THE JOURNAL 



18 JUL. 1906 OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Vol. XIIL No. 3. 



JUNE, J906. 



THE INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL 

 INSTITUTE. 



The International Agricultural Institute owes its inception 

 to the initiative of His Majesty the King of Italy, who early 

 in 1905 invited the different Governments of the world to 

 take part in a Conference, to be held at Rome in the May 

 following, for the purpose of considering the constitution and 

 organization of the proposed Institute. 



The objects which the King of Italy had in view in suggesting 

 the creation of this new body may be gathered from the follow- 

 ing extract from a letter which His Majesty addressed to the 

 president of the Italian Council of Ministers : — 



The agricultural classes, who are generally the most 

 numerous, and who exercise great influence everywhere on 

 the fate of nations, are unable, owing to the area over which 

 they are scattered, to take adequate measures either for the 

 -improvement of their produce and for its distribution in 

 accordance «with the demands of the consumers, or for the 

 protection of their own interests in the market, which is 

 becoming more and more world-wide, for the more important 

 products of the soil. 



" In these circumstances an International Bureau would be 

 of the greatest assistance, a Bureau, which, devoid of any 

 political object, would aim at studying the conditions of agri- 

 culture in the various countries of the world, and would notify 

 periodically the quantity and the quality of the crops, in such a 



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