

NATURE 



[October 26, 191 1 



propriations u> the Forest Service reached a total 

 1 addition to the various emergency appro- 

 priations to which reference has been made. This, as 

 usual, represents the largest appropriation to any one 

 I, and is also the largest increase over the previous 

 total for 1911 having been 1,001,620!. The 

 policy of definite allotments to each of the 161 national 

 forests for maintenance was continued. The Nebraska 

 National Forest was authorised to furnish young trees free 

 of charge to settlers in the surrounding region. 



The sum of 30,000!. was granted for fighting forest fires 

 and for other unforeseen emergencies, of which 14,000!. is 

 immediately available. The allotment for permanent 

 improvements on the national forests was increased from 

 55,000!. to 100,000!. Provision was made for the refund- 

 ing to claimants of moneys erroneously collected in the 

 administration of the national forests, and for the granting 

 of easements under certain conditions for rights of way 

 across the public lands, national forests, and reservations 

 for the transmission of electrical power and for telephone 

 and telegraph purposes. 



Liberal provision for the development of investigational 

 work was also made, 35,408!. being granted for investiga- 

 tions of methods for wood distillation and preservation and 

 the economic use of forest products, including the testing 

 of woods for paper-making, together with 36S4!. for in- 

 vestigations of range conditions within national forests and 

 range improvement, 50,238!. for silvicultural and dendro- 

 logical experiments, and 6752!. for miscellaneous forest 

 investigations and the preparation and dissemination of 

 results. 



The appropriation of the Bureau of Soils was increased 

 to 52,412!. N^ appropriation was made for soil-erosion 

 investigations, for which 1000!. has been allotted annually 

 for many years. The soil-survey work received 29,000!., a 

 net increase of 2608!., with a provision added limiting to 

 10 per cent, the expenditures in any State. 



The Bureau was authorised to undertake a new line of 

 work by the appropriation of 2500!. " for exploration and 

 investigation within the United States to determine a 

 possible source of supply of potash, nitrates, and other 

 natural fertilisers," 500!. being made immediately avail- 

 able. It is expected that particular attention will be 

 devoted to possible sources of potash in view of the present 

 situation as regards the German potash supply. The work 

 will also be supplemented by researches to be conducted by 

 the Geological Survey, which received authority in the 

 Sundry Civil Appropriation Act to expend 8000!. " for 

 chemical and physical researches relating to the geology 

 of the United States, including researches with a view 

 of determining geological conditions favourable to the 

 presence of potash salts." According to a recent announce- 

 ment from the Survey, the expenditure of half this aporo- 

 priation for the potash exploration is contemplated. 



The Bureau of Entomology receives an aggregate of 

 120,384!.' This is an increase of 13,948!., mainly for the 

 extension of work to the alfalfa weevil and for enlarging 

 nestigations on insects affecting rice and sugar-cane, 

 for demonstration work against forest insects, and for 

 additional studies in bee culture. The largest single allot- 

 ment is for the continuation of the campaign against the 

 gipsy-moth and brown-tail moth, for which the appropria- 

 tion is 56,968!. 



T he large proportionate increase of 10,556!. was 

 accorded the Bureau of Biological Survey, making its total 

 All the various lines of work were continued on 

 a more comprehensive basis, and new items were included 

 of 500!. for the purchase, rapture, and transportation of 

 game for national reservations, and of 4000!. for the feed- 

 rotei ling, and removal of elk at Jackson's Hole, 

 Wyoming, and vicinity. The latter appropriation is made 

 immediately available, and remains available until ex- 

 pended. 



tivities of the Office of Public Roads have been 



rapidly increasing in recent years, and to keep pace with 



wing demands the appropriation was increased from 



22,848!. to 32,144!. A new line of work authorised is the 



icting of field experiments in road construction and 



foi which - ! is granted. 



otal appropriation of the Office of Experiment 



Stations is 372,800/., ol which 288,000!. is allotted ■■ 

 State experiment stations under the Hatch and Adams 

 Acts. Of the remainder, 11,300!. is for statutory salaries, 

 and 7500!., a net increase of 1000!., is for general expenses. 

