306 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



demonstration work is evident, and this is being developed as rapidly 

 as jDossible. 



Active cooperation with various bureaus of this department was 

 continued and is gratefully acknowledged. Without this assistance 

 some features of the stations' activities would have been greatly 

 curtailed. 



The appropriations of the several stations for the fiscal year 1916 

 were: Alaska, $40,000; Hawaii, $35,000; Porto Rico, $30,000; and 

 Guam, $15,000. The loss of the revenue derived from the sale of 

 products was severely felt by some of the stations. The amounts 

 expended from the still available balances of sales funds during 

 the year were: Alaska, $1,454.73; Hawaii, $117.12; Porto Kico, 

 $1,187.97; and Guam. $73.67. In ilawaii, $2,000 was available for 

 the expenses of the Hilo substation and $12,000 for the marketing 

 division. Both of these sums were appropriated by the Territorial 

 Legislature. 



The administrative work in relation to the States Relations Service 

 and the review of the financial affairs of the stations continue as 

 formerly, under the charge of Walter H. Evans and the accounting 

 office of this Service. 



Alaska Stations. 



The Alaska stations, under the charge of C. C. Georgeson, con- 

 tinued their investigations on the possible agricultural development 

 of that Territory. The spring of 1915 was unusually early and 

 what promised to be a favorable summer changed into a prolonged 

 drought, followed by a very wet autumn. These conditions were 

 unfavorable for crop development. The drought shortened the 

 growth of the grain crops, but the yields of the different cereals 

 were, on the whole, satisfactory. Practically all varieties of wheat, 

 oats, barley, and rye ripened during the season. At the Kodiak sta- 

 tion the pasture for the cattle was stunted and the rains coming on 

 later made haymaking and siloing difficult, but enough forage was 

 secured to winter the herd. The spring of 1916 was late, cold, and 

 wet over the whole of Alaska, and the work of seeding and planting 

 was greatly retarded. Late advices from the interior stations indi- 

 cate the rapid ripening of grain, and it is thought the harvest will 

 be about normal. 



The work at Sitka with fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals con- 

 tinue as previously. The hybridizing of strawberries and small 

 fruits was actively pursued, and about 1,500 new T hybrid straw- 

 berry plants were set out this year. Observations on the more desir- 

 able hybrid strawberries in previous years have been continued. A 

 distribution of fruit trees, small fruit bushes, etc., was made to 

 about 225 persons during the year. These will provide an extensive 

 test of the availability of the varieties which has been found most 

 satisfactory at the Sitka station. In addition to extensive variety 

 experiments, a beginning was made to produce distinctively Alas- 

 kan varieties of potatoes, several hundred seedlings being given 

 their first test this season. The destruction of cruciferous plants 

 by root maggots was greatly reduced by setting such plants as cab- 

 bage, cauliflower, etc., surrounded with small disks of felt or tar 

 paper. This method has been found satisfactory and worthy of wide 

 adoption. 



