962 



SCIENCE. 



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



of which the expert in question has col- 

 lected many specimens and forwarded them 

 to "Washington, and steps will be taken to 

 acclimatize this important species. This 

 importation will doubtless prove of extreme 

 value to fruit-growers in this country. An- 

 other valuable importation of the ladybird 

 beetle was of one which feeds upon several 

 distinct species of plant lice accidentally 

 imported into this country from Europe. 



BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



The Survey is engaged in mapping the 

 natural boundaries of the crop belts of the 

 country. Its aim is to furnish farmers 

 with lists of products likely to be success- 

 ful, so far as climatic conditions go, in dif- 

 ferent parts of the country. During the past 

 season the work of mapping the life zones 

 and crop belts has been continued, par- 

 ticularly in Texas and California. A fiber 

 plant, closely related to the Mexican istle 

 or Tampico plant, is found growing in great 

 abundance over a large part of the arid 

 Sonoran zone. In view of the great quan- 

 tity of fiber of other species of agave im- 

 ported into this country ($12,000,000 worth 

 in 1900) , the Texas species is likely to prove 

 of great value. 



In response to constant complaints, the 

 Survey has prepared and distributed a cir- 

 cular of direction for the destruction of 

 prairie-dogs, and is now conducting experi- 

 ments in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas 

 and Texas, with a view to discovering 

 remedial measures against this pest, cheap 

 enough for general use. It has been dis- 

 covered that the bullock oriole and the 

 California least tit feed extensively on the 

 orange and olive. In Texas, the large 

 blackbirds, known as jackdaws, and which 

 have been slaughtered in great numbers for 

 the millinery trade, are particularly useful 

 owing to their feeding habits in the rice 

 and cabbage-growing districts. In addi- 

 tion to its other duties, the Survey is 



charged with the general supervision of 

 matters relating to game protection. In 

 aid of the preservation of native birds and 

 game it has published bulletins on the laws 

 governing the transportation and sale of 

 game, digests of State game laws, etc. Car- 

 rying out the provisions of the Lacey act, 

 the Secretary acknowledges his obligations 

 to three other executive departments, the 

 Treasury, Interior and Justice, to several 

 railroad and express companies, and to 

 many State officials and individuals. Under 

 the system of permits established for the 

 transportation of foreign wild animals and 

 birds, 186 permits were issued during the 

 year, covering the entry of 350 animals and 

 nearly 10,000 birds. Numerous violations 

 of the laws regulating interstate commerce 

 and game have been reported to the De- 

 partment and in many instances it has 

 been called upon to assist in prosecuting 

 the offenders. 



THE DIVISION OF STATISTICS. 



The work of this Division consists largely 

 in the preparation of reports relative to the 

 principal products of the soil, including the 

 extent and geographical distribution of the 

 area of production, the condition and pros- 

 pects of the crops during the growing sea- 

 son, and the quantity, quality and disposi- 

 tion of the products harvested. It has 

 included also reports on various branches 

 of rural economics, such as transportation, 

 wages of farm labor, cooperation in agricul- 

 tural industries, etc. An urgent demand 

 exists for broadening the scope of the work 

 of this Division. But this cannot be done 

 without enlarging its appropriations. Tel- 

 egraphic interchange of crop reports has 

 been arranged for with the governments of 

 some of the principal grain-growing coun- 

 tries of Europe. In furtherance of the plan 

 to place the crop reports in the hands of 

 the farmers as early as possible, a system 

 of cards containing the most important 



