EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XIII. No. 9. 



The agri cultural appropriation act for the year 1902-3, passed by 

 Congress the hitter pai't of May, carries an increase of $(526, 540 ov^er 

 that of the previous .year, the total amount now aggregating $5,208,960. 

 The largest increases are for the Weather Bureau, the Bureau of 

 Animal Industr}^, and the four new l^ureaus formed last 3ear. The 

 latter are recognized in the act in place of the former divisions which 

 they represented, and special provision is made for the continuance of 

 the new bureau organization. 



Two new lines of work are provided for, which the Department has 

 given little attention to. in recent 3^ears, namely, the study of the 

 proper treatment and processes for securing uniform grade and quality 

 of table sirup and investigations in silk culture. For the investiga- 

 tions in sirup making $20,000 is appropriated and for silk culture 

 $10,000. The former will be assigned to the inmiediate charge of the 

 Bureau of Chemistry and the latter to the Division of Entomology. 



The Weather Bureau appropriation amounts to $1,248,760, an 

 increase of about $100,000, $50,000 of which is for the purchase of 

 sites and the erection of six new station buildings for use as observa- 

 tories. There is also provision for extending its cable and telegraphic 

 connections. The Bureau of Animal Industr}^ receives an increase for 

 its inspection and investigation work of $93,000, out of which $10,000 

 ma}^ be used for the purchase of additional land in connection with its 

 experiment station at Bethesda, Md. The total amount named for the 

 Bureau is $1,247,180. 



The total increase for the Bureau of Plant Industry aggregates 

 $116,000, making the total for that Bureau $612,730, including the 

 $270,000 for the purchase and distribution of seeds. The largest 

 increase is for vegetable pathological and physiological investiga- 

 tions, $50,000. The new lines of work mentioned arc the investiga- 

 tion of canaigre and other tannin-bearing plants, the cause of decay in 

 forest tim})er, the practical application in agriculture of the fixation 

 of atmospheric nitrogen l)y bacteria and other micro-organisms, and 

 the cultivation and distribution of these '' nitrogen tixers." The 



807 



