REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 



Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 Washington^ Z>. 6^., September 30, J912. 

 Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith a report of the work of 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1912. 

 Respectfully, 



B. T. Galloway, 



Chief of Bureau. 

 Hon. James Wilson, 



Secretary of Agriculture, 



GENERAL WORK OF THE YEAR. 



The total funds appropriated by Congress for the work of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1912, 

 were $2,061,686, of which $330,470 was for statutory salaries and 

 $289,670 for the work in connection with the purchase and distribu- 

 tion of seeds, while the remainder, $1,731,216, was apportioned in 

 definite items among the various branches of the bureau conducting 

 scientific or related work. In addition to the foregoing, under the 

 '' Miscellaneous " appropriations of the department was an item of 

 $5,000 for investigating the bark disease of the chestnut tree. 



The correspondence of the bureau is constantly on the increase, 

 over a million letters, including multigraph letters, having been sent 

 out during the past year in connection with the various activities of 

 the bureau. 



The publications, as heretofore, have been handled by Mr. J. E. 

 Rockwell. New bulletins, circulars, etc., to the number of 96, con- 

 taining 3,360 printed pages, 247 full -page plates, and 589 text figures, 

 were issued during the year. The first editions of these publications 

 aggregate two and a quarter million copies. Eleven papers were con- 

 tributed to the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, and 22 

 Farmers' Bulletins were prepared and submitted. 



In connection with the fiscal operations of the bureau, 7,190 requi- 

 sitions for supplies were issued, 17,749 accounts were received and 

 audited administratively, 173 requests for contracts and leases were 

 made, 1,519 letters of authorization and amendments thereto were 

 drawn, and about the same number of letters of instruction to field 

 investigators were prepared. 



From September 1, 1911, to August 31, 1912, the following changes 

 in the personnel of the bureau were made : Resignations, 299 ; deaths, 



389 



