CVIII REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 



DIVISION OF ACCOUNTS AND DISBURSEMENTS. 



Congress appropriated $3,303,500 for the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1901, being 

 an increase of $558,920 over the appropriation for the preceding year. 

 When all accounts shall have been finally settled the payments will 

 amount to about $3,220,000. 



The regular appropriation of $15,000 for each of the 48 agricultural 

 experiment stations in the several States was also made. 



On June 30, 1901, the unexpended balances of the appropriations 

 for the year 1899, amounting to $28,899.27, were covered into the 

 Treasury. 



During the year $6,340 was paid for rental of leased buildings in 

 Washington. Owing to inadequate accommodations Congress, at its 

 last session, provided for the lease of additional buildings, and the 

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



BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



The Biological Survey is engaged in mapping the boundaries of the 

 natural crop belts of the country and aims to furnish the American 

 farmer with lists of agricultural products which, so far as climatic 

 conditions go, are likely to be a commercial success in different parts 

 of the country. This work is based on the theory, the correctness of 

 which is believed to have been established by the Biological Survey, 

 that the boundaries set by nature to areas inhabited by particular 

 kinds of native animals and plants are likewise the boundaries of areas 

 in which particular agricultural crops may be most successfully 

 cultivated. 



LIFE ZONES AND CROP BELTS IN TEXAS AND CALIFORNIA. 



During the past season the work of mapping the life zones and crop 

 belts in the West has been continued, particularly in Texas and Cali- 

 fornia. In Texas the boundaries of the several belts have been in the 

 main determined, and it has been ascertained that over a large part of 

 the arid lower Sonoran zone a fiber plant, a species of agave closely 

 related to the Mexican istle or "Tampico hemp," grows in great 

 abundance, covering an area about 20,000 square miles in extent. In 

 view of the enormous quantity of fiber of other species of agave annu- 

 ally imported into the United States, mainly from Mexico, amounting 

 in 1900 to 82,669 tons, worth $12,257,353, the Texas species is likely 

 to prove of considerable commercial value. 



In locating the boundaries of the zones in California many interest- 

 ing facts have been brought to light. In this State, owing to the trend 

 of the mountains and the influence of the coast fogs, the zones run in the 



