REPORT. 



To the Honorable the Commissioner of Agriculture of the State 

 of New YorJc: 



Sir: — I have the honor ot" transmitting to you an account of the 

 work of tliis Bureau during the year 1897, together with a finan- 

 cial statement for the fiscal year 1896-97. 



As a comment upon the facts presented below, it is very gratifying 

 to me to note that, besides the uninterrupted maintenance of its 

 usual routine duties, the Bureau has this year developed a greater 

 efficiency and usefulness than at any previous time since its organi- 

 zation. A marked growth in popular appreciation of the service is 

 shown by a large increase in the number of our voluntary observers, 

 a more general demand for and appreciation of the weather fore- 

 casts, and by the increasing frequency of requests for our publications, 

 or for special data, which are received at the central office from a 

 wide variety of sources. Among the latter may be mentioned the 

 large interests now engaged in, or contemplating the production of the 

 sugar beet in this state; an industry whose success depends largely 

 upon specific conditions of temperature, rainfall and sunshine, so 

 that it becomes necessary to learn, through this office, what portions 

 of New York are best suited for its successful cultivation. 



Records furnished by this Bureau "enter largely into the State 

 Engineer's recent important discussion of water storage in the 

 Hudson and Genesee river systems, in questions under study by the 

 United States Deepwater Ways [Commission, and also supply the 

 climatic data used by the State Board of Health in its monthly 

 reports. Each year brings an increasing demand for meteorological 



