6 International Agricultural Institute. 



suitably. The Commission was still less inclined to build 

 one at the cost of the adhering States, as provided in the 

 Budget. It preferred to fall back on the liberality of H.M. 

 the King of Italy, who most generously consented to grant, 

 as from the month of July, 1905, the promised annual con- 

 tribution of ,£12,000, a grant which really was not expected 

 until 1910, when it was assumed that the Institute would 

 commence operations. The payments made from the King's 

 Privy Purse during four and a half years, and the free grant 

 of land by the Italian Government, enabled the erection of 

 the palace in which you are now. It endows the Institute 

 with a property exceeding ^"80,000 in value; and the payment 

 of ,£54,000 in advance has provided a residence, completely 

 furnished and worthy of the Institute. It represents an 

 annual saving of ,£4,000, a sum which would have reappeared 

 in the successive Budgets as an annual payment towards a 

 sinking fund, if the building had been erected at the cost of 

 the Institute. 



In view of the future development of the Institute and the 

 probable necessity of further accommodation for the library, 

 records, &c, the Royal Commission searched for building land 

 in the neighbourhood, and found a suitable situation in the 

 Villa Cartoni, adjoining the Villa Umberto I. Purchased by 

 order of the King of Italy, with funds generously supplied 

 by his Majesty, the land does not consequently form part of 

 the actual estate of the Institute, but when it becomes occu- 

 pied the goodwill also reverts to the Institute. 



Pension Scheme for the Staff. 



The Statutes prepared by the delegates to the Permanent 

 Committee, and presented at the first session of the General 

 Assembly, referred to that Assembly itself, to the Permanent 

 Committee, and to the selection of the Staff. Elaboration of 

 the last-mentioned subject was required, and the Permanent 

 Committee dealt with it at the outset, because it was necessary 

 to provide the technical machinery for the Institute to com- 

 mence its work. The Permanent Committee therefore drafted 

 Regulations regarding the Staff, and devised a pension 

 scheme which requires a brief explanation. 



In order to provide for the payment of a pension to each 



