8 EXPLOITATION OF PLANTS 
vantage for the purposes of a training ground, because 
it alone is constantly visited by men on leave from the 
distant parts of the empire. These men would be 
temporarily attached to the central school, and they 
could work up their results and give lectures and demon- 
strations upon matters in which they had been inti- 
mately engaged. As the cadets were passed out and 
drafted to their jobs they would be liable to come in 
contact with these same individuals, who would keep 
an eye on them. 
Such a self-feeding mechanism should promote a close 
solidarity between all ranks, a fundamental condition 
if such a service is to prove equal to the large oppor- 
tunities awaiting it. The dominions, of course, are 
wholly self-governing, and it is to be expected that they 
will be eager to play a leading part in their own develop- 
ment. At the same time, there is a good deal to be said 
for an imperial corps with interchange between the 
different parts of the empire; there must be many 
problems in common, e. g. between South Africa and 
Australia, and it would be a pity if the organisation 
provided was isolated in separate compartments. 
In this connection we might perhaps adapt the 
American system to meet our requirements. There is 
first the system of State Experimental Stations, where 
the local problems are dealt with. Then there is the 
great Department of Agriculture at Washington, with 
its innumerable Bureaus. The personnel of this de- 
partment is analogous in its working to the staff officers 
of an army, whilst that of the stations may be com- 
pared to the regimental officers in the field. 
Applied to our case, the latter correspond to the 
