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depend largely upon the assistance that can be offered to producers by such an

institution, and in this respect the latter differs from all other administrative

bodies. A department divorced from experimental work is one which will

never survive ; a colony which does not place the experiment farm in the

forefront of agricultural development is destined to fall, and the Sudan, if she

would succeed with her farming industries, must surely follow the illuminating

example of Canada, Australia, South Africa and the United States. The Sudan

has a single industry, whose growth will be determined by the scientific

investigator ; they must stand or fall together, and the measure of success

attained by the one will furnish a gauge of progress in the other.

Administration and Research.—In broad outline the duties of the State to

the agricultural community are those of administration, research and education.

It has been found possible and even desirable in several countries, to dissociate

the first from the two latter undertakings. Administrative functions, especially

in a country like the Sudan, with its vast areas and primitive means of transport and communication, are little compatible with systematic research, involving,

as the latter does in most cases, fixed residence and continuity of attention. It

has been noted that several earlier field experiments have been vitiated by the

conflicting duties of the investigator, entailing absences from headquarters,

losses of data and records, and lack of adequate supervision. It has been

suggested, however, that all administrative ofiicials might serve, with advantage,

a probationary period at a research centre to acquire a knowledge of local

conditions, approved methods of agriculture, and an insight into local agri-

cultural problems. Such a system will open the way for a valuable extension

of the educational system, and bring officers engaged in administration and

research, respectively, into closer personal touch.

Research and Education.—On the other hand, there must be a bridging of

the gap existing between research and education, between the investigator and the practical farmer, which cannot be undertaken in its entirety by the administrative officer. As a medium of communication the residential college

or school has so many advantages that it has come to be regarded as an almost

essential complement to the experiment station. Such an alliance renders

possible a scheme of instruction based upon actual experiments ; the student can bring to his studies the advantages of personal observation, and the teacher

is enabled to speak with the assurance derivable from accumulated data and the repeated confirmation of his facts. To communicate his news in intelligible form to those by whom it is to be put to practical effect, is as much the duty of the investigator as the conduct of the experiments from which it has been derived, and frequently by no means the least difficult part of his task. Without such communication the work of the investigator has an academic value only.