200 EXPERIMENT STATION RECOED. [Vol. 35, 1916 



editors respectively of the University of Tennessee and the North Dakota 

 College. 



Federal Aid in Eural Post Eoad Constriiction. — An act approved July 11 author- 

 izes the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with the States through their 

 highway departments in the construction of rural post roads. An appropria- 

 tion of $5,000,000 is made for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1917, $10,000,000 

 for 1918, $15,000,000 for 1919, $20,000,000 for 1920, and $25,000,000 for 1921, to 

 carry out the Act. Not to exceed three per cent of the appropriation for a 

 year may be used for administrative purposes, and the remainder is to be 

 apiwrtioned among the States. The basis of apportionment is as follows : One- 

 third in the ratio which the ax-ea of the State bears to the total area ; one-third 

 in the corresponding ratio as to population ; and one-third in the ratio which 

 the mileage of rural delivery and star mail routes in a State bears to the total 

 mileage on such routes. 



Projects must be submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture for all roads to be 

 constructed, and upon his approval not to exceed fifty per cent of the cost may 

 be expended as the share of the Federal Government. Construction is to be 

 under the sui>ervision of the state highway departments, but subject to the 

 inspection and approval of the Department. The States must maintain all 

 roads constructed under the Act, and may be debarred from further participa- 

 tion in its benefits until roads have been put in proper condition. 



An appropriation for $1,000,000 per annum for ten years is also made avail- 

 able for the construction of roads and trails wholly or partly within the National 

 Forests. These roads will subsequently be maintained upon a cooperative basis. 

 Expenditures under this provision are to be reimbursed from the revenues of 

 the National Forests. 



Cooperation with the United States Department of Agrioultnre. — A recent issue 

 of the Weekly Netos Letter announces that nearly 770,000 persons are now 

 aiding this Department as cooperators without compensation. This service is 

 being rendered mainly by furni.shing information, demonstrating the local use- 

 fulness of new methods, and the like. There are also 4,560 weather observers, 

 15,000 railroad agents reporting shipments of perishable crops to be used in the 

 market news service, and many other trade agencies. It is estimated that at 

 least one farm in every twenty is working in some way with the Department, 

 and thousands of others are rendering similar service to the agricultural 

 colleges and experiment stations. 



Miscellaneous. — ^A tablet, presented by the Guernsey Breeders' Association, 

 was unveiled June 20 at the University of Pennsylvania in memory of the late 

 Dr. Leonard Pearson, formerly professor in the university veterinary school and 

 dean of tl>e faculty. 



The Yorkshire Agricultural Union has decided to raise a national fund for 

 the representation of agriculture in the British Parliament by practical farmers. 



The Cn>sson Types of Hymenoptera, by Ezra Townsend Cresson, constitutes 

 No. 1 of the Memoirs of the American Entomological Society. 



