iE re keOr DRAINS Mid PAL. 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
DIVISION OF BOTANY, 
Washington, D. C., December 18, 1895. 
Srr: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for publication as Bul- 
letin No. 17 of the Division of Botany, a report on the general weed 
laws of the United States, by Mr. L. H. Dewey, assistant botanist. 
This report has been prepared in response to a growing demand among 
agriculturists and legislators for data which will enable them to pre- 
pare laws better adapted for the control of weeds than those now in 
use. I have pointed out in my annual report for 1894 the fact that, 
since the total value of our principal field crops for the year 1893 was 
$1,760,489,273, an increase of only 1 per cent, which might easily have 
been brought about through the destruction of weeds, would have 
meant a saving to the farmers of the nation of about $17,000,000 dur- 
ing that year alone. The passage of effective weed laws like the one 
outlined and discussed in this report is of the first importance in deal- 
ing with this problem. As many of the State legislatures meet Jan- 
uary 1, 1896, the publication of this bulletin should be effected with 
all possible dispatch. 
Respectfully, FREDERICK V. COVILLE, 
Chief of the Division of Botany. 
Hon. J. STERLING MORTON, 
Secretary of Agriculture. 
