solution would be to house both these bodies and their staff in the Colonial Office. This is, however, impracticable; nor would it be possible at the present time to secure the necessary office accommodation near Whitehall, even if we were prepared to recommend the payment of the large rent which would be demanded. In these circumstances, we endorse the recommendation which was made by both the Agricultural Committee and the Conference Committee that the Council and the Committee should sit at the Imperial Institute, and that their staff should be accommodated there. We have discussed with Sir William Furse the possibility of securing adequate accommodation at the Institute, and we are informed that sufficient room can be provided, at any rate during the initial stages. But we agree with a recommendation which he made to us that steps should be taken, if possible, to secure the reversionary rights to some of the rooms in that half of the building at South Kensington which will be gradually vacated during the next six or eight years by the authorities of the University of London. The Veterinary Committee informed us that they proposed to recommend that the Committee of Animal Health should be accommodated in the Office of the Bureau of Animal Health which the Imperial Agricultural Research Conference have recommended should be established in London. We endorse as strongly as possible the recommendation of the two previous Committees that a room should be made avail able in the Colonial Office itself for the use of the Agricultural Advisers. It is, in our opinion, of the first importance that these officers should establish the closest personal relations with the staff of the Colonial Office and should be readily accessible for consultation in that Office. Functions of Council and Committee. 15. We recommend that the functions of the Council and the Committee should be to advise on the following matters :— (a) The supply and training of specialist and agricultural officers for the Colonial Agricultural Services, in conjunction with the recruiting authorities of the Colonial Office. (b) The establishment of Central Research Stations and general guidance of their work. (c) The efficiency and general well-being of the unified Colonial Agricultural Service, including such advice upon the Agricultural Services as the Secretary of State or Colonial Governments may desire. (d) The collection, collation, and distribution of scientific and agricultural information in fields not covered by other agencies. (e) Main research policy in the Colonial Empire. (f) The representation and collaboration of the Colonial Empire as a unit in Imperial schemes of research and in Imperial Bureaux and Correspondence Centres. (g) The general progress of agriculture and food-production in the Colonial Empire. This definition must, however, be regarded as only tentative, since we consider that a precise appreciation of actual requirements can only be evolved by experience. Intelligence Work. 16. In connection with paragraphs (d) and (f) above we have taken into account the recommendation made by the Imperial Agricultural Research Conference regarding the establishment of Bureaux of Soil Science, Animal Nutrition, and Animal Health, and of Correspondence Centres for Animal Genetics, Agricultural Parasitology, Plant Genetics, and Fruit Production. It will, of course, be one of the main functions of the Council to maintain close touch with all existing and future Imperial Bureaux and Correspondence Centres, but we do not anticipate that in practice any difficulty will arise in this respect. As regards paragraph (d), we do not consider that it will be necessary for the Council to establish any elaborate machinery of its own for the collection and dissemination of information. We have already recommended that the Council's staff should be accommodated at the Imperial Institute and we are unanimous that it should build on what is already being done there rather than attempt to create a separate organisation of its own. While the Imperial Institute is primarily concerned with bringing the produced article to the notice of the utiliser, the Council wili be more particularly concerned with the actual production of the crop. It is important, however, that the closest possible touch should be kept between the two bodies in their closely related spheres, and that such intelligence work as will fall to be initiated by the Council should be regarded as complementary to that of the Imperial Institute. In particular, the Council should interlock with the Plant and Animal Products Council of the Imperial Institute. We are confident that the arrangements which we propose in this respect will be found satisfactory, and that excellent results will be secured by the linking up of agricultural practice and research in the Colonies with the work done by the Institute. Staff. 17. We have given careful consideration to the question of the staff which will be found necessary for the Council. In view of the new Bureaux which are to be established we do not think it necessary to provide at present for more than two Intelligence Officers, who will be concerned chiefly with (a) tropical agricultural practice generally, and (b) animal husbandry in relation to agriculture. In making this recommendation we have had in mind that the main work which these officers will have to perform will be that of selection, and it will 65348 A 5 be their duty to see that Colonial officers have brought to their notice papers of particular value to their own work. It will, in addition, be necessary to provide for certain subordinate staff, but we have confined ourselves in this respect to recommending the minimum staff that is required for the initial stages. Further staff will undoubtedly be required as the work of the Council develops, but we will not attempt to forecast the directions in which such additions will be required, as these can be learnt only from experience. 