OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS. 753 



ance at these meetings was a little over 200,000, including the meet- 

 ings held in connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad and 

 Southern Railroad good-roads trains, which amounted to about 

 65,000. All of these lectures were of a practical or scientific char- 

 acter, and most of them were illustrated with lantern slides. 



The names of the States and the number of lectures given in each 

 are as follows: Alabama, 108; Arkansas, 3; Colorado, 1; Delaware, 

 3; District of Columbia, 2; Florida, 5; Georgia, 18; Idaho, 9; 

 Illinois, 16; Indiana, 5; Iowa, 2; Kentucky, 5; Louisiana, 1; Maine, 

 4; Maryland, 9; Michigan, 5; Mississippi, 33; Missouri, 3; Montana, 

 1; Nebraska, 2; New Hampshire, 1; New Jersey, 5; New York, 15; 

 North Carolina, 24; Ohio, 7; Oklahoma, 7; Pennsylvania, 278; Rhode 

 Island, 1; South Carolina, 53; South Dakota, 16; Tennessee, 46; 

 Texas, 4; Utah, 5; Virginia, 22; and West Virginia, 4. 



Most of the lectures were given at farmers' meetings, although 

 this work included the delivery of lectures and the reading of several 

 papers before road conventions and scientific organizations. The 

 method of disseminating information by means of lectures has been 

 productive of excellent results, and it is believed that it is one of the 

 most useful and beneficial projects of the office. 



PHOTOGRAPHIC LABORATORY. 



The equipment of the photographic laboratory has been improved 

 during the year, and the method of filing negatives, prints, and slides 

 has been thoroughly revised. A vertical filing system has been 

 adopted and a card index of all slides, negatives, and prints has been 

 made. 



The work of the laboratory during the year involved the develop- 

 ment of 220 rolls of films, and making 446 negatives, 167 bromide 

 enlargements, 2,028 lantern slides, and 11,841 prints. 



At the present time the office has over 6,000 negatives in its collec- 

 tion, and approximately 5,000 lantern slides. Most of these slides 

 have been colored by our own artist, and are used by representatives 

 of this office in giving lectures. The office also has an arrangement 

 by which lantern slides and data for use in lecture work are loaned 

 to interested individuals and to representatives of scientific and other 

 organizations. 



It has been necessary during the year to print a larger number of 

 negatives than in any previous year in .order to complete the photo- 

 graphic files of the office. Photographic records of all object-lesson 

 and experimental work conducted by the office and of all economic 

 and field investigations are kept in this office. 



STATISTICAL AND ECONOMIC INVESTIGATIONS. 



An investigation begun in November, 1909, to ascertain the mileage 

 of improved and unimproved roads in the United States and the cost 

 of various types of construction, was completed about the close of 

 the fiscal year 1911. This information is now being published in 

 Bulletin No. 41, as a supplement to Bulletin No. 32, published in 

 1904. It is the purpose of the office to publish similar information 



23165°— AGE 1911 48 



