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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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330
No. 151.
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE IMPERIAL BUREAU OF MYCOLOGY FOR THE PERIOD FROM 22ND SEPTEMBER, 1920, TO 31ST MARCH, 1921.
In accordance with the resolution passed at the last General Meeting,* an appeal was circulated at the end of last December to all subscribing Governments, asking them to agree to increase their contributions to the Bureau and to continue them at the increased rate for three years from the 1st of January last. Replies have now been received from all the Governments concerned. The response on the whole has been fairly satisfactory, but unfortunately the refusals have come mainly from the most important subscribers, namely, India, Canada, South Africa, and Australia, and amongst the smaller Colonies, Kenya, Zanzibar, Trinidad, and Hong Kong. There is some hope that India may increase its contribution next year.
The present situation is as follows. A total annual contribution of £6,200 was asked for. Of this amount £4,550 has been definitely promised, and £1,650 definitely refused.
Appendix I shows the balance sheet of the Bureau on the 31st of March last. Appendix II gives a statement of the receipts from the Crown Agents and It is arranged under two expenditure by the Director up to 31st March, 1921. headings, non-recurring and recurring, so as to show separately the utilization of the grant of £500 for initial expenditure sanctioned by the Committee at the last meeting. A balance of £239 18. 14d. remained from this grant on the 1st April, as there has been considerable delay in fulfilling orders for laboratory glassware and the like. Furniture and apparatus were lent by the Plant Pests Branch of the Ministry of Agriculture, which occupied the same building until its transfer to Harpenden early in April. The. Bureau is much indebted for this assistance. The estimates of expenditure on furniture were drawn up on the information that many of the moveable articles, as well as all the fixtures, would remain, but it was subse- quently ascertained that nearly all the former were the property of the Plant Pests Branch: the Bureau has, therefore, to face a considerable expenditure on tables, chairs, and cupboards in the near future. The urgently required articles have been obtained already from the grant for initial expenses, but the latter will probably be insufficient to meet the whole of this unexpected charge. Estimates of the excess are being prepared, and will be submitted to the Finance Sub-Committee in due course.
Under recurring expenditure there will be a saving as compared with the estimate, owing to the difficulty experienced in filling the post of assistant. Up to the present no suitable candidate has been available, and it has been thought better to delay making the appointment until the effects of the check due to the War have Since the lessened. Some candidates are likely to come forward this summer. estimates were prepared, it has been decided by His Majesty's Commissioners of Works to charge the Bureau at the rate of £75 per annum for fuel and light, but half this charge was borne by the Plant Pests Branch of the Ministry of Agriculture up to the 31st March. It has been thought advisable to insure the property of the Bureau against fire, and also to effect an Employer's Indemnity Policy for the members of the staff for whom there is liability.
Her extensive Staff Miss Secker was appointed Abstractor in December. knowledge of languages has been most useful, and her time has been largely occu- pied in reading, card-indexing, and where necessary, abstracting papers in the Miss Doudney was Scandinavian, Dutch, German, and Italian publications. appointed Stenotypist at the same time, but resigned in March and was replaced by Miss Hawker. The latter had experience in bacteriological work during the War, and it has been possible to utilize her services in the laboratory to some extent. Work of the Bureau.-Early steps were taken to get into touch with mycolo- gists in the Dominions and Colonies, and we have had, on the whole, a gratifying response. Inquiries have been received on various matters from eleven, and collec- tions of specimens from nine, British Dominions and Colonies, besides several from the United States and other foreign countries. A number of workers at home on leave have used the Bureau for personal inquiries, and assistance has been given in several cases to those going out to join their first appointments. The facilities offered
* No. 150.
for borrowing original papers from the pamphlet collection have been appreciated. In connexion with the critical comparative study of parasitic fungi under condi- tions of artificial culture a considerable step has been taken as a result of proposals that the Lister Institute should extend the National Collection of Type Cultures (chiefly bacteria) under the Medical Research Council, to include fungi injurious to plante. A scheme of collaboration has been adopted by which the cultures of fungi of economic interest will be maintained at the Lister Institute, a committee of mycologists, on which the Bureau is represented, serving as an advisory body. This is one of the most important steps taken to advance the study of plant parasites in the British Empire in recent years.
The objects of the Bureau have been brought to the notice of mycologists in foreign countries, and we have received the most cordial offers of collaboration, especi- ally from the United States. The establishment of close relations with the United States Department of Agriculture at Washington and with the numerous experi- mental stations and other institutions in America will be of the greatest value to us, as they are the leaders in the field in which we are working. It is hoped that the Bureau will be able to reciprocate by the supply of information and specimens to foreign workers, and we have already had several opportunities of doing this.
Library. The Bureau is greatly indebted to the Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, for permitting a very useful collection of books and periodicals on mycological subjects from the library of the Gardens to be kept at the Bureau. In addition, we have been presented by many authors and institutions with pamphlets, and, as usual in such cases, the United States easily leads the way, having sent us more than all the rest put together. We have obtained in this way, and by purchase, between two and three thousand reprints and pamphlets, most of which are avail- able for lending to overseas workers with insufficient access to literature. A fairly complete collection of the legislative enactments dealing with plant diseases of the Overseas parts of the Empire has been got together and utilized already by the Director of Agriculture, Kenya Protectorate, to assist him in framing proposals for the revision of the local Acts on this subject.
A list of the journals and occasional publications that will have to be regularly examined for mycological information has been compiled, and the libraries where they can be consulted ascertained. The deficiencies in certain branches in the libraries that we have searched are serious, and the Bureau will have to obtain a considerable number of journals and reports unless other libraries can be induced to subscribe for them. The entries already made amount to between six and seven hundred, not counting the bulletins and reports of the experiment stations.
Publication.-Beyond the preparation of abstracts and card indexing, no definite steps have been taken to arrange for publication, pending the response of the Overseas Governments to our request for further financial assistance. But it is necessary to begin recruitment of the additional staff required for this work at the earliest possible moment once the financial position appears to justify it, as it will take some time to familiarize the Assistant Editor and Abstractors with their duties, and we should aim at starting, if possible, not later than the 1st of January next.
8th June, 1921.
Interest Deposit
ΑΡΓΕΝΤΕΣ Ι.
Balance Sheet os at Sist Mærsk, 1921.
£
Dr.
s. d.
Government Grants
£ 5,850 0 206 19
Cr. s.
d.
0
3
3,500 0 0
1,135 8 1
Cash in hand (Bank and petty cash) Salaries
449 7 1
Books (Library)
Petty expensee8
Cash at Crown Agents and invested
Apparatus and Furniture
Expenses of various officials
z
542 16 2
190 18 101
129 10
68
8
40 13 9
£6,056 19 3
£6,056 19 3