191 1.] Provision of Technical Advice for Farmers. 635 



present Grant is to provide a means of dealing with such 

 local problems. On the other hand, questions not peculiar 

 to any locality can be dealt with more conveniently, and with 

 a minimum of effort, at a Research Institution. 



Cases will no doubt arise where this distinction cannot 

 easily be drawn, and some overlapping may be unavoidable. 

 It is, however, essential that the staffs of the institutions to 

 be aided by the grants under consideration should utilise 

 as far as possible the services of the Research Institutions 

 instead of making separate inquiries into subjects which are 

 already wholly or in part under investigation elsewhere. 



Demand for Technical Assistance. 



There is reason to believe that the existing demand for 

 special assistance for the investigation of difficult local 

 problems will very greatly increase in future. 



In the first place, the Board hope that the Instructors 

 employed by 'Local Authorities will to a greater degree than 

 hitherto refer these difficult problems to institutions specially 

 equipped for investigation, and will consult the Staffs of Uni 

 versities and Colleges in regard to questions on which their 

 scientific knowledge and experience is likely to be valuable. 

 The Board of Education have drawn attention to this point 

 in the Memorandum quoted above, and the practice is one 

 which should be generally adopted. 



The grants which will be distributed by the Board of 

 Education in aid of Farm Institutes are likely to lead in many 

 cases to an augmentation of the County Staff, and an exten- 

 sion in the demand for expert advice may be expected as the 

 number of persons employed in Instruction increases. 



With the increasing attention paid to agricultural educa- 

 tion, moreover, direct applications from agriculturists for 

 advice are likely to become more numerous. Experience in 

 the past has shown that the more the work of a College 

 becomes known to farmers, the more disposed they are to 

 consult the College Staff, and if systematic arrangements for 

 the supply of trustworthy information are made, consultations 

 will become very common. To gain the confidence of farmers 

 in this way it is necessary to convince them that the College 

 Staff is able to advise not merely in regard to the general 

 principles of cultivation and management which are within 



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