October 26, 191 1] 



NATURE 



565 



Dwellers of the Musa Verde," translated from the Swedish 

 original in 1893. This interesting monument, of which the 

 most remarkable portion is a great round tower, has long 

 suffered from the vandalism of casual treasure-seekers. It 

 has now been taken in hand by the Government of the 

 United States, which deputed Mr. Jesse W. Fewkes to 

 effect a conservative restoration. The results of his opera- 

 tions are described in a valuable monograph, included in 

 Bulletin 51 of the Bureau of American Ethnology. The 

 buildings are prehistoric in the sense that there is no 

 evidence of any culture derived from the white immigrants ; 

 and, though the relations of the Pueblo culture to that of 

 the cliff-dwellers is still in some degree uncertain, the latter 

 appears to be the earlier. Of special interest is the question 

 of the disposal of the dead by cremation, the corpse being 

 apparently dried before it was committed to the flames. The 

 religion of this people, of which ceremonial dances formed an 

 important part, cannot be clearly ascertained until the 

 numerous cult objects obtained by excavation are more 

 carefully examined. 



GRANTS FOR AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE IN 



THE UNITED STATES. 1 

 '"THE growth of the National Department of Agriculture 

 A during the past ten years has far exceeded that of all 

 of its preceding history. This was pointed out by the Hon. 

 Charles F. Scott, chairman of the House Committee on 

 Agriculture, in submitting the new Agricultural Appropria- 

 tion Bill last winter. As a full-fledged department with a 

 Cabinet Minister at its head, the Department dates only 

 from 1S89. But if we go back to 1839, when 2001. was 

 appropriated for " agricultural statistics," and include every 

 dollar appropriated out of the Treasury of the United States 

 for agricultural purposes down to and including the year 

 1900, the total sum is only 9,020,523;., while the aggregate 

 of all the money appropriated from the end of 1900 to the 

 end of the current fiscal year reaches a sum nearly double 

 this, or iS, 002. 412/. For the fiscal year 1901 the appropria- 

 tion for maintenance was 660,833/. This year the Depart- 

 ment has at its disposal 3,094,127/. " Ten years ago the 

 total number of persons employed in the Department was 

 3388 : this year if all the rolls were called an army of 

 12.4S0 men and women would respond." 



Under the Bill submitted by the committee referred to 

 above, which after discussion and amendment received the 

 signature of President Taft on March 4, provision is made 

 for an even greater development during the ensuing year. 

 The aggregate amount carried by the Act is 3,380,003?., 



which by far exceeds that granted in any previous mi : 



and is 177,590/. in excess of the estimates submitted by 

 the Department. 



There is an apparent increase over the Appropriation Act 

 for 191 1 of 682,476/., but of this 144,000/. is only nominal, 

 since it merely replaces what has hitherto been provided 

 automatically as a permanent appropriation to the State 

 experiment stations under the Adams Act. It will be re- 

 called that by the terms of that Act as subsequently con- 

 strued in the Appropriation Act for 1907, definite appropria- 

 tions were made only until July 1, 1911. The action taken 

 by Congress now provides for the continuance of the Adams 

 Fund on the same basis as the Hatch Fund, requiring the 

 amounts to be appropriated annually in the Agricultural 

 Bill. With due allowance for this item, however, thi 

 still an actual enlargement of the appropriations of every 

 bureau, and a net increase of fully 20 per cent, for the 

 Department as a whole. 



In general, the increased appropriations are for the pur- 

 of extending and developing lines of work already 

 under way, rather than the undertaking of new projects, 

 and some of the principal increases are for what may be 

 termed the administrative activities of the Department. 

 One of the largest new items is an appropriation of 

 200,000/. for fighting and preventing forest fires in the 

 national forests in cases of extraordinary emergencv. This 

 appropriation is in addition to the regular appropriation of 

 30,000/. for fire fighting under ordinary conditions, and 

 supplements deficiency appropriations of more than 



1 From the U.S. Exftrhnmt Station Record, vol. xxiv., No. 5. ioit. 

 The dollars in the original have been ronvrfd into English currency. 



NO. 219I, VOL. 87] 



180,000/. incurred as a result of the disastrous fires of last 

 summer. 



