igo6.] International Agricultural Institute. 135 



the Conference that the proposed Institute will in effect consti- 

 tute an International Agricultural Intelligence Department for 

 the collection, collation and publication of technical, economic, 

 and statistical information of interest to agriculturists, special 

 prominence being given to the questions of co-operation, insur^ 

 ance, and credit. It is true that provision is also made for the 

 submission to the various Governments of proposals for the pro- 

 tection of interests common to agriculturists, and for the im- 

 provement of their condition ; but in view of the stipulation that 

 questions touching the economic interests, the legislation and 

 the administration of individual States shall be specifically ex- 

 cluded from the competence of the Institute, and that the sub- 

 jects to be discussed by the General Assembly of the Institute 

 are to be such as are approved by the adhering Governments, it 

 would appear that the difficulties and dangers which might 

 attend the extension of the work of the Institute in this direc- 

 tion are sufficiently guarded against. 



" Several of the leading agricultural departments already 

 endeavour, so far as is practicable, to collect and publish infor- 

 mation as to agricultural production, prices and wages in the 

 various countries of the world, and the value of such informa- 

 tion is universally recognised. The extent to which it is 

 obtained, the methods of collection and of publication, differ^ 

 however, very materially, and it may be expected that the estab- 

 lishment of the Institute will lead to a considerable extension of 

 the area from which full information is obtained and to greater 

 uniformity as regards the manner of its collection and presenta- 

 tion. 



" It was fully recognised that the utmost promptitude must be 

 secured if information of the character in question is to realize 

 its full value, and that free use must be made of telegraphic 

 agencies for this purpose. 



" The Institute will, moreover, afford to agricultural depart- 

 ments, to the various agricultural societies, and to private in- 

 dividuals alike, a much more ready means of obtaining informa- 

 tion as to comparative agricultural conditions in a form which 

 will enable it to be safely and conveniently used than is at 

 present available. The difficulties attending the use of technical 

 and statistical information, given in foreign official publications^ 



