January io, 191 8] 



to the Commissioners of Woods towards the cost of 

 the maintenance of the Forest of Dean Demonstration 

 Area during 19 16-17, ^^ the condition that the land 

 revenues of the Crown should continue as hitherto to 

 bear the cost of general improvements and mainten- 

 ance of Dean Forest and adjoining woodlands. 



A grant of loool. for 19 17-18 was recommended for 

 the salaries and expenses of three forestry officers for 

 advisory, survey, and research work, one at each of 

 the three Scottish agricultural colleges. 



During the year the Commissioners have reviewed 

 the terms on which advances from the Development 

 * Fund have been made or promised for the purchase of 

 land in Ireland and its afforestation. A provisional 

 agreement was reached between the Commissioners 

 and the Department of Agriculture, and in March last 

 the revised terms were submitted for the approval of 

 the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. 



Development and Improvement of Fisheries. 



The development of sea fisheries and the increase of 

 the fish food supply have been among the most im- 

 portant of the matters for which advances have been 

 made during the year. The following- advances for 

 these purposes have been sanctioned, viz. : In January, 

 19 1 7, an advance not exceeding 50,000^. to the Board 

 of Agriculture and Fisheries for the provision of motor- 

 power in fishing-vessels in England and Wales. The 

 administration of this advance is in the hands of a 

 small central executive committee appointed by the 

 Board in consultation with the Development Com- 

 mission. Not the least part of the Committee's work 

 has been that of arranging for the necessary fuel, 

 boxes, and other fishing supplies. During the time 

 that this scheme has been in , operation the results 

 obtained have been satisfactory, and they promise to 

 prove still more fruitful in the future. In January, 

 -1917, an advance not exceeding 2000L to the Cornwall 

 Sea Fisheries Committee to enable fishermen at the 

 Mount's Bay Ports and St. Ives to instal mechanical 

 power in their boats, fn March, 1917, authority was 

 given for the unexpended balance of the grant of 2000Z. 

 to the Devon Sea Fisheries Committee for the purpose 

 of experiments with motor-f)ower in trawlers, etc., to 

 be used in making loans to fishermen to enable them 

 to instal motors in their boats. The unexpended 

 balance in question was about iqoo/. 



An advance of ziol., the available balance of the 

 sum of 3000Z. originally made applicable for the de- 

 velopment of motor-boat fishing in Ireland, was sanc- 

 tioned for the same purpose during the year 1917-18. 



For the purpyoses of fishery research in 1917-18 a 

 grant of 675Z. was sanctioned, being 250Z. less than 

 the amount sanctioned for 1916-17. This sum was to 

 be allocated by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 

 when the nature of the work had been definitely settled, 

 between the following institutions : The Marine Bio- 

 logical Association, the Lancashire and Western Local 

 Fisheries Committee, Liverpool University, University 

 College of Wales, and the Armstrong College, 

 Durham. 



Finance of the Development Fund. 

 t The total sum guaranteed to the fund is 2,900,000!., 



I which has all been paid over ; in addition, interest on 

 I investments and other receipts up to March 31, 1917, 



amounted to 390,000!., a total of 3,290,000!. 

 •• .As will be seen from the table below, the total ad- 



vances recommended to March 31, 19 17, amounted to 

 i 2,602,277!. This sum cannot, however, be taken a» 



I the eflfective demand upon the fund : some of the re- 

 commended advances included in earlier schedules were 

 not ultimately sanctioned by the Treasury, and in the 

 case of several schemes for which assistance is sought 

 NO. 2515, VOL. 100] 



NATURE 



377 



annually the amounts sanctioned were not wholly 

 s[^>ent within the year for which the grants were sanc- 

 tioned. 



The Commissioners estimate that the effective total 

 of the advances sanctioned up to March 31, 19 17, 

 amount approximately to 2,085,000!., leaving therefore 

 a balance of 1,205,000!. then available to meet re- 

 current annual grants for existing schemes, new pro- 

 jects, and for an emergency programme of development 

 works which is being prepared as suitable to be 

 started at the end of the war. 



Summary of Recommendations, 1916-17. 



Grant. Loan. 



£ £ 



Agriculture and rural industries ... 139.348 125,000 



Forestry 15.676 — 



Reclamation and drainage of land ... 850 — 



Harbours 844 • — 



Fisheries 5^185 2,000 



Total 



207,903 127,000 

 334.903'- 



Sum Total of Advances Recommended up to 

 March 31, 1917. 



Grant. Loan. 



£ £ 



Agriculture and rural industries ... 1,492,172 128,500 



Forestry 101,833 153,4" 



Reclamation and drainage of land 6,565 4,000 



Rural transport — 80,000 



Harbours 214,539 171,410 



Inland navigations — 109,500 



Fisheries 109,297 30,250 



Sea defence works ' 800 



1,924,406 677,871 



Total 



2,602,277!. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Under the auspices of the Council of the Library 

 Association, the Athenaeum Press has issued a Subject 

 Index to Periodicals for 1916, the Historical, Political, 

 and Economic Sciences, including the European war, 

 geography, anthropology, and folklore. The catalogue 

 is well arranged, and contains a wide survey of period- 

 ical literature. Owing to the high cost of printing and 

 paper, the list of periodicals cited has been omitted, 

 but in the present list 305 publications are mdexed. 

 The present catalogue can be regarded as only tenta- 

 tive the Proceedings of some societies being m arrear, 

 and most of those from the Continent unprocurable. 

 But the idea is good, and in quieter times the cata- 

 logue will be more comprehensive. 



At the annual meeting of the Headmasters' Asso- 

 ciation Mr. A. P. M. Fleming (British Westinghouse 

 Electric and Manufacturing Co.) gave an address on 

 the increasing part which democracy would play in 

 the near future in industry and public life. He said 

 that industrial progress had been greatly accelerated 

 in some directions, but that unity of aim and purpose 

 among industrial workers was essential to continued 

 advance. Industrial progress was incompatible with 

 industrial unrest, and teachers should put industrial 

 problems before their pupils in the right way thus con- 

 tributing to their right solution. Industrial harmonv 

 must be based on a sense of justice and of individual 

 responsibilities as well as of individual rights. 



