COOPERATIVE RELATIONS 53 



assumed by Franklin and other early American representa- 

 tives in foreign countries, has now been made a part of the 

 regular duties of diplomatic and consular agents. The in- 

 structions issued by the Department of State now require 

 that these officials cooperate with the Department of Agri- 

 culture, either by actually collecting and transmitting spec- 

 imens believed to be of value, or by making arrangementsj 

 for scientific exploration parties.* Diplomatic and consular 

 officers are also required by law to procure and transmiit, for 

 the use of the Department of Agriculture " monthly reports 

 relative to the character, condition, and prospective yields of 

 the agricultural and horticultural industries and other fruit- 

 eries of the country in which they are respectively sta- 

 tioned."^ 



The work of the Department of the Interior and that of 

 the Department of Agriculture touches and overlaps at so 

 many points that it is sometimes difficult for Congress and 

 the department heads properly to determine their respective 

 spheres. Indeed, it may truthfully be said that the newer 

 department is largely an outgrowth or overflow from the 

 older. Despite the many shiftings of functions from one 

 department to the other, there are still many activities in 

 which there must be close cooperation and definite under- 

 standing. The administration of the national forests is 

 under the control of the Department of Agriculture ; but the 

 national parks, which for the most part are situated within 

 and form a part of the national forest reserves, are admin- 

 istered by the Department of the Interior. The installation 

 and management of the great irrigation reclamation projects 

 form an important part of the work of the Department of 

 the Interior; but the investigation of methods of irrigation, 

 canal construction, the determination of the amount of 

 water required for the growing of various crops, and tho 

 demonstration of the use of irrigation water upon the land 



* Program of Work, pp. 199-200. ' 



'Rev. Stat. sec. 1712, as amended by Act of June 18, 1888, 25 Stat. 

 L. 186. 



