KEPOKT OF THE SECKETARY OF 'AGRICULTURE. XIII 



wooded watersheds call for help. The effects of clearing off forests is 

 being studied. 



Office of Public Road Inquiries. — To sj'stematize and perfect 

 the work of this Office, several expert road engineers have been 

 engaged and assigned to different sections. The special mission of 

 this Department in connection with road matters is to give informa- 

 tion and advice as to methods. In several localities sections of roads 

 have been constructed under the supervision of its experts. A labo- 

 ratory for testing road material has been established under the joint 

 supervision of the Director of the Office and the Chief Chemist of the 

 Department. 



Office of Experiment Stations. — This Office is in touch with 

 experiment work in all the States and Territories, and is the medium 

 through Avhich the Divisions of the Department cooperate in research 

 with the experiment stations throughout the land. It inspects all the 

 stations annually, and reports upon their expenditures of national 

 appropriations; coo])e ration with the stations increases, including work 

 with plants, soils, animals, work in the field, and barn, and in the for- 

 est, in irrigation of arid lands, and where there is normal rainfall. 

 The farmers are cooperating in research with this Department and 

 with the several stations, with admitted benefit. Work in Alaska is 

 very promising along lines of garden vegetables, grain growing, and 

 forage curing. This new Territorv will get much benefit from grow- 

 ing of green things for home use. Grasses grow there naturally. 

 Cattle can be profitably kept where grasses grow, and mankind lives 

 comfortably where cattle thrive. Reports from agents sent to Hawaii 

 and Porto Rico have been received for transmission to Congress 

 regarding the value of experiment stations in those islands, showing 

 pressing need of research for the benefit of the poorer classes. The 

 nutrition of man is being studied with marked approval of observing 

 people. Home economics are fair fields of scientific inquiry, quite as 

 inviting as the soil, the plant, or the animal. 



Section of Foreign Markets. — This Section is engaged in a study 

 of the world's markets. Its mission is to seek an extension in foreign 

 markets of the demand for American agricultural products. Else- 

 where will be found a report on the development in recent 3' ears of our 

 agricultural export trade gathered from its reports. 



Division of Statistics. — Efforts have been put forth to add to the 

 completeness and reliability of the statistics of foreign crops, and 

 arrano-ements have been made with Hungarv and are in course of 

 negotiation with Germany for an interchange, by cable, of agricul- 

 tural data during the four growing months. Steps will be taken to 

 extend this arrangement to other countries as means at our disposal 

 will justify. Familiarity with conditions during the growth of crops 

 helps toward more intelligent conclusions regarding them at maturity. 



Division of Publications. — The work of this Division grows as the 

 Department develops. Seven million copies of publications were printed, 

 and even this number did not meet the demand. Since March 5, 1897, 

 1,600 different puldications have been issued, aggregating 21.000.000 

 copies, 7,000,(J00 of which were Farmers' Bulletins. The Yearbook 

 of 1899, with the Paris Exposition edition, has been received with 

 marked favor. 



