural Advancement in the Caucasus. — In response to the increasing 

 demand for assistance in agricultural research and education, the viceroy of 

 the Caucasus appointed in 1913 a commission of the leading farmers and spe- 

 cialists to consider tlie more efficient correlation of the various agricultural 

 agencies. Their report when submitted recommended the concentration of all 

 educational, experimental, and extension w^ork under the board of agriculture, 

 with the establishment of agricultural stations at suitable points, the employ- 

 ment of district agriculturists, and a system of advisory work by government 

 specialists. 



A permanent commission was also suggested, with the chief of the agricul- 

 tural section of the Caucasus as president and with representatives from the 

 Tiflis Botanical Gardens, the Caucasian Sericultural Station, senior specialists 

 of the board of agriculture, officials connected with the various land-improve- 

 ment and educational services, members of the civil veterinary section, and the 

 Imperial Agricultural Society of the Caucasus as members, the commission to 

 be supplemented by the addition of district agriculturists, superintendents of 

 agricultural establishments, other specialists, and in general of all persons 

 competent in agricultural affairs, as desired. A reference section and statistical 

 and editorial bureau were projected. 



The early opening of the Tiflis Polytechnic Institute with an agricultural 

 section, the establishment of schools for intermediate agricultural education, 

 and the introduction of practical agriculture into the elementary school system, 

 were also advocated. In 1913, about $500,000 was expended for agricultural 

 advancement in this region, of which $35,000 was for agricultural organization, 

 $300,000 for experimental work, etc., $10,000 for live stock improvement, $25,000 

 for aid to agricultural societies, and $20,000 for destruction of insects, exhibi- 

 tions, meetings, collection of statistics, and other activities. 



Miscellaneous. — The medal and grant for 1915 of the South African Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science have been awarded to C. P. Lounsbury, 

 chief of the department of entomology of the Union Department of Agriculture. 



A new laboratory of plant pathology at Kew Botanic Gardens has been re- 

 cently opened. A. D. Cotton has been promoted to assistant in connection with 

 the new laboratory with W. B. Brierley as first class assistant. 



Dr. A. W. Bothwick, lecturer in forest botany in the University of Edin- 

 burgh, has been appointed advisory officer for forestry to the Scottish Board of 

 Agriculture, vice the late Dr. John Nisbet. 



M. T. Dawe, director of agriculture in British East Africa, has been ap- 

 pointed agricultural adviser to the Government of Colombia. 