 The allotment of 2000!. for the Agricultural Education 

 Service was continued as at present. 



The nutrition investigations received an increase of 

 1000!., making 3000!. available for this purpose. This 

 increase will enable further extension of these investiga- 

 tions and the preparation of popular bulletins setting forth 

 plans for the more economical and effective utilisation of 

 agricultural products as human food, for which data a 

 strong demand has been in evidence. 



An estimate of 4000!., submitted for the preparation, 

 publication, and dissemination of original technical reports 

 of the scientific investigations of the experiment stations, 

 by the Secretary of Agriculture in cooperation with the 

 Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experi- 

 ment Stations, was favourably recommended by both the 

 House and Senate Committees, but failed of passage. 



The Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico experiment stations 

 were given 6000!. each, an increase of 400!. in each case, 

 to equalise their funds with those received by the State 

 stations from Federal funds, and the Guam station was 

 continued at 3000!. The clause requiring the expenditure 

 of 1000!. by the Porto Rico station for coffee experiments 

 was omitted, thereby restoring the coffee work to the same 

 basis on which it has been conducted for many years 

 previous to the passage of the Act for 1911. 



The irrigation and drainage investigations each received 

 20,000!., a net increase of 6564I. and 5196!. respectively. 

 These increases will enable the extension of these lines of 

 work, especially in the rendering of assistance to settlers 

 in newly irrigated regions and in formulating plans for the 

 reclamation of swamp lands. The provision requiring a 

 special report of the aggregate expenses in the drainage 

 investigations to date, and the areas in the several States 

 and territories which have been investigated, was con- 

 tinued. 



The work of the remaining bureaus was provided for 

 along substantially the present lines. Including the increase 

 previously noted for the enforcement of the Food and Drugs 

 Act, the Bureau of Chemistry will receive 13,616!. more 

 than at present, and a total of 192,756!. The Bureau of 

 Statistics is given 46,324!. : the library, Sioo!. ; the office 

 of the secretary, 55,290!. : the Division of Accounts, 

 19,504!. ; the Division of Publications, 41,992!. ; and the 

 fund for contingent expenses, 22,000!. These all contain 

 small increases, occasioned in general by the growth of the 

 Department. 



Eliminating the deficiency appropriations and that for 

 the Forest Reservation Commission, these various appro- 

 priations, which are intimately connected with the work of 

 the Department, would if added to the regular appropria- 

 tions make a grand total of 4,514,003!. This is a large 

 sum ; but, as was pointed out by Chairman Scott in con- 

 cluding the presentation of the Bill, " the money appro- 

 priated for the Department of Agriculture is an investment 

 and not an expense. And that it has been a good invest- 

 ment the statistics showing the expansion of agriculture 

 and the improvement in methods throughout our country 

 bear eloquent witness. During these past ten years, while 

 the Department cf Agriculture has been expending 

 18,000,000!., the farmers of the United States have added 

 to the wealth of the world the stupendous and incompre- 

 hensible sum of 16,000,000,000!. Without anything like a 

 corresponding increase in the area of land under cultiva- 

 tion, the value of the farm products of our country has 

 risen from slightly more than 800,000,000!. ten ye; 

 to nearly i,Soo,ooo,ooo!. in 1910. 



" The conclusion is inevitable, therefore — and that con- 

 clusion could be made incontestable by innumerable other 

 proofs if time permitted — that the farmers of America are 

 applying better methods and getting better results from 

 their labours than ever before. And in devising the 

 methods, in pointing the way for better results, the I 

 ment of Agriculture has been the undisputed leader, a- it 

 should be, and has thus beyond cavil or question derived 

 from the money it has expended a percentage of profit to 

 people which cannot be calculated." 



NO. 2 191, VOL. 87] 



