214 
THE ORGANIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENTS IN 
RELATION TO RESEARCH WORK. 
By Bernarp Coventry, C.LE.,* 
Agricultural Adviser to the Government of India and Director 
of the Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, India. 
[ ABSTRACT. | 
The guiding principle in the organization of an Agricultural 
Department for the conduct of research should be to grant to 
each branch of science represented the fullest scope of freedom 
compatible with due recognition of (1) the governing authority; 
(2) the limitation of its own sphere of work; and (3) the possi- 
bilities of a carefully prepared budget. The success or failure 
of a department organized on these lines will depend primarily 
on the capacity of the scientific officer in each branch of 
investigation, and such officers should be engaged on probation 
for a term of three years, and their appointments should not 
be confirmed at the end of the probationary period unless they 
have proved themselves suitable. Once their appointments have 
been confirmed, initiative in their branch of work should be 
left very largely to them. Collaboration between officers 
engaged in different lines of work should be a matter of private 
arrangement between them, so long as the assistance to be 
afforded by one of them is ancillary only. More complete 
collaboration should be arranged for by a council composed of 
the chief officers in each branch of science represented in the 
department. 
An Agricultural Department organized for research should 
possess a Central Research Institute with modern laboratories 
and an experimental farm. The work should be divided into 
the following branches: Agricultural, chemical, botanical, 
bacteriological, pathological, entomological, and veterinary, 
each with a chief scientific officer having the highest quali- 
fications. In addition there should be a division to take charge 
of the library and publications of the Institute, and finally an 
additional officer for each! special crop, such as cotton, sugar 
cane, rubber, etc. The Director of such an Institute should be 
selected on the grounds of capacity for organization and 
control, coupled with sympathetic insight and understanding of 
the work to be done. 
In addition to this Central Research Institute there should be 
a series of local organizations each with its own administrative 
1 This paper was read for the author by Dr. C. A. B 
of the Government of India. e i 
