REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. XXIII 



BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



The Bureau of Plant Industry was one of four Bureaus organized 

 during the year in accordance with an act of the last Congress. The 

 advantages of bringing together the allied lines of work in the Depart- 

 ment were pointed out in my last report, and already good results 

 have been secured by following the policy there laid down. Con- 

 gress authorized the bringing together of the plant physiological and 

 pathological investigations, the botanical investigations, the grass 

 and forage plant investigations, the work on pomolog} T , and the ex- 

 perimental gardens and grounds; and -during the year the Arlington 

 experimental farm, the investigations in the production of domestic 

 tea, the work on foreign seed and plant introduction, and the Congres- 

 sional seed distribution have been added by executive order, making 

 nine branches in all. The unification of work and the advantages 

 resulting from close cooperation and perfect elasticity to all branches 

 composing the Bureau as at present organized prompt me to urge that 

 Congress take proper action toward broadening all lines, as provided 

 for in the estimates for the next fiscal } T ear. As at present constituted 

 the Bureau has a corps of more than 200 efficient workers, and 

 nowhere else in the world are so many important plant problems being 

 studied. The past year has been marked by important advances along 

 many lines, a few of which may be noted here. 



PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY. 



The field of plant physiology and pathology is an exceedingly broad 

 one, involving, as it does, a study of normal plant life on the one 

 hand, and abnormal conditions on the other. Although this work is 

 comparatively new, its advances have been rapid, especially during the 

 past three or four years, largely as a result of the work done by the 

 Department. The great aim of all this work is to make it reach the 

 farmer, and to do this it is essential that the practical features should 

 always be kept in mind. Following are some of the practical results 

 obtained in the past year, showing the bearing of this work: 



WORK ON COTTON DISEASES. 



Cotton is subject to many serious diseases, some of which cause 

 immense annual losses. These losses are not evenl} T divided, but fall 

 with crushing effect upon individual growers and communities. In 

 the sea-island region, where the fine grades of sea-island cotton are 

 produced, hundreds of acres, including many fine farms, have been 

 rendered worthless for cotton by a disease known as wilt. This is due 

 to a fungus parasite in the soil, which for several years has been 

 spreading slowly but surely throughout the cotton areas of the South- 

 east. Every attempt to kill this fungus in the old way, by treating 



