54 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



ment will be brought to bear to secure the enforcement of all laws 

 enacted and can be counted upon to assist in procuring other 

 legislation that may be needed. 



The Seed Division has been of considerable advantage to 

 agriculturists, distributing many millions of packages of vegetable 

 and flower seeds and also introducing many varieties of foreign 

 seed procured by experts sent abroad, some of which will no 

 doubt thrive in the United States and prove of value to the 

 farmer. 



All the other divisions of the Department are extending and im- 

 proving their work so as to make it of the greatest possible benefit 

 to the farmer. The Biological Survey is engaged in mapping 

 out the natural life zones of the country ; the Division of Vegetable 

 Pathology in hybridizing and improving the quality and flavor of 

 our fruit and vegetables ; the Chemistry Division in studying 

 soils and fertilizers for the same, and, in connection with the 

 sugar beet investigation, is analyzing beets and determining 

 areas where the beet can be profitably grown. The Soils Division 

 is making an investigation of the physical properties of soils and 

 their relation to crop production ; the Division of Agrostology 

 is engaged in studying the most profitable grasses for various 

 sections of the country ; The Forestry Division, the best methods 

 of preserving our forests ; the section of Foreign Markets in pro- 

 curing information and publishing useful bulletins on our trade 

 with other countries and the Office of Road Inquiry is inquiring 

 into the problem of how best to improve our roads. 



We fully realize that the Department of Agriculture exists 

 to-day because the farmers believed it possible for such a depart- 

 ment to render them valuable service, and I assure you that it is 

 the determination of those having the direction of the work to 

 make it as valuable as possible to agriculture. We know that 

 anything we can do to aid the farmer will be indirectly an advan- 

 tage to all those who depend upon him for the means to sustain 

 life and enjoy its comforts. We trust that }'ou will feel that the 

 Department is your friend and that you will make suggestions 

 freely, and I assure you that they will be well received. We 

 should be glad to have every farmer in the country visit the De- 

 partment and investigate for himself the work that is being done. 

 Recently a noted foreigner visiting our country came to spend 

 three or four hours looking around the Department. He remain- 

 ed for several days and when ready to leave told the Secretary 

 that he had seen nothing in this country in which he had become 

 so interested as in the work of our department, and said further 

 that there was nothing like it in any other country in the world. 

 He predicted that if the people of the United States do not already 

 appreciate the work being done the time would soon come when 

 they would do so. 



