AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENTS AND RESEARCH 59 



of his investigations, to determine the nitrogen content 

 of his wheats. For this purpose he will seek the aid of 

 the chemist. This is but assistance on a minor or frac- 

 tional factor, which would not exactly be called colla- 

 boration. In another case the soil bacteriologist is 

 working at various bacteria-producing plant foods and 

 plant toxins. He requires the aid of the chemist to 

 determine the nature of the plant foods and the nature of 

 the action of the toxins on vegetable tissues. Here the 

 work, both of the chemist and bacteriologist, is funda- 

 mental, and nothing short of a collaboration of both 

 officers is required. This is collaboration in its full 

 sense. If we are to preserve the freedom of the indivi- 

 dual, there are only two courses open by which true 

 and amicable collaboration can be brought about. The 

 word " amicable " is used advisedly, for without such a 

 quality collaboration could scarcely deserve the name. 

 One course is for combined work to take place under a 

 private understanding; the other is by arrangement in 

 conference or council of the heads of the scientific 

 branches. The formation of such a council is of the 

 greatest necessity for a scientific body attached to an 

 Agricultural Department. While preserving the freedom 

 of the individual, it throws open the road not only to 

 collaboration of the most approved kind, but it can be 

 used for an exchange of views and as an effective control 

 of the work by the scientific officers themselves, and 

 should, therefore, form an integral part of the general 

 scheme. 



We may now proceed to give very briefly the various 

 units required in a scheme of research. We will assume 

 a Central Research Institute fully equipped with up-to- 

 date laboratories and a farm of sufficient size, and with 

 such quality and condition of soil as to render the results 

 and operations on the farm normal. The divisions in the 

 institute representing the various branches of agricultural 

 science and practice would be somewhat as follows : A 

 senior officer of the best qualifications should be appointed 

 at the head, of each. 



(i) The Agricultural Division, dealing with the practice 

 of agriculture proper, animal husbandry, agricultural 

 engineering, and with economics. 



