516 DEPARTMENTAL REPOKTS. 



ures througli which adulteration may be checked and an honest 

 product ma J' be put on the market with greater profit to the producer 

 than his present small returns. 



COMMERCIAL OAKS. 



The commercial distribution and growth of White Oak and Chest- 

 nut Oak in the Southern Appalachians was studied. 



Expositions. 



Plans for the Bureau's forest exhibit at the World's Fair, St. Louis, 

 Mo. , 1904, have been completed. The fund allotted for the exhibition 

 is $7,500. Five thousand square feet of floor space in the Forest, 

 Fish, and Game Building are to be devoted to the exhibit. 



Correspondence. 



The giving of original and compiled information by letter on various 

 technical subjects constitutes an important part of the work of the 

 Dendrologist. One thousand eight hundred and forty communica- 

 tions were prepared during the year — a great increase over the previous 

 year. The subjects of correspondence vary greatly. A large percent- 

 age of these letters asked for information either not yet published or 

 widely scattered throxigh various documents. 



Expenditures. 



During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, the total expenditure 

 for forest investigations was $27,714, which is 9.5 per cent of the 

 total appropriation. 



Work for the Ensuing Year. 



dendrological studies. 



DESCHIPTIONS OF TKEB SPECIES. 



Bulletins descriptive of North American tree species, including 

 their geographical and commercial range, will be in preparation. 

 Five separate regions will be considered — the Northeastern, South- 

 eastern, Rocky Mountain, Southwestern, and the Pacific slope (includ- 

 ing adjacent islands and Alaska). These bulletins will supply simple, 

 concise descriptions of our forest trees, and should be particularly 

 useful to lumbermen, architects, engineers, and operators of wood- 

 consuming industries, who are constantly applying to the Bureau for 

 infoi-mation which is nowhere available at present. 



COMMON NAMES OP TREES. 



Serious difficulties are constantly arising among architects, builders, 

 engineers, nurserymen, and other wood consumers because of the 

 present confusion in the common names of trees. Careful study will 

 be given to the subject during the coming year. 



