202 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



subordinate officers at such salaries as it sees fit, subject to the consent 

 of the Treasury. It is authorized to appoint advisory committees in 

 connection with the various projects taken up, and may also formu- 

 late schemes for new projects. The Board of Agriculture and Fish- 

 eries has no part in the administration of the act, and by the law may 

 itself be an applicant for grants under it. 



The scope of the work which may be undertaken with this act is 

 very comprehensive. The term " agriculture and rural industries " as, 

 used in the act is subsequently defined as including agriculture, horti- 

 culture, dairying, the breeding of horses, cattle, and other live stock, 

 the cultivation and preparation of flax, the cultivation and manu- 

 facture of tobacco, and any industries immediately connected with or 

 subservient to any of these. The lines of development open are also 

 enumerated, as the " promoting of scientific research, instruction, and 

 experiments in the science, methods, and practice of agriculture (in- 

 cluding the jorovision of farm institutes), the organization of coop- 

 eration, instruction in marketing produce, and the extension of the 

 provision of small holdings; and by the adoption of any other means 

 which appear calculated to develop agriculture and rural industries." 

 Forestry work likewise may include experiments, the teaching of 

 methods of afi'orestation, and the actual purchase and planting of land. 



Road improvement is specifically dealt with in a separate section of 

 the act. This provides for the appointment by the Treasury of a 

 road board entirely distinct from the development commissioners. 

 No funds are directly appropriated for road improvement in the 

 Development Act, but provision is made for borrowing money from 

 the consolidated fund or from any other available source, the sums 

 borrowed to be repaid from the road improvement grant, obligation 

 for interest and refund not to be incurred beyond $1,000,000 for any 

 one year. The revenue of this board for the present year has been 

 stated at about $1,500,000, with a jjrospect for a considerably larger 

 amount next year. 



This summary of the provisions of the act as a whole will make it 

 evident that wide discretionary powers are vested in the development 

 commissioners, and that the results attained will be largely influenced 

 by their decisions as regards the lines of work to be entered upon and 

 the way in which these are to be conducted. The commissioners 

 have thus far devoted themselves largely to formulating carefully 

 considered jDlans. As would be expected, keen interest has been 

 manifested in the possibilities afi^orded by the act, and applications 

 for aid under its provisions have been so numerous as to lead to a 

 statement some months ago that the grants then asked for would 

 involve an expenditure of three times the sum available. 



