EDITOBIAL. 629 



separate director of agriculture, who \\ ill be in charge of the agricul- 

 tural and veterinary branches, thus relieving the departments of a line 

 of work which has made serious demands upon them in the past. In 

 the imperial department of agriculture i1 is proposed t<> increase the 

 number of specialists for the investigation of important special crops 

 or problems, as cotton, wheat, sugar, tobacco, fruit, etc. This will 

 enable coordinating the work in different provinces, assisting the 

 provincial experts in various ways, conducting experiments in the 

 improvement of varieties by selection and breeding, and promoting 

 special agricultural industries. 



Several years will be required to introduce this scheme for the 

 expansion of the imperial and provincial departments of agriculture in 

 it > entirety, hut the condition of the finances of the country is said to 

 be such as to warrant the development of this important work. Thai 

 it- value is now being appreciated is indicated by the statement that 

 "one of India's shrewdest merchant princes has described expenditure 

 upon scientific agriculture as the most promising investment that gov- 

 ernment can make." 



As one means of extending the influence of the imperial and provin- 

 cial departments of agriculture, the government of India has sanctioned 

 the publication of The Agricultural Journal of India, which will be 

 issued from the agricultural research institute at Pusa. The journal 

 will he a quarterly and will he devoted to matters of interest to the 

 general reader, while more strictly scientific and technical papers will 

 i»e published in a second series entitled Memoirs of the Dt part 'm> nt of 

 Agriculturt in India. The inspector-general of agriculture will act as 

 editor, assisted by the advisory committee of the Push staff. 



While the new journal and the memoirs will thus be the official 

 organs of the imperial department, they will not he confined to articles 

 contributed by their workers. The work of the provincial depart- 

 ments has often been buried in annual reports and other official publi- 

 cations, which have rarely been readily available to the public and not 

 always in a form for general use. 



The new journal will form a permanent record of the practical results 

 of agricultural research throughout India. It will also serve as a 

 medium of communication between the officers of the several depart- 

 ments, thus relieving in some measure the isolation which e\i>ts at 

 present. It is hoped by the administration that the journal will appeal 

 to the outside public and the leading agriculturists in India, who will 

 thus be kept in touch with agricultural progress in the country and 

 will be able to test and practice more advanced methods and the appli- 

 cation of science to agricultural problems. The initial number is inter- 

 esting and attractive, and augurs well for the success of the venture 

 from the editorial standpoint. 



