SCIENTIFIC WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT 45 



their despair they appealed to the department, which reme- 

 died the evil by calling in the aid of a httle beetle from Aus- 

 traUa which eliminated the destructive parasite in one sea- 

 son. The department has done other work, equally valuable, 

 in this line. 



Another practical work carried on by the department is 

 that done by the bureau of animal industry. This bureau 

 looks out for the public safety by inspecting the meat prod- 

 ucts of the country, but it also does excellent service in the 

 stamping out of diseases which afflict cattle and especially in 

 the improvement of breeds of cattle, sheep, and horses. 



The weather bureau, which was included in the signal 

 service of the United States army, is now a division, and one 

 of the most important divisions, of the department of agricul- 

 ture. It spends more than a million and a quarter of national 

 money, but it saves twenty times that sum to the merchants 

 and the shipping of the country. 



Of practical and scientific use is the United States 

 geological survey, which has done so much to classify the 

 mineral regions and resources of the country, and to study 

 the water distribution of the continent. As a side line to this 

 work much original research has been done in geology, which 

 has largely added to the reputation of American geologists. 

 The geological survey has concerned itself, with excellent re- 

 sults, about the important question of irrigation which, upon 

 suggestions from the bureau, contemplates the transportation 

 of the arid regions of the west into vast productive gardens 

 of agriculture and viticulture. 



For this work will be required a vast sum of money which 

 is ready and waiting in the treasury. It is the proceeds, 

 amounting to some $20,000,000, of the sale of pubHc lands. 



The experts of the survey have made valuable discover- 

 ies, now and then, in the way of the precious metals; notably, 

 the finding of a great deposit of gold bearing rock in Alaska. 

 This deposit is more than 500 miles long, stretching clear into 

 British territory, across the Yukon, and ranging through 

 easily accessible mountains. 



Another important discovery was that made by one of 

 the precious stone experts of the survey who found a new 



