572 
beyond empiricism, nor obtain any insight 
into the real meaning and relations of natu- 
ral phenomena. 
Harry C. Jones. 
APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE U. 8S. DE- 
PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. * 
THE passage of the agricultural appro- 
priation act for the year 1901-1902 marks 
an epoch in the history of the development 
of the national Department of Agriculture. 
Not only does it carry the largest appro- 
priation ever made for the Department 
and provide for future extension of its 
work in various lines, but it inaugurates a 
scheme for the partial reorganization of 
the scientific branches of its work. Three 
of the present divisions are raised to the 
grade of bureaus, and a number of other di- 
visions are associated in one large Bureau 
of Plant Industry, corresponding in a gen- 
eral way to the present Bureau of Animal 
Industry. 
Starting first as an appendix to the Pat- 
ent Office for the distribution of seeds, the 
Department of Agriculture was formally 
organized in 1862 as an independent de- 
partment in charge of a commissioner, and 
in 1889 was raised to the dignity of an ex- 
ecutive department. The passage of the 
Hatch Act providing for agricultural ex- 
periment stations about that time in- 
creased its responsibilities and extended 
its field of usefulness. 
The growth of the Department has been 
steady and uninterrupted. The importance 
of its work has been recognized by steadily 
increasing appropriations, and the relations 
maintained with the experiment stations 
furnish a means of carrying its investiga- 
tions into every section of the country, in 
cooperation with these institutions, and 
serve to broaden itsinfluence. Asan insti- 
tution for agricultural investigation it is 
* From proofs of the ‘Experiment Station Record,’ 
Vol. XII., No. 9. 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. XIII. No. 328, 
now without a counterpart in any country, 
and there are few, if any, scientific institu- 
tions which include so large an aggregation 
of scientists and experts devoting their 
attention to investigations and research. 
The Department is coming to be generally 
recognized as one of the great scientific 
institutions, not alone in this country, but 
of the whole world. The formation of bu- 
reaus is a fitting step at this juncture, for 
it is a recognition of the growth which has 
been made and the need for a more compact 
form of organization. The creation of these 
four new bureaus, in addition to the 
Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Ani- 
mal Industry, is a following out of the gen- 
eral divisions into which the subject of 
agriculture seems logically to fall, asso- 
ciating such lines of work as relate closely 
to each other and providing for the closest 
cooperation practicable among them. 
The new Bureau of Plant Industry em- 
braces the divisions of Botany, Vegetable 
Physiology and Pathology, Agrostology, 
Pomology, and Gardens and Grounds, and 
is under the directorship of B. T. Gallo- 
way. To this bureau has also been assigned 
the Section of Seed and Plant Introduction, 
together with the general supervision of 
the experiments in tea culture. A horti- 
culturist will be added to the list of 
specialists, with the intention of develop- 
ing the work of investigation along that 
line. From the standpoint of administra- 
tion the arrangement will be an economy 
of time and will give greater opportunities 
-for investigation to the chiefs of the divi- 
sions. 
In recognition of the plan for a system- 
atic survey of agricultural soils and for 
extension of the work in forestry, the divi- 
sions of Soils and Forestry receive bureau 
organizations and are raised to that desig- 
nation. The fourth bureau provided for is 
the Bureau of Chemistry, to which addi- 
tional scope will be given. 