The Federal meat inspection, which has been enforced 

 by the Department from a permanent annual appropriation 

 of 600,000/., receives an indirect increase of 31,000/. 

 through the transfer of its clerical force to the statutory 

 roll of the Bureau of Animal Industry. The Bureau of 

 Chemistry receives 12,000/. additional for the enforcement 

 of the Food and Drugs Act, and the Weather Bureau 

 15,098/. additional for its weather service. Provision is 

 also made by an appropriation of 17,400/. for the enforce- 

 in. -nt of the Insecticide Act, which became effective on 

 January 1, and for which a deficiency appropriation of 

 7000/. had been allowed for expenses to July 1. 



A number of propositions involving general legislation 

 were considered in connection with the Bill, but as finally 

 enacted the law remains substantially a routine measure. 

 The secretary was again authorised to continue investiga- 

 tions on the cost of food supplies at the farm and to the 

 consumer, and a special appropriation of 1000/. was added 

 for a study of chestnut-bark disease. 



The Weather Bureau receives a total of 320,050/. Of 

 this amount, 3000/. is for the restoration of the Weather 

 Bureau station at Key West, Florida, wrecked by hurri- 

 canes in October, 1910. The allotment for maintenance 

 of the bureau printing office was reduced to 3600/. by- 

 reason of the recent transfer of a portion of the equip- 

 ment to the Government Printing Office. For investiga- 

 tion of climatology and evaporation 24,000/. was provided, 

 as at present. 



The appropriations to the Bureau of Animal Industry 

 aggregate 330,150/. Aside from the increase due to the 

 transfers from the Meat Inspection Act, previously referred 

 to, the chief additions are those of 1424/. for the tick- 

 eradication work, making that appropriation 50,000/. ; an 

 increase of 1400/. for the work of the Dairy Division, 

 making its total 30,000/. ; and of 1528/. for the Animal 

 Husbandry Division, or 9496/. for that work. Under a 

 new clause inserted in the Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 

 is authorised to permit, under certain conditions, the 

 admission of tick-infested cattle from Mexico into those 

 portions of Texas below the quarantine line. 



New appropriations were made of 13,000/. for the pur- 

 chase of land for quarantine stations near Baltimore, Mary- 

 land, and Boston. Massachusetts ; 2000/. for equipping the 

 475-acre experiment farm which has recently been acquired 

 at Beltsville, Maryland ; and 3300/. for constructing build- 

 ings at this farm and that at Bethesda, Maryland. It is 

 expected to utilise the Beltsville farm for the experimental 

 work of the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Divisions, and 

 to reserve that at Bethesda for pathological investigations. 



One of the largest increases in the Bill was accorded to 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry, which will receive 60,696/. 

 additional, making its total 412,337/. The lump-fund 

 appropriation for general expenses is 288,307/., which is 

 divided among thirty projects. Some of the largest of 

 these are 70,000/. for the boll-weevil campaign (a net 

 increase of 21,389/.); methods of crop production in the 

 semi-arid or dry-land sections, and for the utilisation of 

 lands reclaimed under the Reclamation Act, for which a 

 net increase of 7654/. and a total of 28,612/. is granted : 

 28,584/. for the farm-management studies, of which 800/. 

 is to be used in agricultural reconnaissance work in 

 Alaska ; studies of the production, handling, grading, and 

 transportation of grains, for which 27,001/. is available, 

 an increase of 4900/. ; and the studies of fruit improve- 

 ment and the methods of growing, packing, and market- 

 ing fruits, which will have 17,547/. The investigations of 

 the cotton industry were extended to include the ginning 

 and wrapping of cotton. 



For the purchase and distribution of valuable seeds and 

 plants the allotment made was 57,936/. This is an 

 apparent decrease of 3982/., but it is accounted for in part 

 bv transfers of clerical employees to the statutory roll of 

 the Bureau, and in part by the segregation as a distinct 

 project of 4000Z., which was formerly supported from this 

 fund. The two items comprising this appropriation are the 

 congressional seed distribution, which is continued on the 

 usual basis, with 47.432/., and the allotment for the intro- 

 duction of seeds and plants from foreign countries, which 

 is increased to 10,504/. 



