NATURE 



429 



THURSDAY, Dh.ct.MatR 2, 1920. 



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The Application of Science to Agriculture. 



THE circumstances of the time call for the 

 fullest possible utilisation of the national 

 resources of both men and material, and never 

 has there been more urgent need for the high 

 training and intellectual interests that science can 

 give to mankind, or for the properly directed 

 application of science to national problems. When 

 rapid changes are coming about before our eyes, 

 and the community is being shaken to its founda- 

 tions, it is essential to inquire whether the 

 guardians of scientific studies in this country are 

 still able to maintain the work at a proper level 

 of efficiency. What, for example, is the position 

 of the application of science to agriculture — the 

 greatest of our industries? There have been some 

 recent developments, though on a relatively small 

 .scale. If, however, a satisfactory organisation is 

 possible in this case, there will be much ground 

 for hope that the more general problem of the 

 application of science to industry as a whole can 

 Ix! solved. 



Prior to the war the application of science to 

 agriculture was brought about in the main by the 

 enterprise of a few individuals such as Lawes and 

 f lilbcrt, of Rothamstcd ; Spencer Pickering, at 

 I he VV'oburn Fruit Farm; the N'oelckers, father 

 and son ; and a few others. The landowner, as a 

 lule, looked on in a not unfriendly way, but, his 

 I'ducation never having been g(K>d, he was unable 

 10 understand what the man of science was trying 

 to do. Character was his strong point; he ad- 

 /ninistcrcd justice in the village, while his wife 

 NO. 2666, VOL. 106] 



dispensed charity ; both were, as a rule, consci- 

 entious, hard workers, strong in the faith that 

 they were doing the right thing, and true to the 

 ideals that had been handed down to them by a 

 long line of ancestors like themselves. It was 

 not until 1894 that any sort of beginning was 

 made in the country, when the so-called "whisky 

 money " was available for technical education, and 

 the county authorities had the option of develop- 

 ing agricultural education. 



A few did so : Kent and Surrey combined to 

 open the Wye Agricultural College; Norfolk and 

 the eastern counties supported a school at Cam- 

 bridge. The county bodies, however, did little 

 for science. A distinction was made between 

 " education " and " research " ; if a teacher were 

 repeating something already known, he was 

 eligible for a Government grant, and was, there- 

 fore, a person who could be encouraged ; but if 

 he were seeking to discover something unknown, 

 he was not eligible for grants, and was rather a 

 problem for the authorities. Fortunately, how- 

 ever, institutions in the country cannot be com- 

 pletely governed from W'hitehall, and common 

 sense has a way of prevailing; much scientific 

 work was, in point of fact, carried out by keen 

 men working on their own account, and often in 

 part at their own expense. 



It was not until the passing of the Development 

 j\ct in 191 1 that Government support was forth- 

 coming for scientific investigations in agriculture. 

 The Act set up a Development Fund which sub- 

 sidised certain institutions and allowed of much 

 needed expansion. Considerable experience has 

 been gained during the past ten years of the best 

 method of utilising the kvailable resources. The 

 broad result is a threefold scheme, including : 

 (1) Research institutions where agricultural science 

 is developed; (2} colleges and farm institutes 

 where instruction of various types is given to 

 students wishing 10 become experts, farmers, etc. ; 

 (3) county advisers attached to some of the fore- 

 going institutions, whose function it is to advise 

 farmers on the various problems or difficulties 

 with which they may be confronted. 



At the beginning a rather large number of re- 

 search institutes was set up, mainly at the uni- 

 versities. Of recent years there has been a ten- 

 dency towards centralisation, four of the new in- 

 stitutes being afterwards transferred to other in- 

 stitutes already in cxistimc. This was not origin- 

 ally intended, and, so far as is known, formed 

 no part of a deliberate policy ; it was the inevitable 

 result of workers in different lines finding so much 



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