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The name of the officer who will attend the Conference as the representative of India will be communicated to you in due course.

I have, &c.,

R. RITCHIE.

SIR,

BRITISH GUIANA.

THE ACTING GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.

(No. 137.)

(Received 14 May, 1912.)

[Answered by No. 40.]

Government House, Georgetown, Demerara, 23rd April, 1912. In reply to your despatch, No. 82, of the 26th March,* I have the honour to state that this Government highly appreciates the offer of the Entomological Research Committee which is therein conveyed.

2. The Director of Science and Agriculture, the Plant Diseases and Pests Committee of the Board of Agriculture, and the Executive Committee of that Board, are all unanimous in opinion that it should be accepted, and the sugar planters on those Committees are emphatic in their approval.

3. Mr. G. E. Bodkin, B.A., the Entomologist employed by this Government, will be prepared to leave for the United States so soon as I may learn that he is expected. It is considered that the most advantageous course of study for him would be spending six weeks to two months at Washington, in the United States Department of Agriculture laboratories, a month or so at the Louisiana and Florida Stations, followed, if feasible, by a shorter period at the Porto Rico Station.

15082

SIR,

No. 28.

I have, &c.,

CHARLES T. COX.

INDIA OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received May 16, 1912.)

India Office, Whitehall, London, S.W.,

15th May, 1912. WITH reference to the correspondence ending with your letter, No. 6806, of the 25th March last,† on the subject of the proposed scheme for the investigation of noxious insects in various part of the Empire, I am directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to inform you that a copy of your letter, No. 23995, of the 21st September, 1911, with its enclosures, was referred to the Government of India, who, in their reply (copy of which is enclosed), expressed an unfavourable opinion on the suggestion that India should contribute, their reasons being partly based on the understanding that the scheme was limited to crop pests.

On receipt of this reply the Marquess of Crewe made a further reference to the Government of India, pointing out the actual scope of the scheme; and a copy of your letter of the 25th March, containing the suggestion that a conference should be held on the subject in August next, was also forwarded to them. The Government of India have now stated that they are willing to take part in the proposed conference.

I am to point out that, in these circumstances, the agreement to take part in the Conference must not be understood as necessarily implying the participation of India as a contributory to the scheme. This question will be again considered in relation to any scheme that the Conference may draw up. I am to suggest that the views of the Government of India as given in their despatch, particularly with reference to the possibility of including in the sphere of the scheme information from countries outside the Empire, might be taken into consideration by the Conference.

• No. 16.

↑ No. 15.

No. 98 in Miscellaneous No. 231.

Enclosure in No. 28.

(No. 2 of 1912.)

Government of India,

MY LORD MARQUESS,

(Department of Revenue and Agriculture),

Calcutta, the 22nd February, 1912. We have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 104, Revenue, dated the 13th October, 1911, with which you forward, and ask for our opinion on, a copy of a letter from the Colonial Office, No. 23995, dated the 21st September, 1911, with its enclosures containing particulars of a scheme for co- operation in the investigation of noxious insects in different parts of the Empire, to which it is suggested that Indian revenues should contribute £300 a year.

2. The scheme contemplates the formation of a central bureau in London for the following purposes:-

(1) A general survey of the more important crop pests.

(2) The organization of a system for securing the prompt identification of any noxious insects which may be submitted for that purpose by officials of any of the Governments concerned, and

(3) The dissemination of such information to the Dominions and States by the publication of a monthly journal containing concise summaries of all current literature which has a practical bearing upon the investi- gation or control of injurious insects.

3. After consulting expert opinion we consider that a bureau of the character proposed would be of little value to this country unless it included in its sphere not merely the different portions of the British Empire, but all the chief countries of the world. The insect pests with which India is mainly concerned are those of foreign countries; it is understood, for instance, that India imports more living plant produce from Italy than from any British possession, and an organization confined to British possessions would not adequately meet the needs of this country.

4. The Government officers in this country are moreover already in receipt of publications dealing with insect pests from the chief stations throughout the world, and it is thought that there would be little advantage in combining matter relating to insect pests in one monthly journal to be published in England unless the publica- tions of foreign countries were also included. This latter work is already being done by the International Institute of Agriculture at Rome, and we understand from the proceedings of the General Assembly held at Rome in 1911 that the Institute con- templates laying before the States adhering to the Institute a complete scheme for the organization of international measures against insect and fungoid diseases affect- ing agriculture.

5. We are therefore of opinion that the field covered by the proposal of the Colonial Office is too narrow to be of much service to India, and, in any case, we should prefer to await the result of the proposals of the International Institute of Agriculture before pledging ourselves to support a similar scheme confined to the British Empire.

We have, &c.,

To the Most Honourable The Marquess of Crewe, K.G., His Majesty's Secretary of State for India.

G. FLEETWOOD WILSON. R. W. CARLYLE.

S. H. BUTLER.

S. A. IMAM.

W. H. CLARK. R. CRADDOCK.

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference:

C.O.885

21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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