THE STATE AS FARMER 119 



ent. It is here that our present arrangements 

 are weak. A man in one of the ten counties 

 in the midst of which Darwin's University is 

 situated might be anxious to know the origin 

 of life or the best way to produce fine butter 

 from a sawdust diet. It is not merely that 

 we should have to refer him in one case to 

 Professor Schiller and in the other to Dr. 

 Gilchrist, but the whole scheme is topsy- 

 turvy and wrong. Conundrums are no use 

 in our effort to make our lands yield their 

 increase. It is for the Professors and their 

 staffs to ask the questions, give instructions 

 about treatments, and see that these instruc- 

 tions are carefully carried out. 



Persons desirous of obtaining advice [says the 

 Leaflet] on difficult agricultural questions should 

 communicate with the Advisory Officer at the 

 Institution for the area in which they reside. In 

 counties in which there is a County Agricultural 

 Organiser, agriculturists should communicate with 

 that officer in cases in which the assistance required 

 does not appear to be of a scientific or specially difficult 

 nature. 



Does not this sound as if our scientific men 

 had been sorely tried ? It would be better 



