BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 229 



from many correspondents, is constantly increasing. The publica- 

 tions of the division during the year number five, coniiirising in all 

 183 pages. One was issued as a bulletin, one as a circular, one as a 

 paper in the last Yearbook of the Department, and two as papers in 

 the Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau. Correspondence on all 

 subjects connected with dairying is sometimes so heavy as to greatly 

 retard the other important work with which the office is charged. 

 Some inquiries have recently been received concerning the dairj^ pos- 

 sibilities in the islands which have lately come under th^ control of 

 this country. 



During the year a detailed report was prepared upon the series of 

 experimental shipments of dairy products to European markets, which 

 wei'e made under special authority given in the acts of Congress mak- 

 ing annual appropriation for this Department. 



In the latter part of the year exiDerimental shipments to Europe 

 were again inaugurated, special efforts being made in connection with 

 the Department exhibit at the Paris Exposition to show the high 

 quality of our dairy products. 



A number of ex]3erimental shipments of butter, cheese, and cream 

 have also been forwarded to trans-Pacific points, which had been 

 visited and selected by a special agent of the Department. On account 

 of the great distance and the failure of some of the consignees to at 

 first fully understand the purposes of the Department's efforts, it is 

 not yet possible to make a report upon these shipments. 



The chief and assistant chief of the division have visited dairy cen- 

 ters in fifteen different States and attended the annual meetings of 

 State dairy associations and similar bodies in ten of these States. It 

 has thus been j)ossible to meet and consult with many persons activelj'^ 

 engaged in the dairy industry in different parts of the country and 

 to learn their needs, and personal relations have been established 

 which will be of material benefit in future work. No special agents 

 for representing the Department at important dairy meetings which 

 the officers of the division could not attend were employed during the 

 past year, as had been the practice during previous years. 



Arrangements were made in the dairy division for the United States 

 exhibit of animal industries at the Paris Exposition. The chief of 

 the division took personal charge of the preparation of the various 

 exhibits, w^hich were planned to show, bj^photogi-aphs, models, mechan- 

 ical devices, raw materials, and finished ijroducts, the development 

 and iDresent condition of the different branches of the live-stock 

 industry. 



The plan of the work of the dairy division for the fiscal year 1900- 

 1901 includes a continuation of the different lines of work above 

 reiwrted. 



Much valuable information concerning dairying in foreign coun- 

 tries has been received in the numerous reports from consuls, which 

 were secured through the courtesy of the State Deisartment, and it is 

 Ijroijosed to i)repare these reports for publication as soon as the more 

 pressing work of the division xjermits. 



Attention to the many details in connection with the experimental 

 exports requires a large share of the time of the working force of the 

 office. Shipments of butter to Cuba and Porto Rico have been begun. 

 In these experiments we are confronted with problems quite similar to 

 those met in the shipments from San Francisco to the Orient. The 

 dairj^ products are forwarded to warm countries, shijiment has to be 

 made without refrigeration, and cold storage is not available at the 

 points of destination. It is necessary, therefore, to send butter, and 



