1088 Eeport of the Development Commissioners. [Mar,. 



the Bill will not be proceeded with at present. The Ministry 

 has also had in contemplation the establishment of a Bee 

 Advisory Committee, which was intended to represent 

 every section of the industry. Its function would have 

 been to advise the Ministry on all questions of apiculture, 

 including the question of legislation in regard to Bee Diseases. 

 It follows from the enforced postponement of legislation that 

 this Committee cannot be established at present. In the 

 circumstances, the Ministry has appealed to bee-keepers to 

 take the necessary steps to organise themselves in order to 

 arrive at an agreed opinion on measures that may be taken, 

 without special legislation, for the protection and furtherance 

 of the industry. 



It is common knowledge that this country is spending some- 

 thing like ,£7,000 a day on imported honey, which is used, 

 inter alia, for medicine, confectionery, the manufacture of 

 blacking, and, unfortunately, to mix with home-produced 

 honey for retail by unscrupulous dealers as a pure English 

 product. 



The possibilities of this country in the matter of honey 

 production remain to be tested, and it is hoped that, now we 

 have precise knowledge as to the action and nature of Isle of 

 Wight Disease, it will be possible for British bee-keepers to 

 develop their industry to a point at which dependence upon 

 foreign and inferior material, purchased at a price the country 

 can ill afford to pay, will become unnecessary. 



****** 



The Stationery Office has now issued the Tenth Report of the 



Development Commissioners, and those who are interested in 



mu m t» i. Agricultural Research will find in its pages 

 The Tenth Report 6 ^ , , . ... , , F & , 



£ m.1. tn * .an arresting record ot scientific development, 



of the Development . a .? ... . . , 1 



Commissioners ^" er dealing with the origin and purposes 

 z ' of the Fund and the methods of allocation 



and administration, the Report considers the whole policy of 

 research in Agriculture, and sets out in detail the work done at 

 nearly a score of Research Institutes, beginning with Rothamsted 

 and ending with Oxford. No deep study of this section is 

 required to show that in all directions research is moving towards 

 its goal and that the practice of farming is being quickened and 

 revivified by the devoted work of men and women who give all 

 their energies to the solution of the special problems entrusted 

 to their care. 



