386 



[November, 1911. 



inaugurating researches in the public's 

 name had not arrived. It could not be 

 too widely known that in all sciences, 

 whether pure or applied, research was 

 nearly always a very slow process, un- 

 certain in production, and full of dis- 

 appointments. The research of the 

 present day could aspire no higher than 

 to lay the foundation on which the 

 following generations wculd build. 

 Both those who were engaged in agri- 

 cultural research, and those who were 

 charged with the supervision and con T 

 trol of those researches must be pre- 

 pared to exercise a large measure of 

 patience. The applicable science must 

 be created before it could be applied. 

 It was with the discovery and develop- 

 ment of such science that agricultural 

 research would for long enough best 

 occupy its energies. The man who 

 devoted his life to applied science should 

 be made to feel that he was in the main 

 stream of scientific progress. To tell 

 him that he must not pursue that 

 inquiry further because he could not 

 foresee a direct and immediate applic- 

 ation of the knowledge he would acquire 

 was a course detrimental to the real 

 interests of the applied science. There 

 were specific instances where, in other 

 countries, thoroughly competent and 

 zealous investigators had, by the short- 

 sightedness of superior officials, been 

 thus debarred from following to their 

 conclusion researches of great value and 

 novelty. 



In this country, where the Develop- 

 ment Commission would presumably 

 for many years be the main instigator 

 and controller of agricultural research, 

 the constitution of the advisory board, 

 on which science was largely represent- 

 ed, formed a guarantee that broader 

 counsels would prevail, and it was to 

 be hoped that not merely this incep- 

 tion of the work, but its future admin- 

 istration also would be guided in the 

 same spirit. So long as a train of 

 inquiry continued to extend, and new 

 knowledge was coming in the enterprise 

 would not be in vain, and it would be 

 usually worth while to pursue it. 



£50,000 A Year for Research. 



The Board of Agr iculture and Fisheries 

 have been in communication with the 

 Development Commissioners with a view 

 to the formulation of a scheme for the 

 promotion of agricultural research and 

 local investigations in England and 

 Wales, and the Treasury, on the recom- 

 mendation of the Commissioners, have 

 now sanctioned the allocation of funds 

 to be distributed by the Board in 

 accordance with the general principles 



set out below. The total maximum sum 

 which will be expended when the scheme 

 is in full operation will be about £50,000 

 per annum. 

 The scheme provides for :— 



1. A system of agricultural research 

 which will secure for each group of the 

 problems affecting rural industry a 

 share of attention roughly proportional 

 to its economic importance. 



2. The concentration of the scientific 

 work on each group at ona institution 

 or at institutions working in com- 

 bination. 



3. Grants for special investigations 

 for which provision may not otherwise 

 be made. 



4. The grant of scholarships with a 

 view to the increase of the number of 

 men fully qualified to undertake agri- 

 cultural research. 



5. The carrying out of investigations 

 into problems of local importance, 

 especially those involving the appli- 

 cation of modern research to local prac- 

 tice, and the provision of scientific 

 advice for farmers on important tech- 

 nical questions. 



Subjects of Research. 

 In making arrangements for the 

 separate investigation, as far as possible, 

 of each group of allied subjects the Com- 

 missioners and the Board have been 

 impressed with the importance of 

 securing continuity in work which is 

 necessarily of considerable duration, and 

 at the same time of providing staffs of 

 specialists and experts who will be 

 permanently engaged on work arising 

 from the investigation of the same 

 group of problems. By this means con- 

 centration and economy of effort will 

 be better secured than it would be it a 

 number of institutions were dealing at 

 the same time with the same group of 

 problems. 



It is neither desirable nor possible to 

 prevent all overlapping or duplication 

 of work, but it is obviously necessary to 

 proceed on a plan by which research 

 work subsidized from public funds will 

 not be unnecessarily duplicated. It is 

 also desirable to arrange that each 

 problem shall be undertaken by the 

 institution best fitted to deal with it, 

 and usually by the institution which 

 has specially devoted its attention to 

 problems of an allied nature. It is also 

 important to avoid the giving of undue 

 attention to one part of the field of 

 agricultural research, to the exclusion 

 of other parts which are of equal scienti- 

 fic and economic importance. 



