is so predominantly agricultural, that it has not been possible entirely to omit all reference to them in our examination of the agricultural position in British India. In Chapter IV, we drew attention to the responsibilities of maritime States in the matter of excluding plant diseases and pests from the country. In Chapter IX, we have pointed out that no campaign for stamping out contagious diseases amongst livestock in British India can be successful unless the co-operation of the Indian States is secured. In Chapter X, we have shown that the development of irrigation is often dependent on agreements with Indian States as to the use of water. Further, in Chapter VII, we have discussed the great part the Indian States can play in the improvement of the cattle of India. These are all matters of great moment to the agricultural prosperity of India as a whole and there are many other directions in which the co-operation of Indian States would prove of the greatest value. The desirability of such co-operation has been recognised in the constitution of the Indian Central Cotton Committee and of the Board of Agriculture. The main research station of the Indian Central Cotton Committee is situated in Indore. The Director of the Institute is also Agricultural Adviser to the Central India States and represents these States and the States of Rajputana on the Committee. The States of Hyderabad, Mysore, Baroda, Gwalior and Indore are also represented on the Committee. All these States with the exception of Indore, and also the States of Kashmir, Travancore and Patiala send representatives to the meetings of the Board of Agriculture. Thus, the foundations of an active policy of co-operation have already been laid. We have no doubt that the manner in which co-operation can be rendered more effective and, more especially, the manner in which Indian States can best be brought into the research organisation, the establishment of which we suggest in Chapter III, will receive early and careful consideration from the Government of India and the Rulers of the States. We are confident that it will become increasingly practicable to envisage the agricultural and veterinary problems of India as a whole, and to initiate measures for their solution which will be operative in all parts of the country. EDUCATION IN THE PRINCIPLES AND 576. From the point of view of rural welfare generally, we welcome the foundation, in 1927, of a Local Self-Government Institute for the Bombay Presidency. The object of the Institute appears to us an admirable one. It is "to acquaint the people with the meaning and ideal of local self-government, its importance, its problems and the methods of dealing with these problems." The Institute will have local branches throughout the presidency and one of its main activities will be the organisation of district, divisional and provincial conferences. The district conferences will be held once or twice a year and will provide an opportunity for representatives of local bodies in the district to meet and discuss local problems and difficulties. They will send representatives to the divisional conferences which are to be held yearly for the discussion of questions of common interest to the division. The Provincial Conference which is also to be held yearly will be organised on similar lines. We are glad to note that the district conferences will include representatives of village panchayats. The proposal to divide the agenda of all conferences into three sections, matters of urban interest, matters of rural interest and matters of joint interest, should prove of value in ensuring that rural problems receive due attention. We understand that conferences of presidents and officers of local boards are occasionally held in other provinces but we see great value in establishing an organisation for the promotion of education in the principles of local self-government with a definite programme of work. We note that not only is the Minister for Local Self-Government president of the Institute but also that the Provincial Conference will include representatives nominated by him and that he will refer subjects to it for consideration, thus establishing a link between the provincial Government and the Institute. The scheme appears to us to hold out great promise of advantage to rural as well as to urban interests. It also provides a common meeting ground for both, and, by so doing, should do much to bring about an increasing sense of mutual interest and an increasing spirit of mutual help. We commend the principles of the Bombay scheme to the notice of other provincial governments and to the local self-governing bodies in their provinces. METEOROLOGY AND AGRICULTURE. 577. We would invite attention to the need for working out a prcgramme of research into meteorological problems, the solution of which may have a special bearing on agricultural practice. In this connection, we would emphasise the need of clearly defining where the responsibility lies for undertaking a particular piece of research. Such a definition should not present any difficulty. In recent years, the weather forecasts issued by meteorological departments have become much more useful to agriculturists, largely because wireless telegraphy has enabled information from distant stations on land and sea to be transmitted rapidly to offices issuing forecasts, and because the growing importance of aviation has caused much more attention to be concentrated on upper air observations. While studies which have as their object the increase of knowledge of the laws governing weather are of much general interest, agriculturists themselves can take no direct share as investigators. This is work for meteorologists. The investigations with which agriculturists are directly concerned are those which relate to the effect of weather on crops. In such studies, use must be made of meteorological data, instruments and methods of recording and interpreting observations, but work of this kind is investigation of a type for which agricultural departments should be responsible. There are two directions in which we think that scientists interested in agriculture should undertake investigations of a meteorological nature. The first is statistical, the second biological. For many years past, the Meteorological Department has accumulated weather data. The revenue departments have concurrently collected statistics of the area sown and the yield of crops. Very little attempt has been made to correlate the two sets of data; two valuable studies published by Mr. S. M. Jacob, I.C.S. (retired) represent, so far as we are aware, the only instances of work of this kind. We are of opinion that much useful light could be thrown on agricultural questions, were investigators to follow the methods adopted by Mr. Jacob in India, and by others in countries such as England, Sweden and the United States; and if our recommendations for strengthening the statistical organisation of agricultural departments are accepted, we hope that such correlation studies may receive early attention. The second group of meteorological studies for which agricultural departments should make themselves responsible relates to the precise influence of weather conditions on the growing crop. This class of investigation is especially useful in connection with the introduction of new varieties, whether exotics or improved crops resulting from plant breeding. The influence of the climate on the ordinary crops of a particular district is known through the general experience of cultivators; but it is very desirable that precise weather observations should have been made before new crops are introduced as, otherwise, much time is likely to be lost. For example, it is possible that, when the Sukkur Barrage has been completed, a pronounced effect will be produced on the climate of Sind. It appears likely that valuable strains of Egyptian cotton could then be successfully grown. The quality of the