1917.] The Fourth Indian Science Congress. cliii 



there are ample balances upon which to draw, balances inherit- 

 ed from the " Pioners or Miners " who have gone before. 



I have spoken of the cloud that hangs over industries, but 

 one cannot forget that even this is as nothing when the whole 

 sky is overcast when young, middle-aged and old alike, men of 

 science as well as others, are sacrificing everything, forsaking 

 what have hitherto been their ideals, giving their very lives, 

 for the sake of what they hold to be a righteous cause. 



We, too, are doing the duty allotted to us and, precluded 

 from more active help, must take what comfort we can from 

 Milton's words : — ' They also serve who only stand and wait." 



My chief duty, as your President, is now over. 



I fear I may have very partially succeeded in putting 

 before you my own somewhat conflicting thoughts but it seems 

 to me that a new danger of misconception in regard to science 

 may loom large in the near future, — pure science may be al- 

 most submerged for a time by a wave of utilitarianism and it 

 will require concerted and sustained effort to make people see 

 things in their proper proportions. The motive of the utilita- 

 rian is so obviously unimpeachable ; the student of pure science 



may be, in the words of the Preacher, casting his bread upon 

 the waters whence it may return only after many days. On 

 the one hand is the crying need for active help, on the other is 

 the conviction as to what is the ideal. I do no more than ask 

 you, as citizens of the Empire and as students of science, to 

 reflect upon these matters. Each must follow the dictates of 

 his own conscience — " to thine own self be true ; thou canst not 

 then be false to any man." 



ABSTRACT OF PAPERS COMMUNICATED TO THE 



CONGRESS. 



Section of Agriculture. 



President.— mi. J. MacKenna, MA., I.OJ3. 9 Agricultural Ad- 



viser to the 



f the Push 



Agricultural Research Institute. 



The Agricultural Development of North-West India (Summary). 1 

 — By Albert Howard and Gabriellf L. C. Howard. 



I. Introduction. 



The development of the agriculture of North -West India is largely a 

 question of tl£ conquest of an alluvial desert by means of irrigation. 

 There are only two defects to consider as far as the soil itself is concerned- 

 want of organic matter and a tendency towards the accumulation of alka 

 salts These shortcomings, however, are small matters compared with 

 the want of moisture. 



I This paper will be published in extenso in the Congress number of 

 the Agricultural Journal of India. 



