EDITOKIAL. 



1, contributing sixteen units of $300 each per annum and casting 

 five votes; four in group 2, with eight units and four votes each; 

 two in group 3, with four units and three votes each ; fifteen in group 



4, with two units and two votes each; and the remainder in group 



5, with one unit and vote each. 



One of the principal topics presented to the commission on ad- 

 ministration concerned the finances of the institute. The annual 

 income derived from the various national contributions on the 

 basis explained above amounts to $102,600. This is supplemented 

 by an annual grant of $60,000 from the Ivingdom of Italy and a con- 

 siderable amount from the proceeds from the sale of publications. 

 These revenues have of late proved inadequate to meet the increased 

 expenditures attending the continued development of the work, and 

 as a result the reserve fund accumulated in the earlier years has 

 diminished from $134,000 in 1910 to about $119,000. A further de- 

 crease is expected to result temporarily from reducing the subscrip- 

 tion price of the various periodicals, which is being contemplated 

 with a view to extending their circulation and ultimately the receipts 

 therefrom. It is also anticipated that the special Italian contribu- 

 tion must for a time be utilized in enlarging the institute building, 

 which has already been outgrown. For these reasons action was 

 taken by the General Assembly enlarging the subscription unit to 

 $500. This will increase the quota of group 1 nations, of which the 

 United States is one, from $4,800 to $8,000 per annum. 



The " acte finale " of 1905 establishing the institute prescribes as 

 among its principal duties the collection, study, and publication of 

 statistical, technical, and economic information of general agricul- 

 tural interest, and more specifically those data relating to crop pro- 

 duction, the combating of plant pests, prices and traffic in agricul- 

 tural products in the world's markets, wages of farm labor, and 

 agricultural cooperation, insurance, and credit. These activities 

 have been discharged, in the main, by means of the numerous series 

 of publications, and during the last two years these have been in- 

 creased in number, the form and regularity of issue much improved, 

 and the sources of material considerably extended. Particular at- 

 tention has also been given to the more effective dissemination of 

 their contents by publishing editions in other languages than French, 

 the official language of the institute. This feature has been made 

 possible by special contributions from the countries most concerned. 



Thus, the principal publications are now available in English, the 

 cost being defrayed by appropriations of $5,000 each per annum by 

 the United States and Great Britain. Italian, German, and Spanish 

 editions are being supported in a similar way, and the Hungarian 

 Government provides for the translation of certain portions of the 

 publications. It is estimated that these six languages are the mother 



