476 



SCIENCE 



[N, S. Vol. XL. No. 1031 



ciency of comparable materials and articles 

 for specific purposes, the protective power of 

 clothing of different kinds, the relative value 

 and efficiency of different materials and meth- 

 ods v?ith reference to household labor, the re- 

 lation of the diet to body efficiency, and simi- 

 lar questions. It is believed that the results 

 of such investigations v?ill be of much interest 

 not only to the housekeeper but also to the 

 general public since they will furnish definite 

 information along lines hitherto very inade- 

 quately studied but of great importance in the 

 consideration of questions of rational and eco- 

 nomical living. They should also be of direct 

 benefit to the farmer since agricultural pro- 

 duction is influenced to a very great extent 

 by the demands of the home. 



The salary of the director of the Office of 

 Public Roads is increased from $4,000 to 

 $4,500, and the appropriations as a whole from 

 $279,400 to $352,560. The principal increase 

 is one of $40,000 for studies of road building 

 and maintenance, making $145,000 available 

 for the purpose, special emphasis to be directed 

 to the ordinary sand-clay and dirt roads. In- 

 creases of $4,800 are also granted for road 

 management studies, $6,260 for tests of road 

 materials, and $15,000 for field trials of vari- 

 ous materials, types of construction, and road 

 equipment. 



The work of the remaining branches of the 

 department is continued substantially as at 

 present. The increasing administrative work 

 is evidenced in the enlarged allotments for the 

 office of the secretary, rent, and miscellaneous 

 expenses for which $339,880, $108,329, and 

 $110,000, respectively, are available. As a re- 

 sult of recent legislation whereby the admin- 

 istrative auditing of accounts is now carried 

 on in the several bureaus, the appropriation 

 for the Division of Accounts and Disburse- 

 ments is reduced from $104,370 to $46,320. 

 The Division of Publications receives $189,500 

 and the Library $45,360. 



In connection with the appropriations in- 

 cluded in the act itself, reference should also 

 be made to the funds derived in other ways. 

 For the fiscal year under discussion, perma- 

 nent appropriations under the department 



aggregate, exclusive of those recently provided 

 by the Smith-Lever Act, $5,999,200, the 

 largest items being those of $3,000,000 for 

 meat inspection and $2,000,000 for the acqui- 

 sition of lands for the protection of water- 

 sheds of navigable streams, and the remainder 

 being almost wholly for forestry purposes. 

 The appropriation act for sundry civil ex- 

 penses carries an appropriation for the de- 

 partment printing and binding of $500,000, an 

 increase of $10,000, of which $137,500 is for 

 farmers' bulletins and $47,000 for the Weather 

 Bureau. 



When it is recalled that large appropriations 

 will also be available for agricultural educa- 

 tion in the land-grant colleges under the Mor- 

 rill and Nelson acts, for the rural education 

 work of the Bureau of Education, demonstra- 

 tion work in agriculture among the Indians, 

 and the payment of the country's quota toward 

 the support of the International Institute of 

 Agriculture, the wide extent to which the 

 principle of federal assistance to agriculture is 

 being carried into practise becomes apparent, 

 and the aggregate expenditure from the fed- 

 eral funds appears increasingly impressive. 

 As was pointed out by Chairman Lever of the 

 House Committee on Agriculture, however, 

 the entire agricultural appropriation is still 

 inconsequential as compared with the total 

 federal appropriations, the magnitude of the 

 agricultural interests of the country, or even 

 of the annual losses to farm products sus- 

 tained through insect pests and plant diseases. 



Moreover, the conviction is deepening that 

 these appropriations are largely in the nature 

 of a permanent investment for the benefit of 

 the nation as a whole. In the words of Hon. 

 C. G. Edwards of Georgia, 



In extending these various benefits and advantages 

 to the farmers we are but doing a simple justice to 

 the sinew and backbone of our great citizenship. 

 In helping the farmers we are helping the whole 

 country, for every class is dependent upon the 

 fanner. . . . We can do nothing that will make for 

 the future welfare of our country more than to aid 

 in this work, which means the establishing of farms 

 and homes. ... In making appropriations to im- 

 prove agricultural conditions we are ' ' casting bread 

 upon the waters, ' ' that will return not only to feed 



