810 EXPEKTMENT STATION RECORD. 



the Office of Road Inquiry; and the Section of Foreign Markets was 

 reorganized and pkiced under the Secretary's immediate supervision. 



Through Secretary Morton's recommendation the experiment sta- 

 tions and the Department were brought into much closer relations. 

 In his iirst annual report he called attention to the lack of any Federal 

 supervision of the funds given for experiment stations, and advocated 

 an amendment of the law placing such supervision in the hands of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture. In response to this, Congress empowered 

 the Secretary^ to prescribe the form of the annual financial statements 

 and directed him to ascertain whether the expenditures conformed to 

 the requirements of the Hatch Act, which has taken the form of an 

 annual inspection. The advisability of this step is universally accepted, 

 since, aside from safeguarding the funds, it has brought the Depart- 

 ment into much closer relations with the stations, and has strengthened 

 the organization of the whole movement. 



Secretary Morton also obtained the first appropriation for nutrition 

 investigations, which carried the first legislative provision for coopera- 

 tion with the experiment stations, a feature which has since assumed 

 more importance every year and has proved of mutual benefit in 

 working out pi'actical problems in the application of science in 

 agriculture. 



The Yearbook, which supersedes the former annual report and has 

 become one of the foremost agricultural annuals of the world, was 

 started in the second year of Secretary Morton's administration; and 

 he secured the first appropriation from Congress for the publication 

 of farmers' ])ulletins, which he hoped to substitute for the Congres- 

 sional seed distribution. Failing in this effort and in his attempt to 

 bring al)out the al)olltion of the seed distribution, he set about improv- 

 ing the quality of the seed furnished, ])y establishing a laboratory for 

 testing the purit}^, viability, and genuineness of the seeds which were 

 purchased for that purpose. This laboratory has been continued and 

 its duties and scope materially enlarged. 



Secretary Morton appreciated the inadequacy of the present Depart- 

 ment quarters and the great desirability of a commodious and appro- 

 priate ])uilding. In his last annual report he pointed out that over 

 ^2,066,000 had been covered back into the Treasury during his admin- 

 istration, and strongly recommended that the amount so saved be 

 applied to the erection of an agricultural building. 



Mr. Morton's deep interest in tree planting and practical forestry is 

 widel}^ known, and he will be rememl)ered especiall}" as the author of 

 arbor day legislation. 



Upon the receipt of the news of the ex-Secretary's death a com- 

 mittee was appointed to draw up appropriate resolutions, which were 

 subsequentl}' adopted at a meeting of the officers and emplojees of the 



