Decembee 8, 1905.] 



SCIENCE, 



743 



diseases of animals has been unremittingly 

 carried on. The report refers in detail to 

 the principal diseases which have been 

 made the subject of study, and concludes 

 that in every case the efforts of the bureau 

 have been attended with a more satis- 

 factory control or complete eradication. 

 He commends highly the skill and energy 

 which characterized the suppression of 

 foot-and-mouth disease in the New Eng- 

 land States in 1902 and 1903. He dwells 

 at some length on the subject of tuber- 

 culosis and the danger of its being com- 

 municated from animals to man. Of the 

 cattle and meat inspection he says its im- 

 portance is shown by the fact that upon the 

 government certification as to the health- 

 fulness of animals and animal products the 

 country depends for its access with its 

 products to foreign markets. He depre- 

 cates the possibility of abandoning any 

 part of this work, a contingency, neverthe- 

 less, which he foresees to be unavoidable 

 unless adequate appropriations are prompt- 

 ly provided for this work. 



To the Dairy Division of the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry was assigned under the 

 law of May 9, 1902, the inspection of ma- 

 terials, factories and processes employed 

 in the manufacture of renovated butter. 

 The results have been very satisfactory. 

 This division has accumulated and pub- 

 lished in the past few years a large amount 

 of valuable information of value to the 

 dairymen and those interested in dairy 

 products. 



The Bureau of Plant Industry is or- 

 ganized into eleven offices and employs 

 over 500 persons, about 60 per cent, of 

 whom are engaged in distinctly scientific 

 work. The review of its investigations 

 and treatment of plant disease shows that 

 all important diseases have been studied 

 with results which in many cases have en- 

 abled farmers and fruit growers to greatly 

 diminish their losses from this cause. 



In its systematic work in securing new 

 plants and seeds from foreign countries, 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry has been 

 highly successful. Success has also at- 

 tended its work in cotton breeding, under- 

 taken with the view to obtaining new sorts 

 combining improved length of staple with 

 productiveness. The secretary records the 

 production of a new citrus fruit, the cit- 

 range, s.everal varieties of which — the 

 Rusk, the Willets, the Morton — have been 

 developed. Another interesting product is 

 the new tangelo, a hybrid of the pomelo 

 and the tangerine. 



Of the work on nitrogen-fixing bacteria 

 the secretary says that there is yet much to 

 be done in determining the conditions 

 under which the use of the tubercle-form- 

 ing bacteria will give the best results, but 

 that the Bureau of Plant Industry has de- 

 veloped a successful method of growing 

 and distributing them and increasing their 

 nitrogen-fixing power. 



Many intelligent boards of health and 

 water engineers are recognizing the value 

 of the method recommended for the de- 

 struction of algal and bacterial contamina- 

 tions of water supplies. 



Much has been done also in perfecting 

 the methods for testing seeds. The farm- 

 ers' attention has been called to the adul- 

 teration of field seed, and they have been 

 invited to submit samples for testing. 



The secretary records the practical estab- 

 lishment of Durum wheat, of which several 

 million bushels have been exported this 

 year, and reports highly satisfactory re- 

 sults with new varieties of oats and barley, 

 and the extension of the winter grain area. 

 The* last few years have witnessed a great 

 progress in rice growing and in beet-sugar 

 production. Valuable information has 

 been made available in reference to the 

 shipment and transportation of fruit. At 

 the Summerville tea farm 9,000 pounds of 

 tea was the product for the past season, 



