International Agricultural Institute. 



15 



not specially selected for this service; in the other Bureaux 

 there were only a few employees who had for the time being 

 to await the organisation of the work. 



The most urgent point was the appointment of three new 

 chiefs in the place of those who had resigned. One danger 

 arose, namely, that of searching in every direction and finding 

 three excellent men who would not perhaps have possessed 

 the desired qualities or who would not have worked well 

 together. There would, in consequence, have been a renewed 

 and lengthy delay before a beginning could have been made 

 with the Institute's work, and this had to be avoided at all 

 costs. In organising a new and complicated work, the only 

 chances of success lie in giving it to competent men who will 

 work together harmoniously. The Permanent Committee, at 

 the request of the new President, who accepted the respon- 

 sibility of bringing forward at the same time three new heads, 

 appointed them as requested for one year's trial. 



Almost at the same time the staff, which had been on a 

 probationary footing for a much longer period than the six 

 months fixed by the rules, was placed on the establishment, 

 and when it was decided to prepare the Bulletin of Agricul- 

 tural Intelligence and Plant Diseases, the Permanent Com- 

 mittee accepted the proposal of the Chief of the Bureau to 

 take as probationers eight editors who, by their previous 

 record, appeared likely to become valuable employees. When 

 the Chief of the Bureau of Economic and Social Intelligence 

 commenced work in June, this Bureau was also organised by 

 appointing the necessary staff. Thus when the Permanent 

 Committee took its holiday all the Bureaux were in working 

 order; and, as the results prove, they worked with zeal and 

 energy. 



Our organisation, however, was far from complete. We 

 were aware of this before, and now we are in a better position 

 to appreciate it. The organisation presents peculiar difficul- 

 ties, of which the principal is that our employees must possess 

 sufficient scientific knowledge and at the same time know 

 several languages — qualities which, as we all know r , are rarely 

 found together in the same person. To give a definite idea 

 of this difficulty a statement of the publications which we 

 receive and which must be examined is given in the appendix, 



