EDITORIAL. 103 



one per cent of the total expenditures. The section favored additional 

 studies along this line by the International Institute of Agriculture. 



Other subjects considered by the section included agricultural co- 

 operation, mutual agricultural insurance, and the organization --of 

 trade in agricultural products. An extended description of agri- 

 cultural credit methods in various countries was presented by Baron 

 de Hennet of Austria, and the principle of agricultural credit banks 

 was indorsed by the section. 



The second section of the congress dealt with agricultural science 

 and education. A detailed summary as to the status of agricultural 

 research in various countries was presented by M. Toussaint, and an 

 extended discussion followed. Among the conclusions ratified by the 

 section were the following: Research institutions should be directed 

 by scientists trained in experimental work; educational institutions 

 should provide special facilities for the preparation of research work- 

 ers ; the work of research should be separated, both as to location and 

 supervision, from police duties and absolute freedom from dictation of 

 results should be guaranteed; research workers should keep in touch 

 with original work elsewhere, and they may well be assisted in this 

 by the accompanying of publications by a short summary, the issuing 

 by each nation of an abstract journal summarizing its work, and the 

 extension of the publications of the International Institute of Agri- 

 culture at Rome to include abstracts of all research work. Each na- 

 tional department of agriculture should also provide a section for 

 the dissemination and popularization of results. 



A proposition to lessen errors in field experiments by insisting upon 

 the conducting of all plat experiments in triplicate received much 

 discussion, owing to the diverse requirements in experimental and 

 demonstration fields. The debate served to bring out the general 

 agreement that field experiments required special attention to elimi- 

 nate as far as possible the sources of error and that as a rule there 

 must be considerable repetition of such experiments in different 

 seasons and soils to secure reliable and useful results. 



It was agreed that each agricultural educational institution, irre- 

 spective of grade, should have available a tract of land for its work. 

 No decision was reached as to the question of restricting stations 

 attached to colleges to purely research work. Further consideration 

 of a new system of classifying experiments on the basis of altitude 

 instead of latitude was favored. 



One session of the section was devoted to the subject of agricultural 

 instruction. Following a discussion by M. Pastur, the section voted 

 that the organization of professional agricultural education is highly 

 desirable in every country and that instruction methods should be 

 used which develop the child's powers of observation and reflection. 



