1922.] Report of the Intelligence Department. 457 



or three years or longer : from the University Departments of 

 Agriculture is recruited the stock of future teachers and 

 experts; while the Agricultural Colleges, offering a slightly 

 different type of instruction, concentrate more particularly on 

 the training of the practical farmer. In both cases, a sound 

 preliminary general and scientific education is required, and the 

 colleges should be entered from the secondary school. There 

 remains the much larger class of small farmers who cannot 

 afford the time for a long course of instruction, but who require 

 some fundamental technical instruction that will put them in 

 touch with the best modern farming methods. This type of 

 instruction comes within the purview of Local Education 

 Authorities, to whom is entrusted the carrying out of the Farm 

 Institute scheme (see p. 400). Twelve Institutes are now in 

 operation (including two established by private benefactions), 

 and in five other cases properties have been purchased for 

 development when funds permit. A general review of other 

 educational activities of Local Authorities, including organised 

 day courses, experimental and demonstration work, etc., is 

 given in the Report, which also contains an account of the 

 various schemes adopted for the agricultural training of ex- 

 Service officers and men. 



Research. — The points most noteworthy in regard to agri- 

 cultural research are the establishment of graded salary-scales 

 for research workers, with security of tenure for the higher 

 grades, and the setting up of a Research Council to secure 

 common action between the research institutes and to obviate 

 duplication of effort. There has been a big all-round develop- 

 ment of research activity, and in the case of horticulture and 

 dairying research large capital grants have been paid for the 

 purchase of land and the erection of buildings. The period 

 saw the inception of the National Institute of Agricultural 

 Botany,* a much needed link between the scientific plant 

 breeder and the farmer. The research scheme includes an 

 "advisory service," with specialists in chemistry and plant 

 pathology attached to the Agricultural Colleges to study local 

 problems and to advise farmers on plant diseases and on soil 

 and fertiliser questions. Periodical conferences have been 

 initiated between these advisers and members of the County 

 Staff in their areas, to co-ordinate advisory work and ensure 

 that the ground is well covered. At certain intervals, too. the 

 advisers confer at the Ministry. 



* Seo'tlie account of the Institute in'this Journal, Man-li, 1922. p. 1072. 



