REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. CXI1I 



SALARIES INADEQUATE. 



During the remarkable developments in the agriculture and com- 

 merce of this country within the past fifteen or twenty years, the 

 Department of . Agriculture has steadily improved its personnel, has 

 broadened its work along economic lines, and has contributed not a 

 little to the progress of events and to the building up of domestic and 

 foreign trade. Originally organized as a scientific bureau for acquir- 

 ing and disseminating among the people useful information, it has 

 solved many problems in animal industry concerning the cause and 

 remedy of disease, has stamped out contagious diseases which threat- 

 ened to ravage the country, and has kept open foreign markets by its 

 system of rigid and competent inspection; through the Weather 

 Bureau it has aided in saving growing crops and the products of the 

 farm in transit, besides being of inestimable value in its warnings for 

 the benefit of commerce in lake and ocean navigation. It has investi- 

 gated the proper methods of controlling plant diseases and insect pests. 

 It has studied and classified soils, pointing out their necessities and 

 their values for certain crops, and has introduced new crops and new 

 industries from abroad. 



The Department has endeavored to retain the best scientific talent 

 in the country for the investigation of the many problems confronting 

 the agriculturist, in the interest not of pure science but of agricultural 

 and commercial development. Coincident with the growth in the 

 Department's duties, and largely as an outcome of it, numerous insti- 

 tutions have grown up in every State of this country, as well as in 

 foreign lands, devoted to lines of work similar to those pursued in the 

 Department, which may be generally described as the application of 

 science to the service of agriculture. These State and governmental 

 institutions, and the private agricultural interests as well, are now pay- 

 ing salaries for expert services commensurate with those paid in pro- 

 fessional and industrial lines. Men with good business training and 

 thorough understanding of agriculture and a fair knowledge of scien- 

 tific principles and methods are constantly in demand at good prices. 



There has never been in the history of the world such a strenuous 

 competition between the different countries for commercial supremacy 

 as exists to-day. Each nation is exerting itself to the utmost to 

 extend its production, so as to supply its own wants and to provide a 

 surplus for exportation. In doing this they are depending more and 

 more upon the aid of science, and are taking advantage of every scien- 

 tific discovery. The result is that men who combine knowledge with 

 experience and practical ability are difficult to get and are increasingly 

 in demand. In the general conflict between nations it is obvious that 

 that country which has been the most liberal in securing properly 

 equipped organizers of its industry is sure to have the advantage in 

 this commercial strife. 

 agr 1901 VIII 



