INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF
AGRICULTURE, a world organization, with
headquarters in Rome, Italy, founded in 1905, and having for object the collection and dissemination of knowledge relating to agriculture in the various countries represented in the institute. In 1904 the idea of such an institute came to Mr. David Lubin (q.v.) of Sacramento, Cal., and his project found favor with the king of Italy. The latter gave a building in Rome and an annual income of $60,000. The
king called the first congress in 1906, and
delegates attended from 40 countries. At the
congress a treaty was formed making the institute
a permanent organization and defining its scope
and activities. The government of the institute
is vested in the general assembly of delegates
from affiliated countries, meeting every two
years, and in a permanent executive committee, on which there is one representative from each country. This permanent committee has direct charge of the institute. The general officers are the president, who is also chairman of the permanent committee; the vice-president and the secretary-general. The work of the institute is divided among four bureaus: (1) The bureau of the secretary-general; (2) the bureau of general statistics; (3) the bureau of agricultural intelligence and plant diseases, and (4) the bureau of economic and social institutions. The bureau of the secretary-general has charge of the personnel, financial and other routine business, the building and its equipment, the printing and distribution of publications, the library and general bibliographical work, and, as a more recent service, the preparation and publication of an annual compilation of agricultural legislation in the different countries of the world. The bureau of general statistics collects, collates and publishes statistics of production and commerce in agricultural products, both animal and vegetable, throughout the world. The bureau of agricultural intelligence and plant diseases collects and publishes information regarding the progress of scientific and experimental investigations and practical experience in agriculture throughout the world and, as a branch of this work, gives special attention to the diseases of plants and to entomology. The bureau of economic and social institutions collects and publishes statistics and general information regarding agricultural co-operation, insurance and credit, together with other matters relating to the economic and social organization of rural communities.
Those publications of the institute which
have a bearing on the formation of the price
of the staples (such as crop reports and data
on exports, imports and stocks) are based
exclusively on official information, supplied direct
to the institute by the adhering governments. The other publications are produced from the following sources: (a) Information officially communicated by the governments; (b) original articles contributed by eminent authorities designated by the adhering governments; (c) excerpts and abstracts of articles translated from the 2,225 official and unofficial periodical publications of the world received by the institute.
The institute prints and publishes two
annuals and three monthly and one weekly bulletins, together with a considerable number of monographs on special subjects. The annuals deal with agricultural statistics and legislation, respectively; the monthly bulletins are on (1) agricultural statistics; (2) agricultural intelligence and diseases of plants, and (3) economic and social institutions, and the weekly bulletin is bibliographical. The monthly bulletins are published in French, German, English, Spanish, Italian and Hungarian. French being the official language of the institute, the editions in that language are paid for from the funds of the institute. Provision for the edition in the other languages is made by the countries