NEW GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS.

Never before in the history of the world has the production of food received so great attention as at the present time, mainly due to the experiences of the war. Population everywhere is rapidly increasing, while the area of land on which it is possible to provide the supplies does not expand to the desired extent. The one solution of the difficulty is the production of more and better crops upon every acre that will carry them, and the working out of such problems calls for the broad liberal education and display of real knowledge by those representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture chosen to handle this very important matter. There are now so many centres interested in potato experiments that the old-time expert must feel somewhat bewildered. The recent formal opening of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany marks the conclusion of the first stage of a new venture. The institute is associated and housed with the Government seed-testing station. Its function is to encourage improvement in the races of agricultural and horticultural plants and potatoes.

Speaking recently before the British Association, with the knowledge of an ex-minister of Agriculture, Lord Bledisloe gave some interesting particulars regarding the potato as a paying crop. He urged farmers to concentrate their energy upon improving and increasing its cultivation. He gave many statistics regarding its food value as compared with wheat. He does not seek to substitute potatoes purely on a study of the relative food values of the two crops. He bases his case on the productive capabilities of the country.

The potatoes which it is advisable to grow are those which in the farmers’ case sell readily and in the gardeners’ case eat well. When people have become accustomed to a particular type it takes a long time to wean them from it.