304 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



An act for the establishment of an Insular Bureau of Agriculture 

 was passed bj' the United States Philippine Commission early in 

 October, and was made a part of the general plan of the provisional 

 government established in the islands by the commission. The Secre- 

 tar}' of Agriculture was invited, through the Secretary of War. to 

 nominate a suitable person to take charge of the new bureau and its 

 organization. Prof. F. Lamson-Scribner, for nearly eight years agros- 

 tologist of this Department, was nominated to this position, and has 

 been formally appointed by the Philippine Commission. His title will 

 be chief of the Insular Bureau of Agriculture, and his headquarters 

 will be at Manila, where he will go sometime during the winter. 



The present deploralile condition of agriculture in the Philippines 

 marks the establishment of this bureau as one of the most important 

 acts of the Philippine Commission. As stated in the annual report of 

 the Secretary of War for the present year — 



The methods of cultivation are primitive and ineffective; the ordinary vegetables, 

 notwithstanding the fertility of the land, are small and poor, and the stock is evi- 

 dently run out and should be renewed. Many grains which are unknown to the 

 people can undoubtedly be raised. They live chiefly on rice, and raise less than they 

 consume. 



In general, the bureau will, in the terms of the act establishing it, 

 "seek to promote the development of the agricultural resources of the 

 archipelago." Among other things, it will take charge of and conduct 

 the model farms and experiment stations which were established in a 

 number of provinces under the Spanish regime. The act provides that 

 its organization shall be framed as nearly as may be after our National 

 Department of Agriculture, Avith such variations as may be required 

 by the differences in conditions and by the provisions of the act estab- 

 lishing Government laboratories for the Philippine Islands. 



Professor Scribner has had wide experience in the tield of agricul- 

 tural botany and vegetable pathology, and is familiar with the various 

 agricultural institutions of the country, both State and national. These 

 qualilications will stand him in good stead in working out the lines of 

 the new bureau, selecting its corps of workers, and effecting its organ- 

 ization. Considering the agricultural importance of the islands and 

 the great opportunities for development along so many different lines, 

 the field for research and economic work is exceedingly attractive, and 

 the Bureau of Agriculture should in time develop into one of the 

 strongest and most useful branches of the insular government. 



