35 
The number of trained investigators in the tropics 
has been so small that there are large gaps in our know- 
ledge which can only be slowly filled. The entire 
subject of the science of growing rubber trees in plan- 
tations should receive continuous investigation by 
trained specialists. The fungoid diseases to which the 
rubber trees are subject and the insect attacks to which 
they are exposed are no less important to the rubber 
grower than those which relate to the life history of the 
plant, its physiology, and nutrition. It must he 
admitted that the scientific means of defence had not 
been prepared, and that we were not ready for action 
at a moment of weakness. To this general question of 
technical education and research, which is to be con- 
sidered at more than one of our meetings, I shall return 
in another part of this address. 
Another subject which will claim much of our atten- 
tion at this Congress is the large and important one of 
cotton growing and its improvement. Lord Kitchener 
is to preside at one of several meetings on this question, 
when cultivation in Egypt will be considered, and at 
another Mr. J. Arthur Hutton, the Chairman of the 
British Cotton Growing Association, will give an 
account of the great work which that Association has 
done in the last twelve years to extend and improve the 
cultivation of cotton within the British Empire, and to 
open up new fields of supply for the mills of Lancashire. 
Herr Schanz in another paper will describe the advances 
in cotton cultivation in the German Colonies. Again 
we are confronted with problems which need for their 
solution continuous scientific investigation and sys- 
tematic experiment, and here again adequate means of 
research were not available in the first instance, and in 
some cases are not completely provided now. The 
discovery of a kind of cotton capable of being acclima- 
tized in a new country, and possessing the characters 
which will render its production profitable, is one which 
requires time for its solution. In addition to the well- 
known process of seed selection, the newer methods of 
plant breeding require to be tried in a well-considered 
scheme of work in which both practical agriculturists 
and trained specialists can act in co-operation. Some 
notable advances have been made, especially in India, 
