5 66 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The total appropriation for the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry is $674,930, 

 an increase of $62,200 for its work in 

 vegetable pathology and physiology, 

 botanical investigations, studies of the 

 pomaceous fruits and their preserva- 

 tion, and experiments with grasses and 

 forage plants. These increases will en- 

 able carrying on the plant breeding 

 work on a somewhat larger scale to 

 secure crops resistant to alkali, dis- 

 ease-resistant beets, and the improve- 

 ment of Indian corn. More extensive 

 investigations and field trials will be 

 made of the nitrogen-fixing organisms 

 in growing leguminous plants; and 

 among the plant diseases the Texas 

 root-rot of cotton and the California 

 vine disease will receive special atten- 

 tion. The increase for botanical in- 

 vestigations will be used for developing 

 the studies of poisonous plants, par- 

 ticularly on the western ranges. The 

 fund for the purchase of seeds for 

 congressional distribution is increased 

 by $20,000, being now $290,000, but an 

 additional $10,000 is allowed to be ex- 

 pended out of this fund for the intro- 

 duction of seeds and plants from for- 

 eign countries, making the fund for 

 that purpose $30,000. 



The amount for the Bureau of For- 

 estry is increased to $350,000, which is 

 $58,140 more than the current appro- 

 priation, and will enable an extension 

 of its forestry and timber investiga- 

 tions and the preparation of working 

 plans for owners of woodlands. 



The Bureau of Soils receives $212,- 

 480, $42,800 more than the present 

 year. The increase will be used in ex- 

 panding the soil survey and the tobacco 

 work, which is in charge of this bureau. 

 Surveys will be made the coming year 

 in thirty-two states, which shows the 

 wide distribution of this work. The 

 tobacco investigations will be confined 

 principally to experiments with the 

 Cuban filler tobacco in Alabama, mid- 

 dle South Carolina, and eastern Texas, 

 where soils have been located similar 



to those on which it is successfully 

 grown. 



The scientific staff of the Weather 

 Bureau is increased somewhat, an as- 

 sistant chief being added, and the 

 bureau is authorized to erect five new 

 observatories and to establish cable 

 communication between Block Island 

 and Narragansett Pier, with terminal 

 buildings and equipment at each place. 

 Its total appropriation amounts to 

 $1,248,520. 



The appropriations for the experi- 

 ment stations in Hawaii and Porto 

 Rico are increased to $15,000, making 

 them uniform with the stations in 

 other states and territories, and $5,000 

 is appropriated for taking up the 

 farmers' institute work with a view to 

 assisting the organizations in the dif- 

 ferent states and territories and mak- 

 ing them more effective means for the 

 dissemination of the results obtained 

 at the department and at the agricul- 

 tural experiment stations. These in- 

 creases bring the total amount for the 

 agricultural experiment stations and 

 the Office of Experiment Stations (in- 

 cluding irrigation investigations and 

 investigation in human nutrition) up 

 to $895,000. 



The Division of Statistics is raised 

 to the grade of a bureau and given an 

 increased appropriation of $15,500 for 

 general maintenance, making a total of 

 $156,660. 



Other items carried by the act are 

 $85,300 for the Bureau of Chemistry, 

 an increase of $11,600; $77,450 for the 

 Division of Entomology, an increase of 

 $10,000; $51,850 for the Division of 

 Biological Survey, an increase of 

 $6,000; $229,320 for the Division of 

 Publications, $105,000 of which is to 

 be used for the preparation and print- 

 ing of Farmers' Bulletins; $16,000 for 

 the Division of Foreign Markets; $35,- 

 000 for Public Road Inquiries, an in- 

 crease of $5,000; $20,000 for the 

 Library; and $138,210 for administra- 

 tive, contingent and general expenses. 



