176 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



bandry is a subject that has been given a leading place in the investi 

 gations of this station. The results, now nearly ready for publication, 

 of three investigations upon the influence of protein supply upon milk 

 production seem to indicate that some material modification of current 

 views regarding the importance of a narrow nutritive ration in the 

 feeding of dairy cattle will be necessary. Another closely related 

 subject, animal nutrition, has received attention ever since the organi- 

 zation of the station. The completion of the respiration calorimeter 

 will give this subject even greater prominence than before. The 

 station is doing good work, but owing to lack of funds it is unable 

 to meet all demands made upon it for inspection service, correspond- 

 ence, and other routine work, and at the same time inaugurate and 

 conduct new lines of research, however much the latter may be needed. 



PORTO RICO. 



Porto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station, Rio Piedras, near San Juan. 



Under the supervision of A. C. True, Director Office of Experiment Stations, United 

 States Department of Agriculture. 



STATION STAFF. 



F. D. Gardner, Special Agent in Charge. O. W. Barrett, Ent. and Bot. 

 James Mackinlay, Farm Foreman. 



LINES OF WORK. 



The work of the Porto Rico Station during the past year has included 

 an agricultural survey of the island, comprising an inquiry into the 

 condition of the various agricultural industries, soils, rivers, drainage, 

 forests, roads, manufactures, wages, markets, education, and climate, 

 by Prof. S. A. Knapp, of Louisiana, under instructions from the 

 Director of this Office; also, a stud} r of the agricultural conditions and 

 possibilities of the island by Mr. F. D. Gardner, formerly of the Divi- 

 sion of Soils of this Department, who was appointed in April, 1901, 

 to the position of special agent in charge of the Porto Rico Experiment 

 Station. Mr. Gardner's preliminary investigations began in May and 

 continued throughout June and July. During the last three weeks in 

 June and the first three weeks in July he was assisted by O. F. Cook 

 and G. N. Collins, of the Bureau of Plant Industry of this Department. 



INCOME. 



The appropriation for the investigations in Porto Rico for the past 

 fiscal year was $5,000, and for the current fiscal year is $12,000. 



PUBLICATIONS. 



A report on a portion of the work of the past year was published as 

 House Document No. 171 (Fifty-sixth Congress, second session). A 

 second report has been prepared and is submitted herewith (pr^ 381—41 ,"S). 





