274 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



cultivation of some garden vegetables, such as cauliflower, celery, peas, 

 and tomatoes. 



The agriculturist will continue his potato experiments on Maui and 

 his field trials with taro at Kalihi. The farm manager will continue 

 investigations and write a report on the sisal hemp. The entomolo- 

 gist will investigate the melon fly, poka worm, Japanese beetle, and 

 cane borer. The special agent in charge of the station will visit as 

 many districts as possible on all of the islands to get in touch with 

 the people and their needs, and the farmers' institute work will be 

 continued. 



Arrangements have been partially made for cooperative work with 

 the Bureaus of this Department in the study of soils, Jobacco, fibers, 

 insect jjests, and the introduction of new and improved varieties of 

 plants. There is an urgent demand for experiments with coffee, but 

 as yet it has been impossible to begin investigations in this line on 

 account of the limited resources of the station. 



Considering the numerous agricultural problems requiring investi- 

 gation in the Territory of Hawaii, the experiment station there should, 

 in my judgment, receive from the National Treasury as large an annual 

 stipend as is granted to the stations organized under the act of Con- 

 gress of 1887 (Hatch Act), namely, $15,000. If this is granted, it will 

 be possible to add a chemist to the station force, to increase the api^ara- 

 tus and other equipment, and to provide for the printing and distribu- 

 tion of station publications. 



Porto Rico Experiment Station. 



The second appropriation for agricultural investigations in Porto 

 Rico made for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1902, was $12,000, and 

 authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to "establish and maintain 

 an agricultural experiment station in Porto Rico, including the erec- 

 tion of buildings, printing (in Porto Rico), illustration and distribu- 

 tion of reports and bulletins, and all other expenses essential to the 

 maintenance of said station." As the amount thus appropriated was 

 not sufficient to provide for the purchase of land for the permanent 

 location of the station, the work during the past year has been largely 

 of a temporary nature. In October, 1901, 30 acres of land near San 

 Juan and a building for office, laboratorj% and living quarters were 

 leased for a period of one year. A temporary barn Avas constructed 

 for the shelter of animals and implements. A limited amount of 

 machinery, in the form of plows, cultivators, and small implements, 

 were either purchased or donated by different agricultural implement 

 houses in the States. The necessary office supplies and fixtures were 

 secured, and experimental work was at once taken up. A portion of 

 the land was cleared of weeds and some brush, the drainage system 

 was improved, and the land was put in fairly good condition for crops. 

 About 100 garden and field crops were planted, mostly in small plats. 

 Many of these were planted at different dates in order to ascertain the 

 best time for planting. Many were repeatedly planted, because thej^ 

 were completely destroyed bj' the ravages of the changa or other 

 insects. With a considerable number the effects of different kinds of 

 commercial fertilizers were tried, usually with quite marked results. 

 The most important thing that these experiments brought out was 

 the very poor character of the soil on which these crops were planted, 

 for almost none of them did well except where thej" were given some 

 form of commercial fertilizer or barnyard manure. The season was 



