34 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



of this part of the operations of the establishment, furnish some inter- 

 esting statistics as to the occupation, and distribution in the different 

 parts of the country, of the readers of the Smithsonian reports. 



Meteorology. — An appropriation is annually made by Congress for 

 "the collection of agricultural statistics, investigations for promoting 

 agriculture and rural economy," &c. Of this, Judge Mason, during 

 his term of office as Commissioner of Patents, devoted a small portion 

 to assist the Smithsonian Institution in collecting and reducing mete- 

 orological observations. He considered this kind of information as 

 one of the essential elements on which to found a system of scientific 

 agriculture adapted to the various local climates of the different parts of 

 our extended country, and in his estimates presented to Congress for an 

 increased appropriation, a certain sum was specified as requisite for this 

 important purpose. In his report for 1856, he properly remarks "that 

 the degree of heat, cold, and moisture in various localities, and the 

 usual periods of their occurrence, together with their effects upon dif- 

 ferent agricultural productions, are of incalculable importance in 

 searching into the laws by which the growth of such products is reg- 

 ulated, and will enable the agriculturist to judge with some degree of 

 certainty whether any given article can be profitably cultivated." In 

 accordance with these views, an increased appropriation was made by 

 Congress, which has been continued until the present time. The part 

 of the appropriation originally devoted to meteorology was also con- 

 tinued by the successors of Judge Mason, until last year, when it was 

 suddenly and unexpectedly suspended. 



The sum thus furnished by the agricultural department of the Patent 

 Office was scarcely more than one third of that appropriated by the 

 Smithsonian Institution. It was, however, of essential service in 

 developing the system and in assisting to defray the heavy expense of 

 blanks and reductions. 



The general results of all the observations for six years have been 

 presented in a report to Congress, in the joint name of the Smithsonian 

 Institution and the Patent Office, and are now in the hands of the 

 public printer. The information which is contained in this report is 

 such as is almost constantly called for by the public, and forms a part 

 of the data necessary to base the practice of agriculture upon the reliable 

 principles of insurance, as well as to indicate the climate especially 

 adapted to particular productions. The value, however, of such mate- 

 rials depends upon the number of years during which the observations 

 are continued, and I therefore regret that the late Commissioner of 



