OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



GENERAL OUTLOOK. 



Tho l)usinos,s of the Office of Experiment Stutions has continued to 

 jjrow durinji" the past year, and several new features have been 

 especially developed. The work in relation to the farmers' institutes 

 has ))een put on a permanent basis, and systematic efforts are now 

 beinijf made to bring the Department into close relations with the State 

 organizations through wliich the institutes are managed. Attendance 

 at the institutes now aggregates about 1,000,000 persons. It is believed 

 that they may be made a very effective means for the more thorough 

 dissemination of the information gathered by this Department and the 

 experiment stations. There has been increased intei'est in the work 

 of the Office relating to agricultural education. During the past year 

 special emphasis has been placed on encouraging the establislnnent of 

 secondary and elementary courses in agriculture. The agricultural 

 experiment stations in Hawaii and Porto Rico have made good prog- 

 ress in the institution of systematic investigations, and gratifying 

 recognition of the value of the work of these stations has been made 

 by the insular governments, as indicated by liberal appropriations for 

 their equipment and the extension of their work. In Alaska a begin- 

 ning has been made of investigations in the Copper River Valley, 

 where there is a large region suited to agriculture, and it is hoped that 

 means may be provided for the establishment of a permanent station 

 in this region. In the irrigation investigations greater attention has 

 been given to studies of the duty of water in different regions and for 

 various crops, with a view of determining how the water supply of 

 the irrigated region may be most economically and efficiently used. 

 Attention has also been given to the legal and economic problems 

 involved in the use of interstate streams for irrigation. Special efforts 

 are being made to enlarge the work of the Office in the investigation 

 of problems relating to farm machinery and the use of different 

 kinds of power for agricultural purposes. It is believed that the 

 investigations in this line might l)e extended with great advantage to 

 the agriculture of the countrj'. Their results would also aid the 

 agricultural colleges to put on an efficient basis the courses in farm 

 mechanics, for which there is now a great demand and which some of 

 these institutions are alread}^ establishing. A new feature of the 

 nutrition investigations has been a large cooperative investigation in 

 60 



