AGRICULTURE — GENERAL 327 



FRENCH 



As a central institute in France for colonial questions, the 

 Institut National d' Agronomie Coloniale, situated in the Bois de Vin- 

 cennes, with M. Prudhomme as Director, is the principal centre 

 for advancing training for the colonial agricultural appointments, 

 and has admirable facilities for this purpose in the way of study 

 collections and gardens where nearly all the tropical economic 

 plants are established. It is hoped that the Institute will even- 

 tually become a centre for colonial research as well as training. 

 The periodical publication of the Institute, Agronomie Coloniale, is 

 designed principally to inform workers in the colonies of recent 

 advances in their subjects in other parts of the world, but it also 

 includes results of research, as does the Revue de Botanique Appliquee 

 et d' Agriculture Tropicale published by the Laboratoire d' Agronomie 

 Coloniale in Paris. 



In French West Africa agriculture and animal husbandry form 

 two component parts of the Service ficonomique, the other sub- 

 jects under the same service being forestry and customs. The whole 

 Service ficonomique is under a Director-General at Dakar respon- 

 sible to the Governor-General, and each of the component subjects 

 has an Inspector-General with a staff of Inspectors. 



In addition to the inspectorate, each of the colonies comprising 

 French West Africa has a local service of agriculturalists, veteri- 

 narians, or foresters, under a Ghef-de-service in each case. As 

 part of this organization a number of experimental stations are 

 maintained, as mentioned below. But perhaps the most important 

 centres for research and experiment in French West Africa are 

 those of the Office du Niger situated in the Sudan in the area 

 adjoining the Niger which are to be put under intensive cultiva- 

 tion as a result of irrigation schemes. Segou is the centre for 

 research work, and the newly built laboratories there house agri- 

 cultural chemists, entomologists, plant breeders and plant patho- 

 logists. Apart from this staff maintained by the Office du Niger, 

 there are comparatively few specialist officers permanently in 

 French West Africa, but research work required in any colony 

 is often carried out by visiting scientists who come from France 

 for short terms of work. For such purposes the universities ia 

 France co-operate in a large measure. 



