59 
an Indian civilian would be the Secretary. The non- 
official members might well be Indians chosen on 
account of their interest in the subject. The Director 
of Agriculture, who would be responsible to this Board, 
would have full charge of the specialist staff, and would 
be directly concerned with the technical work of the 
Department and with the reports which it issues. 
The advantages of this system would be that whilst 
reserving to the Board the consideration of general 
questions, including those relating to land tenure, the 
Agricultural Officer would receive his proper title of 
Director of the Department and would have the direct 
charge of the whole of its technical work and be directly 
responsible to the Board, whose meetings he would 
attend. 
The Government would still have the advantage of 
the administrative experience in other than technical 
questions of the Secretary and the members of the 
Board, the Secretary being an Indian civilian with a 
title, Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, more in 
accordance with his proper duties. 
The inciusion of Indian members in the Board would 
have the great advantage of securing their interest and 
co-operation in the agricultural advancement of India, 
which is so much to be desired. 
It is almost a truism that investigation and research 
should be vital parts of the work of Government 
Agricultural Departments. The fact that so little 
is being done in the tropics makes it, however, 
necessary to consider the question, which is to be dis- 
cussed at one of our meetings. By research in this 
connection is not meant the trials and plot experiments 
which form part of the regular routine work of an 
Agricultural Department, but the attack and concen- 
tration on definite problems by qualified specialists. 
The reports issued by the various departments of 
agriculture in the tropics, British and other, show that, 
in general, scientific investigation is not definitely pro- 
vided for, and that the energies of the usually small staff 
are being entirely occupied with routine work. It is 
not everyone who is inclined or qualified to deal with 
the larger questions which await solution as the result 
of systematic experiment in tropical agriculture, but 
where such men exist, and they should exist in all 
