BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 45 



farm will also be made not only an auxiliary branch for the Bureau, 

 but as far as possible for the whole Department. As yet the entire 

 work on the farm has been confined to necessary preliminaries, such 

 as clearing, draining, and putting the ground in condition for practical 

 work, 



A change has been made in the management of the work of foreign 

 seed and plant introduction. The work is now conducted with a view 

 to making it beneficial to all branches of the Bureau. The plan 

 adopted with respect to this work puts special matters pertaining to 

 seed and plant introduction into the hands of responsible officers 

 already in the Bureau. These officers have been charged with the work 

 of introducing, disseminating, and following up the development of 

 new crops, with, it is believed, the promise of very satisfactory results. 

 The cereal introduction, for example, has been placed in the hands of 

 Messrs. Carleton, Swingle, and Scofleld, while the introduction and 

 dissemination of new varieties of cotton will be looked after by Messrs, 

 Webber and Dewey. Mr. Fairchild will be charged with the care of 

 certain special crops, while other members of the Bureau will have 

 similar responsibilities. This plan makes it possible to concentrate 

 work in such a way as to assure the best promise of success. All 

 plans for the future with respect to this work are made with a view 

 of concentrating efforts on furnishing new crops, and following up 

 these efforts until success or failure is assured. The result of this 

 policy is given in detail under another head. 



COOPERATIVE WORK. 



It has been the general policy of the Bureau to bring about as close 

 cooperation with other branches of the Department and with the State 

 experiment stations as is possible under existing conditions. Fortu- 

 nately, the past year has brought aliout changes which make coopera- 

 tion far more feasible than heretofore. The Bureau is now cooperat- 

 ing with the Bureau of Soils, the Bureau of Forestry, and the Bureau 

 of Chemistrj^ in important lines of investigation. In addition, exten- 

 sive cooperative work is under way with the State experiment stations, 

 all of which is described elsewhere in this report. True cooi^eration 

 is alwaj^s helpful, and our aim has been to recognize as fully as possi- 

 ble the fact that a clear understanding at the outset of what is expected 

 of each party to the work is essential to success. 



CHANGES IN PUBLICATIONS. 



The growth of the Department during the past few years has led to 

 much confusion in the matter of publications. The number of series 

 of bulletins, circulars. Farmers' Bulletins, etc., has increased so rap- 

 idly that it has been difficult to keep track of the various changes 

 made. In order to secure uniformity in the i^ublications of the Bureau 

 as far as possible, plans have been made and put into effect whereby 

 all bulletins by the different branches will be issued as one series. 

 This will greatly simplifjnnatters, and will do away with much of the 

 confusion that now exists. In addition to the one series of bulletins, 

 the Bureau will issue circulars. Farmers' Bulletins, and Yearbook 

 papers. The three last named will be for widespread disti-ibiition, 

 and will aim to emphasize the practical phases of all branches of the 

 work. 



