BUREAU OF SOILS. 187 



because of lack of opportunity to j)ay them what their services are 

 worth in commercial lines. As this work has been developed by the 

 Department, it seems strange to think that the very success of the 

 work is hindering, if it does not prevent, the successful extension of 

 the investigations. 



EXTENSION OF THE TOBACCO INVESTIGATIONS. 



The tobacco investigations of the past two j^ears have been carried 

 on with three field parties, at a cost of about $5,000 each, or an aggre- 

 gate of $15,000 per annum. On account of the great success of this 

 work, and the extraordinarj' interest taken in its extension to other 

 areas, I recommended last year that the appropriations for the Bureau 

 of Soils be increased so that the allotment for this work could be made 

 sufficient for seven parties of tobacco experts. The appropriations as 

 passed, however, did not allow of this increase, and the allotment 

 this year has been the same as for last. The demands for the serv- 

 ices of these tobacco experts have been very great, and I would 

 recommend that three additional parties be organized for work in 

 Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. This will mean an 

 increase of 815,000 in the allotment, making in all the sum of $30,000 

 for the tobacco investigations. I feel that the economic results of the 

 work so far done, and the lines of work that are at present being 

 developed, fully justify this recommendation. The reports from the 

 Connecticut Valley alone indicate that nearly $1,000,000 worth of 

 Sumatra tobacco will be grown in the State this year. This has largely 

 increased the price of land; has furnished a market for thousands of 

 chestnut posts from adjacent ridges which have lain idle and unpro- 

 ductive for years; has given employment in a healthful occupation 

 and at remunerative wages to large numbers of men and women; has 

 brought about the production of millions of square yards of cloth by 

 the cloth manufacturers, and has opened up the possibility of an 

 enormously profitable industry for the future. It would seem that 

 this experiment alone would fully justify the increase in the allotment 

 that is asked, but when it is stated that we expend annually $8,000,000 

 for filler tobacco which the experts of the Department believe can be 

 produced in this country, it but adds to the justification of the request 

 for the larger allotment for this work. 



Drainage Investigations. 



During the year an investigation was started as to the possibility 

 and practicability of reclaiming the soils in the arid regions which 

 have been injured b}^ seepage water and the accumulation of alkali. 

 In cooperation with the Utah experiment station and Mr. C. D. Swann, 

 of Salt Lake City, who has donated land for the purpose and has paid 

 a considerable portion of the field expenses, a tract of 40 acres of 

 alkali land near Salt Lake City has been thoroughly underdrained with 

 tile. This work has been under the immediate supervision of the 

 Department experts, and the work of reclamation is to be under the 

 joint charge of the Department and the Utah exiDeriment station. It 

 is too early yet to speak of the results of this work. It is being watched 

 with the greatest interest by the people of that locality, and it is 

 believed that if the investigation is a success ample capital will be 

 forthcoming to carry on extensive operations in the reclamation of 



