CTOTES. 609 



Drainage of the Atlantic Coast Rice Fields: (11) Practical [nformation for the 

 Settler in Irrigated Districts. 



Order Relative to Government Printing.- The President has issued an order relativi 

 fco the printing of tin- Governmenl Departments, the character of material to be 

 included in annual reports, etc. This order calls for the appointment by the head 

 of each Executive Department of an advisory committee on the subject of printing 

 and publications, in accordance with which Assistanl Secretary \V. M. Hay-. Prof. 

 Willis 1.. Moore, of the Weather Bureau, and Mr. Geo. Win. Hill, chief of the 

 Division of Publications, have been selected for this Department. " It shall !>•• the 

 duty of such committee, under direction of the head of the Department, to see thai 

 unnecessary matter is excluded from reports and publications; to see that copy is 

 carefully edited before rather than after going to the printing office; to do away 

 with the publication of unnecessary tables, and to require that statistical matter be 

 published in condensed and intelligible form; to supervise the preparation of blank 

 forms; to require the frequenl revision of mailing lists; to prevenl duplication of 

 printing by different Bureaus; to exclude unnecessary illustrations from Department 

 documents, and to prevenl the printing of the maximum edition allowed by law, 

 when a smaller edition will suffice; to recommend to the head of the Department, 

 lor inclusion in the recommendations contained in his annual reports, needed 

 changes in the statutes governing Department publications." 



The President has also directed that annual reports shall be confined to concise 

 accounts of work done and expenditures incurred during the period covered, with 

 recommendations relating to the future, and shall not include contributions to knowl- 

 edge in the form of scientific treatises, material compiled by persons not connected 

 with the reporting office, biographical and eulogistic matter, or detailed descriptions 

 and lists of methods, processes, etc. The illustrations are to be much restricted, as 

 are also tabular matter and texts of laws and court decisions. 



Bills Before Congress. — The following hills of agricultural interest have recently 

 been introduced: To require the Secretary of Agriculture to make monthly reports as 

 to the long-Staple cotton, pineapple, and orange crops: authorizing the Secretary of 

 Agriculture to make experiments to eradicate splenetic or southern fever ticks, and 

 appropriating $25,000 for the purpose; authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to 

 make experiments with a view to eradicating Texas fever, and appropriating $100,000 

 for the purpose; granting to the State of Minnesota certain lands to he set aside for 

 experimental work in forestry; to prevent the adulteration of blue grass, orchard 

 grass, clover, and alfalfa seed, ami providing for inspection by the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry; to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to examine and report upon the 

 nature, quality, and condition of seed and grain, and appropriating $30,000; to further 

 promote the dairy industry of the United States, appropriating $20,000 to he expended 

 under the direction of this Department; authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to 

 make experiments and investigations in utilizing limited water supplies in connection 

 with farming in the semiarid regions, and appropriating $30,000 for the purpose; and 

 a hill providing for the segregation of $1,000,000 from the Reclamation Fund, to "be 

 used for constructing a system of land drainage in six counties of North Dakota, 

 under the supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture, benefits to be assessed against 

 the lands drained and to he returned to the fund. 



The Adams hill for the increased endowment of the experiment stations was 

 reported January 15, and at that time Mr. Adams submitted a statement briefly 

 betting forth in admirable terms the present position of agricultural experimentation 

 in relation t<> the development of agriculture, the great value of the experiment 

 stations, and the need of further appropriation, which has grown out of their work. 



Agricultural Experimentation in Russian Poland. — A recent issue of Die landwirt- 

 fchaftlichen Vermchs-Staiionen (Vol. »;•">. No. L-2) contains a historical account of agri- 



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