Ixxxii_ Proceedings of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal. [N.S ,XV1, 
Section of Agriculture. 
President :—S. Miryican, Esq., M.A., B.Sc. 
Presidential Address. 
A review of the world’s progress in agriculture during the 
last forty years reveals an immense and ever-increasing amount 
of scientific work on matters concerning that industry. Du- 
ring that period great strides have been made in soil chemistry 
and biology. Much light has been thrown on plant physiology 
and on the funetions of that group of substances usually termed 
plant food. odern plant breeding has developed, animal nutri- 
tion has been the subject of numerous exhaustive investigations 
and great progress has been made in the study of milk products. 
rom the point of view of practical farming, we find that most 
sufficient to permit of considerable variations in practice, these 
restrictions appeared likely to remain. Europe is, however, 
now on the threshold of very great possibilities through the 
