E. J. Russell 329 



cucumbers. General principles are taken from Rothamsted or elsewhere, 

 deductions are made bearing on the particular problems of the growers, 

 and then tested on the large scale. The management is vested in a joint 

 committee of scientific men and practical growers, the former being 

 responsible for the programme and the latter for the finance. A 

 mycologist, an entomologist, and an advisory officer have all been 

 appointed: these are all good ])osts such as any young investigator 

 could accept without loss of self respect. 



There is a new spirit abroad among farmers and growers which is 

 of happy augury for the future : it invites cooperation and welcomes the 

 aid of science: nor does it wish only to receive; it is prepared to help 

 scientific work in any way within its power. But as the farmer is often 

 inarticulate it becomes the business of the workers at the sub-station or 

 in the county area to state his problems for him and if possible to put 

 them into such form that they can be investigated. Unfortunately 

 problems in agricultural science are complicated by the multiplicity of 

 the interacting factors ; for this reason they are rarely susceptible of the 

 clear cut statement dear to the heart of the pure research worker. 



The practical problems in plant disease differ sharply from those 

 presented to the horticulturist and the human doctor ; the farmer's plants 

 are so numerous that he cannot hope to give them individual attention 

 but can only treat them in the mass. The elucidation of the phenomena 

 of disease resistance, the study of the effect of environmental factors, 

 and the breeding of resistant varieties, form the best avenues for ap- 

 proaching these problems. In essential principles the work has more in 

 common with that done among human beings on Public Health and 

 Eugenics than with curative medicine. The ultimate aim should be the 

 avoidance of disease. 



