520 
NEWS AND ITEMS. 
scarcer every week. 'The return to draft-horse breeding cannot 
be made too soon. The early stallion buyer seems certain to 
get the best bargains this fall. The supply is limited and it is 
difficult to figure out a sufficient number of good horses of ser¬ 
viceable age to go around— {Breeders^ Gazette^ Sept. /.) 
Agricultural Experiment Station for Alaska.— It is 
reported says Science., that the Secretary of Agriculture will ask 
Congress, at its next session, to authorize the establishment of 
an agricultural experiment station in Alaska. Suitable scienti¬ 
fic experiments would be of great value in showing what agri¬ 
cultural products and domestic animals could be introduced .to 
advantage. 
Cost of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. —In 
the appropriations made by the Congress of 1897 we find the fol¬ 
lowing items, which show the cost of the Department of Agri¬ 
culture for one year: Total for the Department, $1,564,760; 
salaries and expenses Bureau of Animal Industry, $650,000; 
Agricultural experiment stations, $750,000; publications, $70,- 
000; biological investigation, $17,500; animal quarantine 
stations, $12,000. Total for weather bureau, $883,772. Grand 
total, $2,448,532. 
x\nti Vivisection Bill. —Veterinarians should not forget 
that Senate Bill No. 1063 still remains on the calendar of that 
body. As soon as a favorable opportunity presents itself the bill 
will be called up for passage. 'This bill strikes right at the root 
of all original investigations in this subject, and would in all 
probability be followed by similar efforts in many States, which, 
if successful, would put an end to all progress in human and 
comparative medical science, and should be strenuously opposed. 
—(New Yo7^k Spirit of the Ttnies.) 
Minnesota State Fair and Hog Cholera. —The Minne¬ 
sota State Board of Health, after a conference with the Secre¬ 
tary and Director of the Agricultural Society, prescribed the 
conditions under which swine might come to the Minnesota 
State Fair this fall—to be inspected upon arrival and daily in 
spections during the fair week, because of the prevalence of hog 
cholera in that State. No disease appeared among the swine 
upon the fair grounds, and it is hoped that the exhibit this year 
will not result in any increased spread of hog cholera. 
An Innovation in College Advertising.— The Univer¬ 
sity of Pennsylvania has just issued a very neat illustrated pam¬ 
phlet entitled The Veterinary Profession *. its Relation to the 