18. We have considered whether it is necessary to provide for the appointment of a Secretary to the Council, but we have come to the conclusion that this appointment will not at present be required, and that it will suffice if the Chief Agricultural Adviser is provided with a Private Secretary who should act as Joint Secretary to the Council with an officer who should be seconded from the Colonial Office for work with the Council and Committee. We regard this latter appointment as one of considerable importance, and we recommend that the officer to be seconded should be of the rank of Principal. It will be his duty to act generally as a Liaison Officer between the Colonial Office and the Council, and to understudy as far as possible both the Advisers when for any reason the latter are not available. should, of course, normally work at the Colonial Office. Salaries of Staff and other Expenses of Council. He 19. Our recommendations regarding the salaries of the Chief Agricultural Adviser and the Assistant Adviser and the staff of the Council are set out in the following table. We recommend that in due course both the Advisers should be members of the unified Service, and reference to this will be made later in this Report. We consider it essential that the Chief Adviser should be a distinguished man of science, of proved administrative and organising ability. For this reason we regard a salary of £2,500 as the minimum required to secure the services of a man of the necessary calibre. We have provided for the Assistant Adviser on a scale of salary from £1,500 to £2,000, but we think it probable that to secure the best man for the post the full £2,000 will have to be offered. Chief Agricultural Adviser Assistant Agricultural Adviser Principal seconded from Colonial Office Private Secretary to Chief Adviser Two Intelligence Officers and subordinate staff (say) ... Two Secretary Shorthand-Typists Additional Registry Clerks (say) Total 20. We recommend that provision should also be made for the following other expenses : Cost of publications, including purchase of ... ... ... Incidental Office expenses (Messenger, clean- Travelling Contingencies ... Total £ ... 1,000 500 1,250 1,000 £3,750 It will be observed that the sum of £1,250 has been provided in respect of travelling. The major part of this will be required for the expenses of the Chief Adviser and Assistant Adviser, who should do the maximum amount of travelling consistent with carrying out their duties at home. Relationship with Colonial Office and Colonial Services. 21. We have already referred to the necessity for the Advisers to maintain close personal touch with the staff of the Colonial Office. The provision which has already been made for a representative of the Colonial Office, who should be of a rank not less than Assistant Secretary, as a member of the Council and Committee, and for the secondment of a Principal to the Council's staff, should, we consider, ensure that the Colonial Office is kept. fully informed of the Council's proceedings, and we do not think that any difficulties or misunderstandings should arise. 22. Equally important is the maintenance of close relationship between the authorities at home and the officers serving in the Colonial Empire, and in this connection we fully endorse the views expressed in paragraph 112 of the Agricultural Report* and paragraph 26 of the Conference Report to the effect that not only should the Advisers and other members of the Council acquire as much knowledge as possible both of individual officers in the Colonies and of the conditions under which the latter have to work, but also Governors, Directors of Agriculture, and other senior officers should be brought into touch with the Council, when on leave in this country, and should be invited to attend its meetings and to take part in the discussions. Pool of Scientific Workers. 23. The Conference Committee recommended in paragraph 39 of their Report that a small nucleus of officers should be at the disposal of the Council, (a) for taking part in investigations into matters of Imperial interest, or for replacing officers used for this purpose; 65438 # Cmd. 2825, page 48. + Cmd. 2883, page 32. Cmd. 2883, page 33. A 6 (b) for appointment to the staff of group research stations as and when formed, or more probably for replacing men transferred to them; (c) for specialist enquiries in connection with sciences in which the supply of trained men is at present insufficient, for example, Mycology." 24. We have carefully considered this recommendation on more than one occasion. We recognise that it will frequently be necessary to second officers for special investigations, particularly in the smaller Colonies, but we have come to the conclusion that to have a number of experienced research officers waiting in a pool is not the most satisfactory method of attaining the objects in view. In many cases the problems to be investigated are not such as can be solved in a short visit, but rather require for their solution some years of detailed research in others, and especially in the smaller Colonies, it often happens that the problems have, in fact, already been solved elsewhere ; advice can then be given by an officer of the requisite experience, detached for that purpose from another Colony or possibly from a Central Research Station, and the problem solved by the application of knowledge already in existence. In view of these considerations we are of the opinion that no advantage would be gained in forming a permanent pool for the purposes set out in (a) and (c) above, but we see no reason why specialists from outside the Service should not be engaged for particular investigations at the cost of the Central Fund, should the Council advise that such a course was necessary. 25. We have also discussed the recommendation that a pool should be formed of officers in training, who would be used to supply the needs of the next Central Research Station to be established, either by direct appointment to junior positions on the staff or, more probably, to relieve officers of greater experience transferred to a station from elsewhere. In view, however, of the marked shortage at present of specialist recruits and of the impossibility of meeting the immediate needs of the Colonial Services in this respect, we are agreed that no steps should be taken for the time being to create such a reserve. We regard this, however, as only a temporary measure and we recommend that the Council should be asked to reconsider the proposal, as soon as recruiting improves, with special regard to the needs of future Central Research Stations. III. CENTRAL RESEARCH STATIONS. 26. The principle of an Empire chain of research stations was approved by the Imperial Conference, 1926, and was subsequently endorsed by the Colonial Office Conference, 1927. The question of their development has also been considered recently by the Imperial Agricultural Research Conference. There is no need |