902 



SCIENCE, 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 311 . 



oratory work and study of the food of birds 

 of economic importance have received at- 

 tention. Special note is made of the Lacey 

 Act, by which the Secretary of Agriculture 

 is charged with the supervision of the im- 

 portation of birds contemplated by this Act 

 of Congress. Congress has authorized the 

 Secretary to adopt such measures as neces- 

 sary to carry out the purposes of the Act ; 

 and it is urged that the present appropria- 

 tion being inadequate for the purpose, an 

 increase should be provided. 



SOIL SURVEY. 



This work has been greatly extended, but 

 stills falls far short of meeting the demand 

 for soil surveying from all sections of the 

 country. For this reason a considerable 

 increase has been asked for. Letters and 

 resolutions endorsing the work and urging 

 its extension as one of great practical value 

 have been received from many individuals 

 and organizations. Owing to its costliness, 

 and the widespread demand for it, the Sec- 

 retary recommends that Congress provide 

 for the printing of the annual report of this 

 Division, as is now done with the annual 

 reports of the Weather Bureau and Bureau 

 of Animal Industry. 



The Secretary feels highly encouraged by 

 the results of the work of this Division with 

 tobacco. He notes especially the successful 

 results of an attempt to grow the Sumatra 

 leaf in Connecticut. Sumatra tobacco im- 

 ported costs our consumers, with the duty, 

 $15,000,000. Of this $6,000,000 goes to 

 foreign producers. He believes that in a 

 short time this will be saved for our own 

 tobacco growers. The tobacco exhibit at 

 the Paris Exposition was one of the largest 

 as well as the most complete ever made. 

 It contained over 2,000 samples. The 

 Florida-grown Sumatra was awarded 20 

 points of merit against 18 points for Su- 

 matra, and the bright yellow of North 

 Carolina was awarded as many points as 



the Turkish tobacco with which it com- 

 petes. 



FORESTRY WOEK. 



There has been a great growth in this 

 work, which is of such a kind as to fully 

 justify additional resources. Moreover, 

 there has been an enormous increase in the 

 demand, both public and private, for ser- 

 vices of this character throughout the 

 country. The relations of the Division of 

 Forestry with practical lumbermen and 

 tree planters have been closer and more 

 useful than ever before. The total mem- 

 bership of the force at the highest last sum- 

 mer was 125. The public interest in forest 

 matters is not only keener and wider than 

 at any time before, but it is growing with 

 rapidity beyond precedent. Cooperation 

 in forest work has been sought of this De- 

 partment by the Secretary of the Interior 

 in reference to the national forest reserves, 

 and from the Forest, Fish, and Game Com- 

 mission of New York, for working plans 

 for the New York State Forest Preserves. 

 The total requests for working plans at the 

 close of the year exceeded 50,000,000 acres, 

 of which two and a half millions were pri- 

 vate land. Personal examinations were 

 made of 48 tracts in 14 States, covering 

 nearly 900,000 acres, plans were actually 

 prepared for 200,000 acres, and 50,000 acres 

 were put under management. Tree-plant- 

 ing plans were made for 59 applicants. 



The department is receiving with in- 

 creased frequency applications for planting 

 and working plans for watersheds from 

 which cities obtain their supplies. A typical 

 instance is that of the Water Company of 

 Johnstown, Pennsylvania, one of the chief 

 objects being to prevent a recurrence of the 

 disaster there. 



Studies of commercial trees, with a view 

 to ascertaining rate of growth and produc- 

 tion and other facts germane to the best 

 practical forestry, were considerably ex- 

 tended. 



