658 State Aid for Agricultural Research, [nov., 



on by the inspectors appointed to report on the Colleges 

 receiving Treasury grants, and in their Report to the Univer- 

 sity Colleges Committee (H.C. 267, 1907) they express the 

 following opinion: — "Of all the tests by which the vitality 

 and functional activity of a College may be judged, the surest 

 is, speaking generally, the extent to which the members of 

 the staff" and the senior students are engaged in research." 

 When a teacher shows first-hand knowledge of any subject 

 his influence with his pupils and with the farmers in his 

 locality is immensely strengthened, and for this reason while 

 the main business of our agricultural colleges continues to be 

 instruction, we could not afford to lose the opportunity which 

 the Development Fund may give us of encouraging the 

 governors of these institutions to make provision for 

 investigation. 



There is a further strong reason for not concentrating all 

 the available funds on one or two institutions. At the present 

 time, as has already been remarked, comparatively few men 

 engaged in agricultural research in this country have had the 

 training and experience necessary to enable them to utilise to 

 full advantage grants from the Development Fund. On the 

 other hand there are probably a number of competent scien- 

 tific workers in our universities who would be prepared to 

 take up agricultural questions if grants were made for the 

 purpose. We have seen that in all the Colleges aided by- 

 Treasury grants research is in progress, and it would 

 probably be advisable, therefore, to use part of the Develop- 

 ment Fund in making such grants to universities and univer- 

 sity colleges as would induce them to make provision for 

 agricultural research. Some at least of the professors and 

 lecturers employed in our higher teaching institutions would 

 be prepared to act as directors of research laboratories, and 

 some at least of the junior lecturers and senior students may 

 be expected to furnish the skilled labour necessary. It is 

 quite true that in principle the function of the teacher is 

 different from that of the investigator; it is also true that many 

 excellent teachers fail as investigators, and that some of the 

 best investigators are poor teachers. Much has been made 

 of these points, and some years ago there was among agricul- 

 turists in this country an idea that teaching and research 



