GUAM AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 9 



The road system of the station has been extended by the construc- 

 tion of about 1,000 feet, leaving about an equal amount of the system 

 as) originally planned to be constructed as time and funds are avail- 

 able. Walks have been laid about the new ofiice building and a lawn 

 covering an area of about 1 acre has been made. This improvement, 

 while comparatively inexpensive, has added much to the appearance 

 of the station, lending to the surroundings an air in keeping with 

 that of the new building and evoking much favorable comment. 

 Bermuda grass, Capriola dactylon^ one of the most common grasses 

 of the island, has been utilized for sodding. Economic and orna- 

 mental trees and shrubs have been planted, and hedges growling about 

 the grounds have been kept neatly trimmed in order to set before the 

 people an example of neatness and cleanliness which is so generally 

 lacking about the native home. 



OFFICE WORK. 



The completion of our new office building placed the work on a 

 more substantial basis, and modified methods of keeping records and 

 handling correspondence made necessary by the lack of suitable office 

 facilities have been elaborated and improved upon, resulting in 

 greater satisfaction in. the work and in greatly increasing the use- 

 fidness of all records and reference files. A marked increase in the 

 amount of necessary office work has developed during the past year, 

 due to an increase in all lines of field operations and .to a nnich wider 

 range of correspondence than had previously been maintained. The 

 new building furnishes accommodations for furniture and labnratorv 

 equipment, and much of these office supplies have l)een provided 

 during the year. A large number of bulletins and other publications 

 and a reasonable number of volumes on agricultural and allied sub- 

 jects have been collected, forming a nucleus of what it is hoped to 

 make a good working library. The appointment on INIay 1, 1911, of 

 Mr. P. IS'elson, mentioned elsewhere in this report, insures greater per- 

 manency in the system, of records, since it is through his knowledge 

 of record and account keeping that the system has bee«i developed. 



FIELD OPERATIONS. 



Both field and garden crops have generally given better success 

 during the past year than during any previous period in the history 

 of the station. This is largely due to improved soil conditions which 

 follow continued cultivation of a soil long uncultivated and packed 

 through the trampling of animals and heavy tropical rains. Light 

 applications of stable manure upon certain portions of the station 

 grounds, where the lack of fertility was most noticenl^le, have re- 

 sulted in a distinct improvement, as shown by greatly increased yields. 

 5.500.5°— 12 2 