lint of cotton is much influenced by the humidity of the air during the ripening period. Humidity fluctuates widely not only from month to month but throughout the 24 hours. The prospects of Egyptian cotton in the newly irrigated areas in Sind could be estimated with much greater confidence if records of the air humidity in various parts of Sind already irrigated or marked out for irrigation were collected and carefully compared with the records of the air humidity in Upper and Lower Egypt. It is, in our opinion, very important that data bearing on this subject and on other climatic factors should be available when the time comes to provide suitable varieties for the newly irrigated land in Sind. Where, as in Sind, climatic questions are of importance in developing new forms of agriculture, we are of opinion that agricultural departments which have not already established meteorological stations should, in consultation with the Meteorological Department, arrange for the establishment of meteorological stations of what is known as the "second order " on their experimental farms. To the instruments usually maintained on a "second order" station, soil thermometers and any other apparatus required for special investigation could be added as necessary. With regard to research in agricultural meteorology generally, we would suggest that the Council of Agricultural Research, in consultation with the Director General of Observatories and the Director of the Central Bureau of Statistical Information, whose appointment we have recommended, should, as soon as possible, prepare a programme of work, settle the relative urgency of the various items in it, having regard to the men and money available, and make suggestions for the allocation of the work between the different departments. We hope that the universities may take a part in the work to be done. In addition to the contributions to the knowledge of the influence of weather conditions on growing crops which it is in the power of the meteorologist to make, there are, as we have indicated above, current specific services, such as short period forecasts and warnings of abnormal weather conditions, which it is part of the routine duties of the Meteorological Department, in this as in other countries, to render the agriculturist. We regard it as the business of the agricultural departments to keep the Meteorological Department informed of the needs of the rural community in these respects with a view to enabling that department to meet them to the fullest possible extent. The headquarters of the Meteorological Department have very recently been moved from Simla to Poona and we understand that the intention is to expand the study of marine and aviation meteorology and to survey upper air conditions in south India. These studies should yield valuable additions to knowledge in regard to the conditions determining the southwest monsoon. In addition, the department will now be in a position to offer facilities for post-graduate students wishing to familiarise themselves with meteorological methods in order to undertake research on the relationships existing between weather and crops. We trust that some among the students graduating from the agricultural colleges will take advantage of these facilities. The point is one to which attention should be paid when the scheme for post-graduate scholarships and courses of study we have advocated in paragraph 549, Chapter XIX, is drawn up. The transfer of the Meteorological Department to Poona and the expansion of its activities make the present a specially opportune time to undertake an examination of the action which should be taken to promote the investigation of the problems of agricultural meteorology and to decide which departments shall be responsible for the different branches of the work. Government will then be in a position to decide what increase of staff is required to ensure the satisfactory development of agricultural meteorology and in what departments it should be made. One more point deserves mention here. The Meteorological Department has, as a matter of economy, considerably curtailed the distribution of its daily statement between the months of November and May. We consider that these statements are of sufficient use to the public to justify their being issued on the same scale as formerly. 578. The International Institute of Agriculture at Rome was founded in 1905 "for the defence and representation of THE INTERNATIONAL agriculture and agricultural interests throughout the world. Its main object is the collection, study and publication of statistical, technical and economic information in regard to agriculture and the provision of INSTITUTE OF AGRI- facilities for the study of all questions bearing on agriculture. The two main ways in which these facilities are provided is by the publications of the Institute and by the maintenance of a well equipped library. So far as its staff and funds permit, the Institute also undertakes enquiries of a special character on behalf of its constituent countries. The affairs of the Institute are controlled by a General Assembly and a Permanent Committee. The General Assembly consists of repesentatives of all the countries which have joined the Institute. It meets every two years and reviews the work and expenditure of the Institute. The number of representatives from each of the constituent countries varies from one to five in accordance with the subscription paid, which again depends on which of the five groups, into which the adhering States are divided, a particular State has joined. The Permanent Committee which, as the executive of the General Assembly, is the Governing Body of the Institute consists of such delegates of the constituent countries as are resident in Rome. Each of these countries is entitled to send one delegate to it but can, if it thinks desirable, be represented by the delegate of another State. India joined the Institute in 1907. As a member of the second group of States, she pays an annual subscription of £ 800 and is entitled to send four representatives to the meetings of the General Assembly and to nominate a member of the Permanent Committee. Representatives were sent to the last three meetings of the General Assembly but for some years past the British representative on the Permanent Committee bas also been in charge of the interests of India. The Institute has collected much information of the greatest value to this country. To mention only one example, information in regard to legislation on agricultural subjects and on rural matters generally undertaken in other countries, from the experience of which India can profit, is more readily available at the Institute than elsewhere. The usefulness of the Institute to India has recently been greatly enhanced by the establishment of a separate Bureau of Tropical and Colonial Agriculture. In these circumstances, we consider the continued adherence of India to the Institute most desirable and see no reason to suggest any change in the classification of this country for purposes of subscription, even if its continuance in the second group should involve the payment of a bigher subscription than at present. It has been suggested that this country would derive greater benefits from its connection with the Institute if it had its own representative on the Permanent Committee and also if a committee were formed in India to serve as a link between the Institute and the agricultural and allied departments in this country. We see no necessity for the appointment of such a committee as it appears to us that close touch between the Council of Agricultural Research and the Institute would secure the objects aimed at. Direct representation on the Permanent Committee would doubtless have advantages. The advantage to India would be that her representative would be in a position to study Indian problems in the light of the information available in the records of the Institute |