35 



The number of trained investigators in the tropics 

 has been so small that there are large gaps in our know- 

 ledge which can only be slowly rilled. The entire 

 subject of the science of growing rubber trees in plan- 

 tations should receive continuous investigation by 

 trained specialists. The fungoid diseases to which the 

 rubber trees are subject and the insect attacks to which 

 they are exposed are no less important to the rubber 

 grower than those which relate to the life history of the 

 plant, its physiology, and nutrition. It must be 

 admitted that the scientific means of defence had not 

 been prepared, and that we were not ready for action 

 at a moment of weakness. To this general question of 

 technical education and research, which is to be con- 

 sidered at more than one of our meetings, I shall return 

 in another part of this address. 



Another subject which will claim much of our atten- 

 tion at this Congress is the large and important one of 

 cotton growing and its improvement. Lord Kitchener 

 is to preside at one of several meetings on this question, 

 when cultivation in Egypt will be considered, and at 

 another Mr. J. Arthur Hutton, the Chairman of the 

 British Cotton Growing Association, will give an 

 account of the great work which that Association has 

 done in the last twelve years to extend and improve the 

 cultivation of cotton within the British Empire, and to 

 open up new fields of supply for the mills of Lancashire. 

 Herr Schanz in another paper will describe the advances 

 in cotton cultivation in the German Colonies. Again 

 we are confronted with problems which need for their 

 solution continuous scientific investigation and sys- 

 tematic experiment, and here again adequate means of 

 research were not available in the first instance, and in 

 some cases are not completely provided now. The 

 discovery of a kind of cotton capable of being acclima- 

 tized in a new country, and possessing the characters 

 which will render its production profitable, is one which 

 requires time for its solution. In addition to the well- 

 known process of seed selection, the newer methods of 

 plant breeding require to be tried in a well-considered 

 scheme of work in which both practical agriculturists 

 and trained specialists can act in co-operation. Some 

 notable advances have been made, especially in India, 



