34 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



aid actually paid to the States on completed and uncompleted proj- 

 ects up to the end of the year was $166,911,552. During the fiscal 

 year the total amount paid out of the Treasury was $88,216,122, which 

 is greater by almost $10,000,000 than was paid during the five years 

 previous. Of the appropriations made by the Federal Government 

 there remained unobligated at the end of the fiscal year $42,856,079. 



At the present rate of building not many years will be required 

 to give the Nation a connected system of good highways in all direc- 

 tions. During the fiscal year 1922 Congress enacted legislation pro- 

 viding for the designation of a system of Federal-aid roads in all 

 States to consist of not more than 7 per cent of the total mileage 

 of roads in the States and authorizing appropriations of Federal 

 aid in the construction of this system in the amount of $50,000,000 

 for the fiscal year 1923, $65,000,000 for the fiscal year 1924, and 

 $75,000,000 for the fiscal year 1925, thus determining and indicating 

 to the States in advance of the actual appropriation of funds the 

 amount of Federal aid to be extended, and consequently the rate 

 at which the building of highways under this plan is to progress 

 during the three ensuing years. 



The department is pursuing its scientific studies of road construc- 

 tion, maintenance, and design. Out of these studies is coming much 

 exceedingly valuable information, which should result in both greater 

 efficiency and greater economy in our road-building enterprises. 



NATIONAL FOREST ROAD AND TRAIL CONSTRUCTION. 



During the fiscal year approximately 1,100 miles of national forest 

 roads and 3,000 miles of trail were constructed by the department, 

 bringing the total mileage of roads constructed in the national forests 

 from Federal funds, supplemented at times by local cooperation, to 

 nearly 5,000 miles and the total of the forest trails up to approxi- 

 mately 7,000 miles. The total expenditures to date for this type of 

 work amounts to approximately $17,000,000. 



EXTENSION ACTIVITIES. 



In compliance with the mandate of the law which created the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, to " diffuse among the people of the United 

 States useful information on subjects connected with agriculture, in 

 the most general and comprehensive sense of ihat word," the exten- 

 sion activities of the department take various forms. There are now 



