ii6 BOTANY AND INTENSIVE CULTIVATION 



role of phagocytes therein pure or applied science ? 

 When Pasteur gave the Lilleois pure beer he made 

 a notable contribution to the well-being of the 

 race, "For malt does more than Milton can 

 To justify God's ways to man," but by the same 

 research he fathomed the nature of fermentation 

 and laid a corner stone in the foundation of preven- 

 tive medicine. Now at this present time the 

 country has need and urgent need of a greater 

 knowledge of the laws which govern the produc- 

 tivity of plants. These laws it is within the 

 competence of botanists to investigate. Why 

 should we not concentrate our efforts upon the 

 discovery of these laws and thereby seek at one 

 and the same time to advance our science and to 

 assist the workers in the applied sciences of agri- 

 culture and horticulture ? It is true that, thanks to 

 the provisions made by the Development Commis- 

 sioners and by the Board of Agriculture, Institutes 

 have been established for the purpose of investi- 

 gating the problems of intensive cultivation. But 

 in the dearth of knowledge of general laws or 

 principles these Institutes have to combine the 

 work of applied with that of pure science. They 

 have first to grow their own straw before they can 

 make the bricks. 



Yet the briefest review of recent progress in 

 methods of intensive cultivation discloses the fact 

 that it is the Paul of pure Science that has planted 

 and the Apollos of applied science that has watered 



