346 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



by fixation of atmospheric nitrogen and procuring potash from kelp, 

 alunite, and feldspar, or any other material, for use in the manufac- 

 ture of munitions of war and fertilizer; and the labeling of imported 

 hops. 



The office took part in drawing, for the consideration of State legis- 

 latures, two bills providing for the organization of cooperative asso- 

 ciations and one to regulate the marketing of agricultural products. 



In addition, assistance was rendered in making up the reports of 

 the department on numerous subjects of pending Federal legislation. 

 Frequently these embraced elaborate, detailed suggestions of amend- 

 ments. The bills, among other things, covered the grading of grain; 

 inspection and marketing of melons; establishing a standard box for 

 apples; revising the public printing laws; simplification of the 

 method of condemning lands by the Government; amending the na- 

 tional bank act to provide for extension of credit to farmers ^es- 

 tablishing the Landschaft system of farm mortgages and credits; 

 admission of tick-infested cattle into the United States; establishing 

 game sanctuaries in the National Forests: Federal aid in the con- 

 struction of public roads in the States; development of waterways and 

 water resources and the control of floods; requiring manufacturers, 

 producers, canners, and packers to place their names and addresses on 

 labels of packages of foods; control of the administration of drugs 

 used by inhalation; branding of imported hops; manufacture, sale, 

 and shipment of alcoholic liquors; interstate commerce in milk and 

 milk products ; administration of oaths in certain cases by agents and 

 employees of the Department of Agriculture; standards of maturity 

 for oranges; and repeal of the mixed-flour law. 



At the instance of the governors of California and Washington, 

 suggestions were made relative to legislation for the conservation and 

 utilization of kelp beds on the Pacific coast and for the promotion 

 and protection of the manufacture of potash from kelp. Comments 

 and suggestions were made on a proposed bill in South Carolina 

 regulating warehousing; on marketing bills in Massachusetts, Cali- 

 fornia, and Virginia; and on a bill authorizing the formation of 

 cooperative associations in Mississippi. 



Aid was given in revising a convention between Great Britain and 

 the United States for the protection of migratory birds in Canada 

 and the United States. This was signed August 16, and ratified by 

 the Senate August 29, 1916. 



On August 5, 1915, you joined the Secretary of the Interior in 

 making an order providing for the conduct by this office of all hear- 

 ings in cases of Government contests arising out of claims to lands 

 within the National Forests. Previously, agents of the General Land 

 Office were in charge of the hearings, this department merely render- 

 ing assistance. Now this office is in exclusive charge of the hear- 

 ings, and the General Land Office is relieved of the expense and time 

 required by attendance. The new scheme is an economy and has 

 proved satisfactory. 



Notwithstanding a decrease in the force of title attorneys, a 

 greater quantity of title-examination work under the Weeks law was 

 accomplished than during any preceding year. This result is at- 

 tributable in part to the title attorneys becoming more skillful as 



