HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 191 
invented which will clean the enormous amount of green stem which 
is required in order to handle the crop. 
Mr. Scorr. I saw one of the stores down there advertising under- 
clothes made of ramie fiber. 
, i Covitte. That is all imported fiber from China scraped by 
and. 
STATEMENT OF PROF. B. T. GALLOWAY—Continued. 
Mr. Gattoway. There are now two other items in our appropria- 
tion that can be briefly discussed, if you wish me to discuss them. 
We have ‘‘ Experimental gardens and grounds.” The present appro- 
priation is $25,000, and we have asked an increase of $5,000. We 
want to undertake some work in the matter of certain problems con- 
nected with the growing of crops. There are between $40,000,000 
and $50,000,000 invested in that class of work, and there are many 
very intricate problems that have not yet been determined. The 
methods of propagation, the questions of heat—all those are questions 
that can not be well worked out by the growers, and they are of such 
a nature that they can not be well worked out by the experiment 
stations, because we do not have the facilities. 
The work of ‘‘ gardens and grounds ” is of such a nature that a consid- 
erable portion of the expenses—a large per cent of the expenses— 
are what we call fixed expenses, for the maintenance of the grounds 
themselves. In addition, the men on the gardens and grounds work 
in connection with the Congressional seed distribution, where the 
matter of plants comes into distribution, and where the question 
of distribution of plants and seeds from foreign countries is also 
under consideration. Plants from foreign countries that are to be 
grown and distributed by the men on ‘‘ gardens and grounds.” This 
year we are to pay for the fuel, which is going to cost us about $4,000 
or $5,000. Heretofore it has been paid out of the contingent fund, 
which is not this year the case. This $5,000 we are asking for-—— 
The Cuarrman. Why has the contingent fund turned that over to 
ou! 
c Mr. Gattoway. The disbursing officer claims that while the Depart- 
ment has been growing constantly for the last few years the contingent 
fund has not been changed, and the contingent expenses of the Depart- 
ment have been constantly increasing, and he is forced to put some of 
the expenses that have been borne by contingent expenses on the various 
divisions and bureaus. j 
The Cuatrmay. Each bureau takes care of its own rented properties? 
Mr. Gattoway. Yes, sir. 
The Cuairman. I do not see where the contingent fund could have 
grown very largely. 
Mr. Gattoway. Well, that is the stand they have taken. We have 
been buying our own fuel, and we buy about 5 tons of coal a day in 
connection with our greenhouse work. 
Mr. Bowir. What is the present appropriation ? 
Mr. Gattoway. $25,000. We want it increased to $30,000. 
Mr. Bowre. Where are these experimental gardens and grounds? 
Mr. Gattoway. At our Department. We have 40 acres; and our 
greenhouses are for experimental purposes. Whereas we have experi- 
ment gardens at other places—on the Arlington farm and on the flats — 
