REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 115 



Only 20 persons were employed in the Bureau of Chemistry at the 

 beginning of this period, and the number increased to 546. From 

 33, the employees of the Bureau of Soils, the number has increased 

 to 159, and from 21 those of the Bureau of Entomology have in- 

 creased to 339. The Biological Survej'^ has 97 employees in place of 

 23 in 1897; the Division of Publicatk»ns, 188 in place of 61; the 

 Bureau of Statistics, 162 in place of 133; the Office of Experiment 

 Stations, 209 in place of 38. In the Library 6 employees sufficed for 

 the work in 1897 and now 29 are not too many. The Division ©f 

 Accounts and Disbursements has increased from 10 to 66 employees, 

 and the Office of Public Roads finds it has ample employment for 

 163 employees in place of 7 in 1897. 



It has been a difficult matter to determine how many scientists and 

 scientific experts are employed by the department. It is not always 

 easy to certif}'^ that a person is or is not a scientist, but attempts have 

 been made at times in the past, and it is a matter of record that from 

 1902 to 1907 from 1,927 to 2,326 scientists and scientific experts, 

 assistants, and agents were employed. 



Along with the increase in the number of the department employees 

 it is to be expected that the appropriations of money by Congress for 

 the use of the department would greatl}' increase. For the fiscal 

 year ending June 30, 1898, the appropriations for the department 

 amounted to $3,272,902. They increased to $7,109,682.62 in 1905; 

 and by 1907 the amount had risen to $13,079,523.98. In consequence 

 of the requirements of the enforcement of food laws and the care of 

 the national forests, and in a less degree because of the general 

 expansion of the work of the department, the appropriations by 

 1911 aggregated $20,888,449.28, and for 1913 the total amount is 

 $24,743,044.81. 



In wealth produced and in wealth conserved during these 16 years 

 the department has returned to the Nation more than 10 times these 

 appropriations. 



PUBLICATIONS. 

 EVIDENCES OF GROWTH AND USEFULNESS. 



The publication work of the department is an unerring indication 

 of its growth and usefulness. The records of the Division of Publi- 

 cations, in which such work is centralized, show that in 1897 the mail 

 requests for publications barely exceeded 500 letters per week. So 

 great has been the extension of the department's relations with the 

 farmers of the country in the 16 years which have just passed that, 

 during the past year, the weekly mail has exceeded 52,000 letters, or 

 more than 100 letters for each one received at the earlier date. 



