4 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



place, and they are of much value in the work of forecasting the 

 movements of storms on the Atlantic Ocean. 



NEW FORECAST DISTRICTS. 



Three additional forecasting districts have been established and 

 designated as the New England district, the West Gulf district, and 

 the Rocky Mountain district, with headquarters at Boston, New 

 Orleans, and Denver, respectively. The last appropriation bill passed 

 by Congress made provision for three additional forecast officials to 

 be placed in charge of these districts with authority to issue forecasts 

 and warnings for the several States that are comprised in each district. 

 This system has the advantage of enabling each forecaster to devote 

 more time to the consideration of the predictions for each district and 

 of securing an earlier distribution of forecasts. As these forecast 

 officials were selected on account of their ability as forecasters for 

 their respective sections, it is expected that an improved service will 

 result. 



IMPROVEMENT IN FORECASTS. 



Special consideration has been given to the subject of increasing 

 the accuracy of the forecasts of the Weather Bureau to the highest 

 degree attainable, and, as a means of stimulating among the employees 

 of the Bureau the study of the problems of weather forecasting, 

 announcement has been made that hereafter marked success in fore- 

 casting, the invention of new methods of forecasting, or the discovery 

 of new facts or principles of marked value to the forecaster, will have 

 a special weight when the merits of employees of whatever grade for 

 promotion are considered. 



The forecasters of the central office at Washington have been 

 relieved, as far as possible, of all other routine work, and they will 

 devote their whole time and energies to forecast duty. These fore- 

 casters, when not detailed at thadaily work of forecasting, will eugage 

 in studies that aid them in their work. It is believed that this arrange- 

 ment will result in an improvement of the forecasting work of the 

 service. 



CLIMATE AND CROP WORK. 



The lines of work pursued in previous years by the climate and crop 

 service of the Weather Bureau were continued, and extensions and 

 improvements made wherever possible. The cotton-region service has 

 been extended into Oklahoma and the Indian Territory, and arrange- 

 ments have been made for inaugurating a similar work in California, 

 to be known as the fruit and wheat service. 



Few persons realize what a complete system the Weather Bureau 

 forms for the accurate and rapid collection and dissemination of crop 

 information. It has 1,200 paid and skillfully trained officials outside of 

 Washington, who are quite evenly distributed over the United States 

 and its island possessions, and who are available to report on any 

 matters concerning weather, crops, climate, or statistics. It has 200 

 officials and employees at the central office in Washington. It has 180 

 fully equipped meteorological stations quite equidistantly scattered 

 over the United States and its dependencies, each manned by from 

 one to ten trained officials, which stations are not only weather observa- 

 tories, but are centers for the gathering of statistical and climate and 

 crop reports. It has a central observatory in each State and Territory, 



