50 DEPARTMENTAL EEPORTS. 



unless based on sound scientific principles. Hence the necessity for 

 maintaining tlie proper relationship between careful scientific research 

 and the practical application of such research. 



COOPEBATIVE "WORK WITH EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



The importance of close cooperation with the experiment stations 

 has been fully recognized by this Bureau, and for this reason a number 

 of lines of important work have been entered upon which, it is believed, 

 will be helpful to the Department and advantageous to the stations. 

 There are many local questions connected witli crop production with 

 which the Department is not primarily concerned, but there are other 

 questions of a broader nature which can not be bounded by State 

 lines and which the Department can w-ell look into and advance mate- 

 rially with the aid of station workers. It is such problems as these 

 that are chiefly concerned in the matter of cooperation. In all such 

 work it is recognized that there must be proper and harmonious arrange- 

 ments between the officers of the stations and the officers of the 

 Department. We have always held that no action in regard to coop- 

 erative work should be taken at the stations without first consulting 

 the responsible officers, who are in touch with all the conditions which 

 surround them and who are in a position to know the lines of work 

 best suited to different officers under them. After preliminary arrange- 

 ments are made with the officers of the station it has been our policy 

 to have a definite understanding or agreement, in which the responsi- 

 bilities of the Department and the responsibilities of the station are 

 both shown. After such arrangements are entered into the matter 

 of carrying out the details of the work may well be left to those who 

 are directly interested in it. Under such arrangements the Depart- 

 ment is now cooperating with the following stations along the lines 

 briefly indicated : 



Arizona. — The Agrostologist, Prof. W. J. Spillman, has under his 

 direction cooperative work with this station in the study of the 

 general subject of range improvement, particularly to ascertain the 

 present condition of certain range areas with reference to vegetation, 

 rainfall, surface erosion, amount and kind of stock carried and history 

 of their management, and the amount of stock of various kinds that 

 may be maintained on various parts of ranges without deterioration 

 of the forage. There are also arrangements for testing various kinds 

 of grasses and forage plants with reference to their value on the 

 ranges. A large tract of land, covering something over 500 square 

 miles, has been set aside for this work, and it is believed that excel- 

 lent opportunities will be afforded here for solving important prac- 

 tical problems connected with range management. The director of 

 the Arizona station has been made a collaborator of the Bureau, and 

 will aid in managing the principal details of this work. 



California. — In California the Agrostologist is directing cooperative 

 experiments to determine the best methods for controlling or prevent- 

 ing the drifting of sand, and especially the 5)lanting and testing of 

 sand-binding plants for this purpose. The subject of sand binders 

 is an important one for the Pacific coast, and the cooperative work 

 with the California station will be of great practical value in solving 

 problems connected with this matter. 



Colorado.— The Botanist in charge of Seed and Plant Introduction 

 work, Mr. A. J. Pieters, has under his direction cooperative work 



