TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT ^Q^ 



and in order to provide room to which we can transfer other 

 branches of the work now occupying the new wing of the Bureau 

 and which in turn would provide suitable expansion for the 

 library. The herbarium is rapidly increasing in size, and would 

 require at least one-half of the additional building requested. 



Water survey. — For several years this Bureau has had at least 

 one chemist engaged in making water analyses, of which up to 

 the present time we have performed over one thousand from 

 artesian wells, dug wells, reservoirs, springs, rivers, etc. In 

 spite of this, our knowledge of the quality and quantity of 

 available Philippine water supplies is extremely limited. Con- 

 siderable misconception exists concerning the value of results 

 obtained from the ordinary sanitary, mineral, and bacteriol- 

 ogical analyses of water. It is commonly supposed that such 

 examinations may be interpreted in the same manner as other 

 analyses, for instance, as the analyses of iron ore. However, 

 as a matter of fact the bacterial count of water has little sig- 

 nificance after a sample has been drawn for an hour or two 

 without being kept on ice, and sanitary and mineral analyses of 

 water should be considered more in the nature of a series of 

 experiments than as giving results from which one may make a 

 direct interpretation of the potability or medicinal value of the 

 water. All classes of water analyses simply assist us to judge 

 the character of the water. Without an accurate knowledge 

 of the normal constituents of the source, the conditions under 

 which the sample was taken, and the other factors which in- 

 fluence it, it is impossible to pass judgment upon a water. An 

 investigation and study of all medicinal and thermal springs in 

 the Islands should be undertaken, and a reservation as a public 

 domain of a suitable area surrounding those of value should be 

 made. It seems to me that it is a duty the Government owes 

 to future generations to provide an adequate water survey at 

 the present time. When funds are available, an appropriation 

 should be made to this Bureau for carrying on a careful survey 

 of Philippine water supplies. 



Iloilo sugar laboratory. — The continued drought of 1912 de- 

 layed the planting of sugar cane to such an extent that when it 

 was begun the season was already far advanced. Many of the 

 earlier seeded fields did not sprout at all and had to be replanted ; 

 during the following rainy season two typhoons swept the Vi- 

 sayan Islands in swift succession, and the same region was next 

 visited by a swarm of destructive locusts. At the beginning of 

 the season the prospects were unfavorable, and this combination 

 of misfortunes practically destroyed many crops. Furthermore, 



