395 
is to get the tropical countries more largely represented on 
the permanent committee by getting the Governments of those 
countries to adhere to the convention, paying part of the cost, 
and appointing their representatives on the committee. Just 
let me tell you which are the tropical countries which have 
not yet adhered. In America, Jamaica and the other West 
Indian Islands belonging to different Governments with the 
exception of Cuba, the Panama Republic, the three Guianas, 
and Bolivia. All the rest of America has adhered. In Africa 
the non-adherents are all the colonies which belong to Britain, 
France, Germany, Belgium and Portugal. In Asia the non- 
adhering countries are French Indo-China, Siam, Ceylon, 
Borneo, the Philippines, and the many other islands belong- 
ing to different European Powers. There are, therefore, a 
number of tropical countries still which have not adhered, and 
if they would adhere and send delegates to the institute, no 
doubt the institute would be induced to pay more attention 
than it does to the interests of tropical agriculture. The 
British countries which do adhere are: Great Britain and 
Ireland, Canada, Australia, Union of South Africa, New 
Zealand, India and Mauritius. 
Now it is possible, it seems to me, for a colony which wishes 
to be represented there either to adhere individually—there 
is no doubt about that being possible, as in the case of 
Mauritius—and paying at the least £100 a year towards the 
cost of the institute, or it is also possible for a number of 
colonies to group themselves as one state with reference to 
the institute, having one representative, and paying one sub- 
scription. For instance, the whole of the British Crown 
Colonies might, I think, combine and group themselves as a 
state with reference to the institute in the first class and pay 
£1,600 a year, distributing that £1,600 amongst themselves. 
That is a plan which might be considered by the British Crown 
Colonies, and also by the colonies of other powers which have 
a number of tropical possessions. This is an International 
Congress, and it is desirable that we should look at things 
internationally, and here in Rome you have this wealthy 
international body permanently at work, and I think we should 
try and secure their services more perfectly than at present is 
done for the purposes of tropical agriculture. I suggest that 
you cannot do better when you go home than try and persuade 
your Governments to take part in forming a group of colonies 
under the International Agricultural Institute at Rome. 
Sir SyDNEY OLIVIER (Permanent Secretary to the Board of 
Agriculture): I should like to support that resolution in a very 
few words. I would like this Congress to take the matter into 
consideration in the same spirit in which the International 
