REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. XIII 



record attained in the exportation of agricultural products previous to 

 last year was surpassed by more than $90,000,000 for the fiscal year 

 1901, when a value of over $950,000,000 was reached. Fully 65 per 

 cent of domestic merchandise sent abroad during that year originated 

 on the farm. The most important foreign markets for our surplus 

 products are in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Nether- 

 lands, and Belgium. We sent to Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine 

 Islands in 1901, $18,600,000 worth of exports, being about 53 per cent 

 of their receipts in those islands. They are increasing in Porto Rico 

 and the Philippines, and declining in Cuba. Our imports from these 

 three island groups increased from $36,162,000 in 1900 to $48,600,000 

 in 1901, the bulk of the gain being in the imports from Cuba. Of the 

 $70,000,000 worth of domestic merchandise exported from the Pacific 

 coast during the fiscal year 1900, $45,000,000 worth consisted of farm 

 produce. 



Library. — We have the most extensive agricultural library in the 

 country. Four thousand books and pamphlets were added during the 

 past year. Reference lists with regard to publications on land drain- 

 age, tobacco, etc. , have been prepared. The constantly broadening field 

 of investigation makes increased demands upon the Library, and it is 

 necessary that our scientists have access to the work done at home and 

 abroad. The agricultural colleges and experiment stations are draw- 

 ing upon the resources of the Library to assist them in special work. 

 An increased appropriation to permit of the engagement of scientific 

 aids in library work is much needed. The Library room, like the other 

 quarters of the Department, is entirely inadequate. 



Accounts and Disbursements. — Congress appropriated $3,303,500 

 for the Department for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1901. Final 

 payments will amount to about $3,200,000. Owing to inadequate 

 accommodations in the Department proper, our rentals for outside 

 buildings for the fiscal year 1902 will exceed $10,000. 



Biological Survey. — This Division is engaged in mapping the 

 boundaries of the natural crop belts of the country, and aims to furnish 

 the American farmer with lists of crops likely to succeed in different 

 parts of the country. The work has been done in Texas and California to 

 a great extent during the past season. A fiber plant has been discovered 

 that grows over 20,000 square miles of land in Texas, and the Biologist 

 thinks that the fiber of this plant may take the place of over $12,000,000 

 worth of the fiber of other species of agave annually imported, mostly 

 from Mexico. The fog zones of California mostly run north and 

 south, owing to the trend of the mountains, and interesting deduc- 

 tions for fruit growers are reached. The prairie dog of the great 

 plains that stretch from Montana and the Dakotas into Texas is increas- 

 ing rapidly, owing to the destruction of its natural enemies, to the seri- 

 ous hrjury of pasture grasses. Field experiments are being conducted 

 looking to its destruction. 



Observation of birds in southern California shows that two of them 

 feed extensively on the olive scale. The large blackbirds of southern 

 Texas that feed on crayfish which cut the rice plant and on the cab- 

 bage worm have been slaughtered in great numbers for the millinery 

 trade. These studies in ornithology have a direct bearing upon crop 

 production. Farmers' Bulletins on these topics are being distributed 

 in large editions. This Division is charged with the supervision of 



