578 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Tliere were sexon resifjnations from the legal staff of the office dur- 

 ing the year and three since its close. With one exception these men 

 received and accepted from other bureaus in this department or from 

 other departments offers of salary considerably larger than they were 

 receiving in this office. Tlie exception was an assistant wdio resigned 

 to reenter private practice in St. Louis. Manifestl}^, the legal work 

 of the department can not be maintained at the highest point of 

 efficiency with so many resignations and transfers in so sliort a period. 

 This situation tlireatens to be repeated in the ensuing year. 



The Avork of the office increased substantially during the year, 

 owing in part to the expanding activities of the department under 

 recently enacted statutes, such as tlie migratory bird treaty act, but 

 largely to the increasing frequency with which the United States 

 attorneys call upon the office for assistance in the preparation of the 

 department's cases for trial in the courts and for assistance in the 

 trials. More cases were reported to the Department of Justice 

 (7,353), more written opinions rendered (827), and more legal papers 

 prepared (3,298) than in the previous year. 



In order to conserve the time of the United States attorneys and to 

 expedite litigation under the 28-hour law, this office, shortly before 

 the close of the year, undertook and has continued the preparation of 

 the complaints or declarations to be filed in the courts in these cases. 

 The plan has worked well and is in line with the practice of the office 

 for several years past in reporting criminal cases to the Department 

 of Justice in the form of prepared informations or indictments. 



The regulatory work of the department was increased during the 

 year by acts of Congress transferring to the Secretary of Agriculture 

 all the powers and duties theretofore vested in the Secretary of the 

 Treasury by the tea importation act of March 2, 1897, and all the 

 powers and duties theretofore conferred upon and exercised by the 

 Secretary of Commerce with reference to land fur-bearing animals 

 in Alaska. Important amendments of acts of Congress were also 

 made, resulting in an extension of the department's activities, such 

 as the amendment of the Bureau of Animal Industry act of May 29, 

 1884, permitting the interstate movement of domestic animals react- 

 ing to the tuberculin test; the amendment of the food and drugs 

 act of June 30, 1906, extending the net weight amendment of March 

 3, 1913, to Avrapped meats inclosed in papers or other materials as 

 prepared by the manufacturer thereof for sale ; and the amendment 

 of the plant quarantine act providing a comprehensive system for the 

 control of insect pests and plant diseases in the District of Columbia. 



Some of the activities of the department relating directly to the 

 war were continued during the fiscal year. In furtherance of this 

 work assistance was given the Bureau of Markets in closing its ac- 

 counts in connection with the allotment and sale of nitrate of soda 

 to farmers for the crop season of 1919, including certain large short- 

 ages appearing in the accounts of one of the port distributors and 

 certain large demurrage claims against vessels carrying nitrate of 

 soda. Many nitrate shortage claims were reviewed to determine 

 the liability of the Government therefor. Conferences were held 

 with the Bureau of Markets and representatives of fertilizer im- 

 porters and dealers relative to the fertilizer shortage for the 1920 

 crop season, which resulted in the passage of a resolution by Con- 

 gress (Pub. Res. No. 39, 66th Cong.) authorizing the Secretary of 



