REPORT OF THE ACTING POMOIOGIST. 



I". S. Department of Agriculture, 



Division of Pomology, 

 Washington, D. C, Septemher 1, 1900. 



Sir: In tlie absence of the Pomologist, Col. G. B. Bracket!, I have 

 the honor to transmit herewith a report of the work of the Division of 

 Pomology for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900, with a brief out- 

 line of work of the current fiscal year, and a statement of plans and 

 estimates for the work of the Division for the fiscal year 1902. 

 Respectful I3', 



Wm. a. Taylor, 

 Acting Pomolog isf . 

 lion. James Wilson, Secretary. 



WORK OF THE YEAR. 

 ROUTINE work. 



The work of the Division has continued along the same lines as in 

 former years, the most important new work undertaken during the 

 year having been the collection and installation of the horticultural 

 exhibit at the Paris Exposition. The regular correspondence contin- 

 ues to increase, the usual wide range of subjects relating to fruits and 

 their culture being covered. The total correspondence has been much 

 larger than in anj' i^revious year in the history- of the Division, over 

 5,000 letters having been written, in addition to a large routine cor- 

 resi)ondence hj means of circulars. 



Receii^ts of specimens by mail continue to increase as compared 

 with former years. A large proportion of the fruits received in this 

 way are sent by growers for identification, nearly 50 per cent of all 

 lots received during the year having been sent for this jiurpose. As 

 this work yields a direct and valuable return to the fruit grower, and 

 tlierefore constitutes one of the most useful features of the work of 

 the Division, it is gladly undertaken and encouraged. 



During the year about 525 fruit descriptions, 260 water-color paint- 

 ings, a considerable number of photographic negatives, 185 wax mod- 

 els, and about 200 mounted herbarium sheets have been added to the 

 collections. 



DISTRIBUTION OF TREES, SCIONS, CUTTINGS, PLANTS, AND SEEDS. 



The cooperative work with the Section of Seed and Plant Introduc- 

 tion, referred to in the last report, has been continued during the j^ear 

 just closed. This promises to become more useful as more of the 

 desired siDCcies and varieties are secured for testing and as closer 

 relations are established with individual exi^erimenters. During the 



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