BUREAUS, DIVISIONS, AND OFFICES. 



The bureaus, offices, and divisions of the Department as now organ- 

 ized are as follows : 



THE WEATHER BUREAU. 



The Weather Bureau had its origin in the publication by the Depart- 

 ment, beginning in 1803, of meteorological data gathered by the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and in the recommendation by Commissioner 

 Newton, the flrst Commissioner of Agriculture, that daily weather 

 reports by telegraph, under the direction of the Government, be dis- 

 tributed to the country. This service was authorized by an act of 

 Congress of February 4, 1870, and was conducted by the Chief Signal 

 Officer of the Army for twenty years. By the act of October 1, 1890, 

 the Weather Bureau as such was officially recognized, and was trans- 

 ferred to the Department of Agriculture, the general details of its 

 organization being defined in that act. On July 1, 1891, the actual 

 transfer took place. 



The duties of the Weather Bureau are the forecasting of the weather, 

 issue of storm warnings, display of weather and flood signals for the 

 benefit of agriculture, commerce, and navigation; the gauging and 

 reporting of rivers, the maintenance and operation of seacoast telegraph 

 lines, and the collection and transmission of marine intelligence for the 

 benefit of commerce and navigation; the reporting of temperature and 

 rainfall conditions for the cotton, sugar, rice, and other interests; the 

 display of frost and cold- wave signals; the distribution of meteorolog- 

 ical information in the interests of agriculture and commerce, and the 

 taking of such meteorological observations as may be necessary to 

 establish and record the climatic conditions of the United States, or as 

 are essential to the proper execution of the foregoing duties. 



The Bureau now has 150 fully equipped meteorological stations ; 253 

 stations specially equipped for the display of danger warnings to mari- 

 ners; 261 stations for the taking of telegraphic reports of temperature 

 and rainfall in the growing fields, and over 3,000 stations wliere volun- 

 tary observers make records of temperature and rainfall with standard 

 instruments. Mark W. Harrington was the first chief, and was suc- 

 ceeded on July 1, 1895, by Willis L. Moore, the present chief. 



BUREAU OF ANIMAl, INDUSTRY. 



The Bureau of Animal Industry, established in 1884, now comprises 

 subdivisions as follows: Inspection division, miscellaneous division, 

 pathological division, biochemic division, zoological laboratory, dairy 

 21091— No. 3 3 33 



