556 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1138 



ferent parts of the empire, adequately 

 equipped and under the charge of a capable 

 trained botanist, are a prime necessity. 

 "We seem to have been singularly unfortu- 

 nate, not to say stupid, in the management 

 of some of our tropical stations and botan- 

 ical establishments. 



The island of Jamaica is one of the oldest 

 of our tropical possessions. It is easy of ac- 

 cess, has a remarkably rich and varied flora, 

 a fine climate and affords easy access to 

 positions of widely differing altitude. It 

 is interesting to imagine what Germany 

 would have made of it as a station for bo- 

 tanical work if she had occupied it for a 

 few years. The most recent account of the 

 flora which pretends to completeness is by 

 Hans Sloane, whose work antedates the 

 Linngean era. A flora as complete as avail- 

 able material will allow is now in course of 

 preparation in this country, but the more 

 recent material on which it is based is due 

 to American effort. Comparatively re- 

 cently a mycologist has been appointed, but 

 there is no government botanist to initiate 

 botanical exploration or experimental work 

 or to advise on matters of botanical inter- 

 est. A botanical station ideal for experi- 

 mental work in tropical botanical problems 

 is a mere appendage of a Department of 

 Agriculture, the director of which is a 

 chemist. 



A botanical station for research to be ef- 

 fective must be under the supervision of a 

 well-trained botanist with administrative 

 capacity, who must have at his disposal a 

 well-equipped laboratory and ground for 

 experimental work. He must not be ex- 

 pected to make his station pay its way by 

 selling produce or distributing seedlings 

 and the like; a botanical station is not a 

 market-garden. The director will be ready 

 to give help and advice on questions of a 

 botanical nature arising locally, and he 

 will be on the lookout for local problems 

 which may afford items of botanical re- 



search to visiting students. Means must 

 be adopted to attract the research student, 

 aided, if necessary, by research scholar- 

 ships from home. The station should have 

 sufficient imperial support to avoid the 

 hampering of its utility by local prejudice 

 or ignorance. The permanent staff should 

 include a mycologist and a skilled gar- 

 dener. 



The botanical station does not preclude 

 the separate existence of an agricultural 

 station, but the scope of each must be 

 clearly denned, and under normal condi- 

 tions the two would be mutually helpful. 

 Nor should the botanical station be respon- 

 sible for work of forestry, though forestry 

 may supply problems of interest and im- 

 portance for its consideration. 



Finally, I should like to suggest the hold- 

 ing of an imperial botanical congress at 

 which matters of general and special inter- 

 est might be discussed. The visit of the 

 British Association to Australia was, I 

 think, helpful to the Australian botanists; 

 it was certainly very helpful and of the 

 greatest interest to those coming from 

 home. Many of the addresses and papers 

 were of considerable interest and value, but 

 of greater value was the opportunity of 

 meeting with one's fellow-workers in dif- 

 ferent fields, of conversation, discussion 

 and interchange of ideas, the better realiza- 

 tion of one 's limited outlook and the stimu- 

 lus of new associations. A meeting which 

 brought together home botanists and botan- 

 ical representatives from oversea portions 

 of our empire to discuss methods of better 

 utilizing our vast resources would be of 

 great interest and supremely helpful. Let 

 us transfer to peace purposes some of the 

 magnificent enthusiasm which has flowed 

 homewards for the defence of the empire 

 in war. 



In this brief address I have tried, how- 

 ever imperfectly, to indicate some lines on 

 which botanists may render useful service 



