958 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 364. 



stantly increasing. By agreement with the 

 Secretary of the Treasury, the chief of the 

 Bureau has been designated as supervisor 

 of sugar tests in the laboratories of the ap- 

 praisers in the ports of ISTew York, Phila- 

 delphia and Boston. The other depart- 

 ments to which the aid of the Bureau of 

 Chemistry has been extended are the War 

 Department, the Post-Ofifice Department, 

 the State Department and the Department 

 of the Interior. 



In cooperation with the Ofl&ce of Public 

 Road Inquiries, a laboratory for the study 

 of road materials has been organized in the 

 Bureau of Chemistry. The prime object of 

 this laboratory is to aid road-builders in 

 selecting the best available materials in 

 their localities. 



WORK OF THE BUREAU OF FORESTRY. 



Another of the newly organized bureaus 

 is that of Forestry. The Secretary reports 

 that this Bureau is cooperating with the 

 Federal Government, with several States 

 and many private owners in handling their 

 forest lands. Altogether, assistance has 

 been asked for a total area of 52,000,000 

 acres, of which 4,000,000 are held by pri- 

 vate owners. The work of forest manage- 

 ment is reviewed in some detail. During 

 the year nearly 800,000 acres under pri- 

 vate owners were examined by representa- 

 tives of the Bureau, and four detailed work- 

 ing plans, covering 226,000 acres, were 

 prepared. The working plan for the Black 

 Hills forest reserve was completed and 

 working plans were undertaken for the 

 Prescott and Big Horn and the Priest 

 River reserves. 



Forest investigations include the study 

 of commercial trees and economic tree- 

 planting, of forest fires, grazing, lumbering, 

 forest productions, and other important 

 lines. The region containing the proposed 

 Appalachian forest reserve was examined 

 in cooperation with the United States Geo- 



logical Survey, and nearly 10,000,000 acres 

 were mapped, lands classified and the for- 

 ests carefully studied. The Secretary re- 

 gards the creation of the proposed forest 

 reserve as urgent in order to protect the 

 headwaters of important streams, to main- 

 tain the already greatly impaired supply of 

 timber and to provide a national recrea- 

 tion ground. Upon the request of the Sec- 

 retary of the Interior, the effects of grazing 

 and forest fires were investigated on twelve 

 of the forest reserves. 



In the study of economic tree-planting in 

 cooperation with farmers and others in 

 making forest plantations, 46,145 acres 

 were examined and plans were prepared 

 for nearly 6,000 acres, while 148,000 ap- 

 plications for tree-planting plans were re- 

 ceived. 



THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



The Secretary reports, as the result of a 

 broad inquiry made through the Of&ce of 

 Experiment Stations, that by far the largest 

 part of the work of the stations has direct 

 relation to the important agricultural in- 

 terests of the communities in which they 

 are located. 



The work of the stations is becoming 

 better understood by the farmers, and a 

 broader, deeper foundation of scientific in- 

 quiry is being laid each year. Cooperation 

 between this Department and the stations 

 continues to increase, and the value of 

 these cooperative methods to the agricul- 

 tural interests are very generally acknowl- 

 edged. As a result of the practical confi- 

 dence so attained, Congress and the State 

 Legislatures have shown a disposition to be 

 liberal with this Department and with the 

 stations. The movement for the separation 

 of the office of director of the station from 

 that of president of the college has ad- 

 vanced, and at present there are but eleven 

 States and Territories in which the college 

 president exercises the functions of director 



