250 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



June, 1921. 



tuin should not haug back but accept the obligation 

 entailed in retaining the leading position she has al- 

 ways assumed in connection with the Institute. The 

 British Delegates are persuaded that Great Britain will 

 I'c fully repaid for her contribution by the use that will 

 lie made of the work done by the Institute. 



International Institute of Agricoltnre (seen from the Pincio). 



The Assembly dealt at length with the (juestion of 

 agricultural labour, which it was believed was to be 

 discussed at the forthcoming Conference of the Inter- 

 national Bureau of Labour at Geneva. There was a 

 concensus of opinion strongly opposed to the fixing of 

 an eiglit-liour day or even to the consideration of the 

 claims of agricultural labour by delegates who form- 

 ulated the demands of town labour and did not under- 

 stand agricultural conditions. It was declared that the 

 study of all that related to the conditions, economic, 

 juridical and social, and the life of agricultural work- 

 ers, should belong to the Institute and should be taken 

 up on a more thorough scale than cinnimstances had 

 hitherto ])ermitted. The motion, asking that agricultural 

 labour be withdrawn from the programme of the Inter- 

 rational Labour Bureau was finally dropped, and the 

 institute finally agreed that the report of the lengthy 

 and interesting debate on the subject be specially pub- 

 lished and sent to the Ministers of Agriculture and of 

 the Interior of all the adhering countries. 



In connection with the League of Nations the Gen- 

 eral Assembly expressed satisfaction that in the Treaty 

 of Peace a plan had been included for co-operation 

 among the nations and the realization of peace and in- 

 ternational security, approved the attitude of the Per- 

 manent Committee concerning relations with the League 

 of Nations and expressed the desire that the most 

 friendly and cordial co-operation may be maintained 

 between the two institutions. Although no motion was 

 passed on the point it was almost the unanimous sense 

 of the Assembly that while co-ojjeration with the League 

 is, from all points of view, desirable, still the Institute 

 should maintain ils full and entire autonomy. 



The British Delegation in its own report of the pro- 

 ceedings while freely criticising the details of the or- 

 ganization and activities of the Institute, expressed the 

 view that the experience of the war and the food prices 

 have shed a very strong light upon the im|)ortance and 

 even the necessity to all countries of some such organ- 

 ization as the Institute, that no one State is in the ad- 

 ^'antageous position in which the Institute stands, either 

 as regards facilities for the collection of information or 

 experience in handling it; that, as the discussions con- 

 cerning the organization of a League of Nations have 

 shown, if the International Institute did not exist it 

 would now be necessary to ci-eatc a body i)erforming 

 similar functions. The British Delegation urged that. 

 difficult as the financial situation mav be, Great Bri- 



CANADIAN CO OPERATIVE WOOL GROWERS TO 



ESTABLISH THEIR OWN SELLING AGENCY 



ON THE ENGLISH MARKET. 



Largely through the combined efforts of the Cana- 

 dian Co-operative Wool Growers, Limited, a sheep- 

 men's organization, and the Dominion Live Stock 

 I '.ranch, it is now generally recognized that the sheep- 

 men of Canada are prodneing wool the equal of similar 

 classes and grades grown elsewhere in the world. Gra- 

 dually but surely a reputation has been established for 

 our fleece wools on both the Canadian and Amierican 

 markets. This has, of course, been made possible to 

 some extent by the greater attention being given to 

 clips on the farms and in addition, to the grading sys- 

 tem which has from year to year been improved upon. 

 Canadian grades are now 'established, are standard in 

 every particular and liave been so satisfactory to our 

 Canadian mills that they have led to increased (jrders 

 i^ach season from that source. The American market 

 has always been an excellent outlet but at present it 

 is closed temporarily owing to the heavy duty of 15 

 cents per pound enacted through the jiassing of the 

 American Emergency Tariff Bill. 



Last year, the sheepmen of Canada, through their 

 own organization, made their first shipments of graded 

 wool, some LJO.OOO pounds, to the English market, where 

 it met with fav"orable comment. This ha.s naturally 

 led them to look toward that market as a possible out- 

 let for a portion of tbedr clip each year and with that 

 end in view, Mr. G. E. O'Brien, General Manager of 

 the Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers, Limited, 

 sailed on June 21st for England. Mr. O'Brien carries 

 with him a full line of samples of all classes and shades 

 ot our CanadiaJi wool. Eastern Domestic, Western Do- 

 mestic, and Western Range. These he expects to place 

 before the English mill trade for the purpose of show- 

 ing their attractiveness and suitability for the various 

 lines of goods made by them. 



A still more important feature of his visit to Eng- 

 land, however, is that he contemplates the selection of 

 a suitable firm of wool brokers to act as a selling agen- 

 ' \- for Canadian wools on the Bradford Wool Mt'- ■ 

 This marks another step forward and certainly one in 

 the right direction in handling wool co-operatively. It 

 will, of course, take some time to firmly establish a 

 leputation in a comparatively new field. The wools 

 will need to be tried out by the English mills and their 

 slirinkage, etc., estimated in comparison with wools 

 irom other countries, before any great volume of trade 

 can be forthcoming. Bradford is the main textile centre 

 of the world, and is besides, the chief buying centre for 

 Continental Europe. There is great possibility in this 

 new departure on the part of the wool growers and in 

 view of the agitation in this country for increased 

 trade with the Motherland, the results will be watched 

 with much interest by sheepmen all over the Dominion. 



