BUREAU OF FORESTRY. 187 



atic extension of photographic records over regions not now covered, 

 and at the same time will prevent useless duplication. The photo- 

 graphic laboratory work will hereafter be in charge of the OfBce of 

 Records. 



CORRESPONDEXCE. 



Three thousand eight hundred and fifty communications were pre- 

 pared in response to correspondence, as "against 3,650 the preceding 

 year. A large number of wood and other tree specimens were received 

 for identification, particulai'ly from manufacturers, builders, and archi- 

 tects. Repeated attempts of certain manufacturers and contractors to 

 substitute spurious for standard wood materials led to appeals to the 

 Bureau of Forestry for expert information, which has been promptly 

 given. Several serious impositions upon consumers have thus been 

 averted. 



Expenditures. 



The total expenditures during the year under the head of Dendrology 

 were *2J:.lo5.97, or 7 per cent of the total approjjriation of the Bureau. 



Work for the Ensuinc; Year. 



A revision of Bulletin No. 17, " Check list of the forest trees of the 

 United States," will be made to secure the addition of new and hitherto 

 unrecorded tree species, the revision and extension of the list of com- 

 mon names of trees, and a revised statement of the geographical ranges 

 of trees. Brief popular descriptions of species will constitute a new 

 feature of the revised bulletin. 



A series of bulletins descriptive and illustrative of indigenous and 

 naturalized tree species in the United States will be begun. 



A study of the acacias growing in the United States will be con- 

 tinued. Special attention will be given to the identification of species, 

 their requirements with respect to soil and climate, and the economic 

 uses, of their wood and hai'k. The species which grow hei'o give 

 promise of great usefulness in arid southwestern regions because of 

 their rapid production of fuel and their excellent tanbark. 



Another study proposed is that of eucalypts suitable for cultivation 

 in regions of little frost. A number of species of economic use are 

 believed to be adapted for growth in the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States, and possibly in the Middle States, in which the species now 

 cultivated in this country can not he successfully grown. The prepa- 

 ration of a bulletin descriptive and illustrative of these eucalypts is 

 planned. 



The range, habitat, and future usefulness of the insufficiently known 

 Parry pine, Torrey pine, and swamp pine will be investigated. The 

 ability of these trees to thrive and to propagate unaided both in 

 extremely arid and in wet situations, unsuitable for other species, indi- 

 cates their great usefulness for cultivation in treeless regions of the 

 Southwest. 



A stud}' will be made of the range, habitat, and reproduction of 

 cascara buckthorn, and of the relation of the existing stand to the 

 demand for and production of bark. This little-known tree has 

 become highly important in Oregon and Washington for the commer- 



