50 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



meut and the agricultural experiment stations in the different States, 

 efforts have been put forth during the year to bring about such coop- 

 eration wherever practicable. With this object in view arrangements 

 were made for cooperation with the Division of Soils in connection 

 with its work on tobacco; Avith the Division of Forestry in the inves- 

 tigations of the diseases affecting forest trees; with the Section of 

 Seed and Plant Introduction in securing new and valuable seeds and 

 plants, especialh' cereals; and with the Office of Experiment Stations 

 in the matter of giving employment for a part of the time to one of 

 the scientific aids wlio desired to carry on certain investigations in 

 plant physiology. Cooperation with the agricultural exxDcriment sta- 

 tions has been arranged for through the Office of Experiment Stations. 

 So far this work is confined largely to the testing of new forms of 

 citrous fruits and other jdants obtained as a result of the work in 

 plant breeding. The stations are showing a marked interest in the 

 plant-breeding investigations, and mutual benefit will undoubtedly 

 result from close cooperative work along this line. 



CEREAL INVESTIGATIONS. 



For nearly ten years this Division has been engaged on one or more 

 phases of investigation bearing on cereals, and the work pertaining 

 to this subject has been pushed forward as rapidly as the time and 

 help at hand would jDcrmit. The diseases of cereals have been studied 

 and thorough investigations made for the purpose of obtaining facts 

 as to the best methods of preventing them. This work led to the 

 testing of several thousand varieties of wheat, oats, and barley from 

 all parts of the world, tlie primarj- view being to determine their 

 resistance to rust and other diseases. In connection with this work 

 the adaptability of the various cereals to the widely different condi- 

 tions prevailing here has been fully studied and many facts of inter- 

 est developed. It has been found i)ossible to map the countr}^ so as 

 to show the regions adapted to certain kinds of wheat, and this has 

 made practicable intelligent effort in the way of introducing new and 

 desirable forms and the production of the same by breeding and 

 selection. 



The principal work of the year consisted in the collection of a com- 

 mercial cereal exhibit for the Paris Exposition. Acting under your 

 instructions, every effort was put forth to make this exhibit as strik- 

 ing as jjossible. Throughout the work the commercial aspect of the 

 case was kept in mind. With the cooperation of the crop reporters 

 in the Division of Statistics and the various experiment stations, collec- 

 tions were made in all parts of the United States. The work was found 

 to be of such magnitude that it required personal visits on the part of 

 the associate in charge, Mr. M. A. Carleton, to nearly all the wheat- 

 growing districts, and when the collections were made it necessitated 

 three months' work on the part of several members of the Division staff 

 to get it ready for installation. The exhibit includes all cereal crops 

 used for food. In this group are wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, rye, 

 some of the millets, l)uckwheat, Kafir corn, Jerusalem corn, rice corn, 

 and milo maize. The exhibit was j^lanned to illustrate fully and 

 graphically the possibilities of the United States in the production of 

 cereals, not only as relates to ordinary food i^roducts, but to special 

 foods as well. Our vast i-esources in the matter of varieties were 

 shown, and our possibilities in the i^roduction of special forms, such 

 as macaroni wheats, cracker wheats, breadstuffs, etc., Avere brought 



