Helping the Filipino Fisheries 



795 



The experiment of stocking covers by 

 means of imported eggs of game birds 

 also is apparently meeting with favor. 

 Under the act of June 7, 1902, every 

 such consignment requires a permit from 

 the department. More than 5,900 eggs 

 were imported during the year. 



Life-zone maps of the several states 

 are now in course of preparation, to be 

 followed by lists of crops and fruits best 

 adapted for cultivation in the different 

 areas. The essential purpose of this 

 work is to furnish the practical farmer 

 a guide to the crops best fitted for any 

 given area. The great demand for the 

 generalized map and report already pub- 

 lished and for the more detailed maps 

 not yet finished is an earnest of the 

 practical importance of this work. 



THE BIGGEST PUBLISHING HOUSE IN THE 

 WORLD 



The results of the investigations con- 

 ducted by the department are made 

 known and become available for the use 



of the people by means of publications, 

 of which 1,415 were issued during the 

 year, 596 being new and 819 reprints. 

 These publications comprised 52,363 

 printed pages and the total number of 

 copies aggregated 16,746,910, being an 

 increase of 3,258,889 copies over last 

 year. 



The farmers' bulletins continue to be 

 the most popular publications of the de- 

 partment. Forty-two new bulletins were 

 issued during the year, the number of 

 copies printed being 1,100,000, while 

 443 reprints of bulletins were made in 

 editions aggregating 5,369,000, the total 

 number of Farmers' Bulletins printed in 

 the year being 6,439,000 copies, of which 

 3,484,713 were distributed upon the or- 

 der of Senators, Representatives, and 

 Delegates in Congress. The total num- 

 ber of Farmers' Bulletins printed and 

 distributed since the series was created 

 in 1889 is 55,125,000, of which 37,400,- 

 161 have been distributed by members of 

 Congress. 



HELPING THE FILIPINO FISH- 

 ERIES 



ON October 14, the steamer Alba- 

 tross, of the United States Bureau 

 of Fisheries, sailed from San Francisco 

 for the Philippine Islands, via Honolulu 

 and Guam. By direction of the Presi- 

 dent, and at the solicitation of the insular 

 government, the vessel has been detailed 

 for a comprehensive investigation of the 

 fisheries and an exploration of the waters 

 of the archipelago. 



Lieut. Commander Marbury Johnston, 

 U. S. N., is in command, and the fishery 

 and scientific inquiries will be under the 

 personal direction of Dr Hugh M. Smith, 

 Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries, who 

 will be aided by a small corps of assist- 

 ants from the Bureau. The National 

 Museum has a representative on board 

 in the person of Dr Paul Bartsch. 



The chief objects of the expedition are 

 a thorough study of the present condi- 



tion of the fishing industry, a determina- 

 tion of the aquatic resources of the 

 islands, and a demonstration to the na- 

 tives of the best means of catching and 

 utilizing the available resources. Other 

 matters that will receive attention are 

 fishery legislation, the cultivation of 

 fresh-water and marine animals, and the 

 foreign fishery trade. A great amount 

 of dredging and sounding will be done in 

 order to ascertain the location of the 

 fishing grounds and the distribution and 

 abundance of the bottom species; and it 

 is expected that this work, taken in con- 

 junction with the collections made in 

 surface and intermediate waters, will 

 have much scientific interest, aside from 

 its practical bearing. 



The Albatross has recently been put in 

 a high state of efficiency, and is now 

 equipped with the most modern para- 

 phernalia for deep-sea and fishery re- 

 search. Several years will be devoted to 



