WORK OF COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY COLMAN. 



19 



Departments of the Governmeut on February 11, 1889, aud he was 

 appointed by the President the first Secretary of Agriculture. On his 

 retirement from the office Mr. Colman received from the President of 

 the Republic of France, through its minister of agriculture, the Cross 

 of "Officier du Merite Agricole," accompanied by a gold medal and the 

 decoration of the order. 



OfBce of Experiment Stations.— Mr. Colman took a deep interest in 

 the plan being pushed at this time by Representative Hatch for the 

 establishment of agricultural experiment stations in all the States. 

 He called a meeting of the leading men of the agricultural colleges and 

 existing experiment stations, at which the need of Federal aid for 

 experiments and a central office 

 in the Department with advisory 

 duties, wasmadeprominent. In 

 accordance with the opinions ex- 

 pressed at tliis convention the 

 Hatch bill, which became a law 

 in 1887, made it a part of the 

 duty of the Commissioner of Ag- 

 riculture "to furnish forms for 

 the tabulation of results of in- 

 vestigations or experiments ; to 

 indicate, from time to time, such 

 lines of inciuiry as to him shall 

 seem most important; and, in 

 general, to furnish such advice 

 and assistance as will best pro- 

 mote the purposes of this act.' 

 For this purpose an office was 

 established, known in the Department as the Office of Experiment 

 Stations, under a chief who is styled director. The publication of a 

 periodical, such as the present Experiment Station Record, was 

 recommended. 



New divisions established.— The Division of Pomology and the Division 

 of Ornithology and Mammalogy were established under Commissioner 

 Colman. The latter was in response to a demand for an investigation 

 of the damage done to crops and fruits by birds, especially the English 

 sparroM^ and bobolink, or rice bird. 



The section of vegetable pathology was formed in the Division of 

 Botany. A station was established at Aurora, 111., for the study of 

 apiculture. The irrigation inquiries were continued and a report was 

 made on what had already been done. The study of public highways 

 was begun. 



The question of reeling silk from the cocoons at a cost sufficiently 

 low to permit competition with cheap foreign labor was taken up, and 

 reeling rooms were established at ]^ew Orleans, La., Philadelphia, Pa.. 



NoBMAN J. Colman, 

 Commissioner and Secretary of Agricultore. 



1885-1889. 



