REPOIIT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGIUCIJI/IMIRE. 29 



in Floridj!, and one. in Xew York above the latitude of Albany. To in- 

 augurate tiiose farms a ]ar,i;e sum will not be "necessary, and after tlie 

 first year the expense will l>e more than i>aid by the results of the culti- 

 vation a teach station. 



3. An increased appropriation for the gar<leiis and grounds of the 

 dei)artuient, which embraces experimental cultivation and propagation 

 of trees, plants, &c., for distribution. This appropriation should be in- 

 creased to at least $15,000. 



4. An increased ap])ropriation of $5,000 for obtaining new material, 

 employing labor, and otherwise extending the benetits arising from the 

 museum and botanical divisions of this department. 



5. A renewal of the appropriation of $10,000 for the examination of 

 the diseases of domesticated animals. 



6. A renewal of the appropriation for continuing the investigation of 

 the history and habits of insects injurious to agriculture. Ten thousand 

 dollars at least should be annually expended in that direction by the 

 department. 



7. An additional appropriation of $6,000 to contiiuie the work on 

 forestry. 



Permission and direction to occupy and plant on the government 

 land on the Coteau d' Prairie, a forest conforming to the width of the 

 coteau and extending the entire length of the elevated land from the 

 northern end near Bigstone Lake toward the Iowa line. 



A re-establishment of the forest which once grew on this elevated 

 land would increase the value of the government land far beyond the 

 cost of planting, and can and would also afford an opportunity of as- 

 certaining the meteorological and other beneficial changes that would 

 probably take place in consequence of the establishment of so large a 

 body of timber crossing the path of the severe storms that sometimes 

 sweep with terrible energy and devastation across those naked plains. 

 The lands are owned by the government, and they can be reserved from 

 sale for this purpose. The experiment need not be an expensive one, 

 nor can there be any doubt about the favorable result even as a profitable 

 investment. 



The same thing should be done in ^he middle plains, commencing at 

 the South Park and running southeast. With these two experimental 

 forests many questions now discussed could be settled, and much knowl- 

 edge of a most interesting and valuable character could be furnished 

 to the people. 



A tract of country at the foot-hills, on the east and west side of the 

 Rocky Mountains, usually considered an arid desert, aTid estiinate<l to 

 be equal to nearly one-fifth of the producti'se area of the United States, 

 wheniiTigated, has been found to be astonishingly productive, especially 

 for all the cereals that are commonly used for the support of human life. 



The inadequacy of the streams which run from tlie mountnins into 

 the-e plains and irrigate the country, the excess of the pop\ilation of 



