WEATHER BUREAU. 51 



EXAMINATION OF METEOROLOGICAL FORMS. 



Careful examination of the important meteorological forms ren- 

 dered by the regular station force, as well as those from the large 

 corps of cooperative observers and painstaking efforts to make in- 

 structions as definite as possible, have resulted in a general lessening 

 of the number of occasional errors detected in the statistical reports 

 of meteorological data. 



COOPERATIVE STATIONS. 



The experience of the past year in working up the large amount 

 of data required for the proposed Atlas of American Agriculture has 

 demonstrated the excellent Character of the work of the cooperative 

 observers, who perform their simple but important duties without 

 compensation. In fact, the records indicate that the observations 

 made by the men and women who make up the list of cooperative 

 observers are as correct and trustworthy as possible under the 

 circumstances. 



INSPECTING COOPERATIVE STATIONS. 



The policy of frequent inspection of cooperative stations has been 

 adhered to during the past year, and many necessary inspections 

 were made by a number of the State section officials. These inspec- 

 tions are especially helpful in bringing to light defects in instru- 

 mental equipment or observational work, and afford opportunity for 

 the bureau to indicate its appreciation of the valuable service ren- 

 dered the public by these faithful observers. 



SNOW BULLETINS. 



During the past winter effort was made to increase the amount of 

 information pertaining to the snow conditions in the far Western 

 States, by securing a greater number of reports from the higher 

 mountain districts. These additional reports will furnish an index 

 to the character and amount of the snow in the regions where it 

 remains unmelted until late in the season, and enable estimates to be 

 made of the probable waterflow in the streams used for irrigation 

 and power purposes. 



SERVICE IN ALASKA. 



The supervision of the climatological work in Alaska was assigned 

 during the past year to the official in charge of the Washington State 

 service at Seattle, and provision has been made for the publication of 

 an annual summary of climatological data for that Territory for 

 1915, similar to those issued for the several States. 



In view of the rapid development of Alaska, the appropriation act 

 for the fiscal year 1917 provides funds for the establishment of a 

 fully equipped weather bureau station at some central point in the 

 Territory. This will also permit the development of a local weather 

 service and the publication of a monthly bulletin for this region to 

 meet the growing demands for climatic information. 



