REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROAD 



INQUIRIES. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 



Office of Public Road Inquiries, 



Washington, D. C, August 31, 1902. 

 Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith the report of the Office of 

 Public Road Inquiries for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1902, together 

 with an outline of the work for the current year and recommendations 

 and estimates for the ensuing j^ear. 



Resi^ectfully, Martin Dodge, 



Director. 

 Hon. James Wilson, Secretary. 



WORK OF THE YEAR. 



The work of this Office during the past year has been continued and 

 extended along the lines laid down in previous reports. The Director 

 and assistants, including the office force and road experts, have been 

 engaged in collecting and disseminating information relating to the 

 various phases of the road question, attending road conventions and 

 other meetings where the subject of road improvement was under dis- 

 cussion, and cooperating with county and State road officials, agricul- 

 tural colleges, and experiment stations in the construction of object- 

 lesson roads. The correspondence of the Office, including applica- 

 tions for assistance, information, and literature, has been heavier than 

 in any year since the Office was established. In addition to publishing 

 three new bulletins and one circular, most of the publications of the 

 Office have been reprinted, and in some cases three or four new edi- 

 tions have been necessary to satisf j' the unusual demand. The special 

 agents and experts of the Office have attended numerous road meet- 

 ings, and have given advice and assistance in the building of sample 

 roads in manj- places throughout the country". Owing to the great 

 importance of this practical feature of the work, and to the constantly 

 increasing demands for it, every possible effort has been made to assist 

 in these object-lesson demonstrations in road building 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE OFFICE. 



An International Good Roads Congress was held at Buffalo, N. Y., 

 September 16-21, 1901, under the auspices of the National Good 

 Roads Association. The proceedings of the convention, containing 

 much valuable information relating to the i^rogress of road construc- 

 tion in the United States and Canada, were published as Bulletin No. 

 21. The first edition of 10,000 was soon exhausted, and the Office is 

 now sending out another edition of 10,000 copies. 



AGR 1902 20 305 



