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International Agricultural Institute. 



classified according to the languages in which they are 

 written. 



From this will be seen what are the languages which must 

 be known in each of our bureaux in order that the bulk of 

 the work may be done by ordinary editors, who, having 

 scientific qualifications and possessing a knowledge of tech- 

 nical terms, are in a position to avoid bad mistakes. With 

 regard to the languages which I will call secondary (as 

 regards number of publications), we can have recourse to 

 translators who, while possessing a general education, have 

 no special knowledge of the matters dealt with in the articles 

 which they translate. The work of these latter persons must 

 be directed and carefully examined by a person with technical 

 knowledge. 



Translation Bureau. 



It has therefore been necessary to establish a Translation 

 Bureau. This Bureau is composed of two classes of trans- 

 lators. One class, which answers the requirements just 

 referred to, is instructed to read the important articles in 

 periodicals written in languages which are not understood in 

 the Bureau concerned. The other class is employed to make 

 translations of articles which are to be published in our 

 Bulletin. 



Our translators are classed as "ordinary" or "extra- 

 ordinary," according as they receive a fixed salary or work 

 by the piece. 



It is evident that the Institute, having varying needs as 

 regards translation, must be able to rely upon a certain 

 number of translators on whom it can call when circumstances 

 necessitate it, and I may say that among the piece-work 

 translators there are some whose services are deserving of 

 praise. This Translation Bureau still contains some gaps, 

 which we hope to be able to fill. It has been established for 

 too short a time to be perfect. 



Thus, as will be seen, the variety of languages presents 

 formidable difficulties if the work is to be done in a con- 

 scientious and complete manner and a truly international 

 service is to be established. 



