47 
pathy with the scheme. It is welcomed by the large 
companies whose estates cover so large a part of the 
island, and who are ready not only to offer paid 
positions to those who obtain the diploma of the 
College, but in addition are willing to assist in 
obtaining the funds required, which, it is estimated, 
will amount to about £50,000. It is hoped that 
the Government of Ceylon, as well as the Govern- 
ments of other countries interested, will give financial 
assistance to a scheme which promises to have far- 
reaching consequences in promoting the prosperity 
of the British tropics, and is not to be regarded as of 
benefit only to the colony in which the college will be 
placed, but as serving an Imperial purpose. There is 
another important reason why the Governments of the 
Eastern British tropics should financially assist its 
establishment. In every British colony there exists, at 
all events, the rudiments of an Agricultural Depart- 
ment, more or less completely equipped for the purpose 
of conducting experimental work in agriculture for the 
benefit of the colony as a whole, and of affording assist- 
ance and advice to the resident agriculturist, native and 
European. It is obvious that if such a department is 
to be in a position to discharge these responsible duties 
its work must be directed by an officer who is a master 
of his subject, and who can discuss agricultural problems 
with as much knowledge as the average agriculturist 
of the country in which he is to occupy the position of 
chief agricultural adviser. 
It is well known that men fully qualified to act as 
Directors of Government Agricultural Departments 
in the British tropics are very difficult and often impos- 
sible to secure. Apart from the usual difficulty in find- 
ing men who combine some administrative capacity with 
the requisite technical knowledge, the main trouble is 
that there is at present no systematic means of educating 
and training a tropical agriculturist, and the men who 
to-day occupy these positions are usually botanists or 
chemists who have trained themselves whilst in office. 
It is admitted that these men have often been able to 
render distinguished service, but it must now be recog- 
nized that the absence of any system of education under 
which such officers can be trained for their responsible 
