December, 1911.] 



535 



Scientific Agriculture. 



In its work on coals, the bureau of 

 science as set a new standard forjudging 

 the value, and has compiled tables which 

 make the work of the coal chemists 

 much more accessible, since it renders 

 the comparison of values an easy 

 matter. A lecture on the coals of the 

 Philippines is included in the series. 



Sugar, one of the four great exports of 

 the islands, will be treated in a separate 

 lecture which will make accessible to 

 every one who attends, knowledge of 

 the exact status of the industry and 

 what is beiug done to extend and im- 

 prove this product. Mines and Mining, 

 Roads and Roadbuilding materials, Salt 

 production in the Philippines which will 

 point out ways whereby the islands can 

 improve the processes and stop import- 

 ations, are among the lectures to be 

 given. 



One of the chief aims of the lecturers 

 will be to present their subjects in a 

 popular manner without going into 

 technicalities and making the inform- 

 ation which the bureau has gathered 

 during the last decade available for 

 every businessman according to his 

 needs. It is believed that this series of 

 lectures and the plan of throwing open 

 the resources of the scientist to the 

 businessman gives the merchants of 

 Manila advantage that is not provided 

 in any country of the globe. 



THE DEVELOPMENT GRANT FOR 

 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH. 



(Prom the Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 No. 1,289, Vol. L., Sept. 9, 1911.) 



The scheme of the Board of Agri- 

 culture for the endowment of agricul- 

 tural research has secured the approval 

 of the Development Commissioners and 

 the sanction of the Treasury. The offi- 

 cial scheme, concerning which details 

 were published in these pages last week, 

 contemplates the expenditure of a con- 

 siderable sum of money up to the maxi- 

 mum of £50,000 per annum. 



The principles which the Board pro- 

 poses to adopt in the expenditure of this 

 research grant deserve the attention of 

 all interested in agriculture and horti- 

 culture. Broadly speaking, these princi- 

 ples are the systematisation of research 

 and the co-ordination of research- work 

 in the several branches of agricultural 

 science. 



Hitherto, the scientific investigation 

 of agricultural problems has been in 

 large measure casual. Here and there 

 men of ability have taken up this or 

 that question and have tackled it single- 



handed, sometimes with conspicuou 

 success. Such successes as have been 

 achieved have been due in the main to 

 the practical rather than to the scientific 

 agriculturists, though honourable excep- 

 tions must be made in favour of the 

 continuous investigations of the scien- 

 tific staff of the Rothamsted Experiment 

 Station, and also with respect to the 

 younger institution, the Agricultural 

 Department ot the University of Cam- 

 bridge. That the scientific agriculturist 

 has not yet made many deep and abid- 

 ing impressions on agricultural practice 

 is not matter for surprise. Agriculture 

 is not only the premier but also the 

 oldest industry. All sorts and condi- 

 tions of men are engaged in this art, and 

 the ablest of these men have not been 

 slow to discover ways in which the 

 practice of agriculture may be ameliorat- 

 ed. The scientific expert, on the other 

 hand, has had fewer opportunities, 

 largely the result of insufficient financial 

 support and the pressure of multifarious 

 duties ; only too often he is expected to 

 devote a considerable number of hours 

 to the laborious work of teaching, to go 

 round the country as a sort of travelling 

 farmer's friend, offering advice which is 

 not always wanted and may occasionally 

 be inaccurate, and in the remainder of 

 his time it is fatuously expected that 

 this expert shall make discoveries which 

 shall revolutionise agriculture. To ex- 

 pect any such thing is sheer nonsense. 

 What was to be expected was what has 

 happened, namely, that such research as 

 has been carried to a successful issue has 

 been, with certain exceptions, both 

 casual and sporadic. The scheme of the 

 Board of Agriculture represents an at- 

 tempt to reform this state of affairs. 



In the first place money is available. 

 In the second place, and yet more im- 

 portant, men are to be found if it is 

 possible to find them. At the present 

 time the number of investigators who 

 are occupying themselves with agricul- 

 tural problems is but small. The 

 harvest — to be reaped— truly is plenti- 

 ful, but the labourers are few. To 

 remedy this fatal defect the scheme of 

 the Board proposes the establishment 

 of a certain number of scholarships for 

 the express purpose of training students 

 to the work of agricultural research. 

 Each scholarship is to be of the value of 

 £150, and to be tenable for three years 

 at one of a number of approved institu- 

 tions. There can be no doubt that this 

 system of scholarships is an essential 

 condition for the success of the attempt 

 to develop agricultural research. At the 

 risk of hurting susceptibilities, it is 

 necessary to be explicit at this import- 



