6 



representacives of those states and supported by their joint 

 contributions. 



As an international organisation of an official character the 

 International Institute of Agriculture may indeed be said to 

 have been the first of its kind in the world; it existed prior to 

 the formation of the League of Nations, and indeed it has the 

 universal support that the League has not yet obtained. The 

 origin of the Institute is interesting. The late Mr. David 

 Lubin of the United States reahsed that the farmers of the 

 world could not combine to adjust their cultivation to world 

 needs so long as they remained isolated and did not know what 

 those needs vvere. He therefore proposed to the King of Italy 

 the establishment of an International Institute to study the 

 conditions of universal agriculture, publish returns, collect and 

 disseminate information on economic and technical agricultural 

 questions, and so facilitate production and aid agriculture 

 throughout the world. The King not only took up the idea 

 with great enthusiasm but helped to erect the magnificent 

 building that houses the Institute in Eome, and transferred to 

 it revenues worth 12, 000 a year. 



The chief object of the Institute is to prepare reliable reports 

 of the estimated production of crops and available supplies 

 throughout the v\'orld, and it was hoped that this information 

 would prevent the cornering of crops on the one hand and 

 violent fluctuation in price on the other. Bearing in mind the 

 extent of international trade in foods and the essential unity 

 of agricultural science the importance of the information that 

 the Institute circulates will be understood. It is managed by 

 a permanent Committee composed of representatives of the 

 various signatory Governments resident in Rome. From time 

 to time a General Assembly of delegates appointed by their 

 Governments reviews the main principles of policy. Before the 

 War this General Assembly met everv two years, while the 

 Permanent Committee meets at least once a month and several 

 of its members devote themselves entirely to the Institute's 

 work. 



At present the International Institute of Agriculture is 

 organised under three sections : (a) Statistics, (b^ Agricultural 

 Intelligence and Plant Diseases, and (c) Economic and Social 

 Intelligence. Each issues a bulletin in several parts, as well 

 as occasional leaflets and notices to the Press. The Institute 

 also publishes an annual statistical review of the world's agri- 

 culture and an annual summary of acfricultural legislation. 

 Other publications also are issued from time to time. A meet- 



