Agricultural Department

The secretary of agricultura in nis report reviews Ihe operations 01 nis department for the la.-t fiscal year, and makes recommendations for tlie funher extensión of its usefulness. He reporte a savin; i,i expenctimres duriug the year df $ii I 000, which is .-.overed back intp tlie treasury. This suiii is &i per cent of t je entire appropriation. A special stu.iy has wen made of the demand for American farm produets in all foreign markets, espeoi -Uly Great Bmaiu. ïliat country received f rom the United States during the nine months ending Sepi. :), 1894, 8U5,1(I live beel' ittle valued at $2b,!'M.tM). as against 182,011 cauie v lujd at Sl(i,(üj4,(XKJ iluriiiK the same period f r 1S98. During the flrst six inonlhs cl 1894 l..o United Kingdom took a so l i:;.(m.iKKi ponndj, i dressed ber froni the United States, valu, u at neariy gl(l.000,ii0ii. The report shows that uuring the nine monlhs iramediately preceding Sept. 'M, JX94 the United States exportad to GreRt Britain 222,676,00 1 potinds oí pork; of apples, 1,9OU,UOU, valued at 82. fKKI.fKXI; and ot horses. 2,811, ai an average vahie of 8l:w per head. There was a fallin ■ off iu American wiieat exporte of , 00,0 0 bushels, and the secretary is inclined to believe thal wheat muy not. in th luture, be t ie staple export cereal product o!' on country. bnt tnat i'orn will continue to advance in iniportanco as an export on account of the new uses to wbieh it isconstantly e.ug appropriated. Theeports of agrie lt ral products from thf. United States for t;ie fiscal year ending June '■, 8 4, amointed to $. .(-,.■. being Ti.oi per cent of Ameiican export of every desciiption, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain took more than . 4 per cent of all farm products findiny foi-ei.n markets Important Lines of Reiaarch. The cL-partrn ut of agricultura has undertaken during the year tiro new and iruportani line of resem oh. The flrst relates to grasaes and f orags plant ., witii the pulposo of instruct ing and iamiliariz ng the peo Ie as to the distinctive gras-es of the L'nitd Kt' es and teaching them liow to introduce valuable foreigu fura e p.ants whi'h may be adapted to this country. The 8 cood relates to agricultura! soils and erop production, invoïving the analysis of sample soils from all sections of the Americau unión, to demónstrate their adat.talnlity to particular plants and erop, Alechanical analyse, of soils may be of such inestimable utility that it ís foremnst i i the new 1 nes of agricultural research aud the secret iry thpre ore recomencts al a división having it in charge be permanently establitshed in t.ne depAi-tment. The amounl appropiï uerl fur the veeataer bureau was $951,100 of that sum 8138,5.!. or 14 per cent, has lcen saved and returneU to the treasury. As iliustrati g the nsefulnèss oí this service, il. may be here stüted that the warnings which w, re verv general y given of Iwo tropical Storms occurring in September aud October of thu present year resulted ii detainiug in port ü,:Wj vessels, valued at Siti.r.'Sj.fll-'ï ladea with cargoes of probabl. still greater valué. I Wliat is rnuch more important and gratif yiug, mauy human lives on t,.e.e ships wore a so u:i I doub.edly saved. 'l'be appropriation to tho bureau of animal industry was JM8O.000, and the expend ture lorthe year were ouly StöS,42H.24. thus leaving unexpendeü Jíl;i.."T(P.7íi The inspection of beef animáis for export and inter-state trade has boen ontmund and 12,94i,0öfl head wtre inspected during the year to a c,st of 1% cents per head. aiíainst fu cents for ISW. The amount of perk niieroHcopieallv exainiued SM87,987 pounds against U,Ö77,ilO pounds in the preceüiug year. ï'he tost of this inspection has boen diminished from 8-' ceut por head üi 1893 to 6 oonts in 189t Tne ex.ense ..f inspect.ng the pork sold in 18!M to Germán v andFra.ee by the United States was SitH.itó-J.lD. The quautity inspected wa-, greater by ir?iXK),)00 pouuds than during the pre;-eding yeur, when the cost of such inspeotion was $173,36". ,U88. Tbe secre.ary of agricultura recommeruis that the law providing for the microscopic inspection of eroort and mter stato meat be sa ataended as (o compel owners if the meat insperted to pay the cost of such inspection aud I cali attentiou to tho arguments presented in his report in support of Ihis recommendai.ion. Expurttion of Live Cattle. The liv beef oattle exportod and tagiied dui-ingtheyear immbered ytïi.ats. This is an increase of (iH.SSi head uve tile pr vious year. The sauitary inspe:tion of eatt.e shipped to Europa ha.-, co-t an average of 1(% cents for each ani al, aud the cont of inspectmg south erncitilenui the disinfection of cars and stook-yaril averages 2.7 cents per animal. The scientiiic inqui ies of the bureau of animal industr have pr. greesod steadily during the yeai'. Much lubercnlin and mallein tiave oeen furnished to state authorities for use n the agr cultural collages and experiment stations for he treatment .f tubeiculosis and panders Quite recent ly tuis department puhlished the resu t of its investigations of bovine tuberculusis, and its researcb.es wül be vigorously .ontinued. Cenain herds in the District of Columbia wiil be thoroughly inspacted and will probably snpplv adequate scope for the il epartment to intelliguntly prosecute itsscientiflc woik and farnish sutfleient material lor purposes of iliustratiou, desi ription and deñnition. The sterilization of milk suspected of coütaining the bacüli of tuberculosis has been. líurint: tlie year, veiy thoroughly expiained in 1 leaflet by Dr. l). Ë. Salmón, the chief of the bureau and given general sircuianon tnrougiiout the couutry. The ofliee of experiment stations, which is a part of ihe United States department of agriculture, has dur.ng the past year engaged itself almiSt wholly in preparing tor publication works basod upou the reporta of agricultural experiment stations and otlior iustitutions for agricultura] inquiry iu the United States and loreigu countries. The seoretary, in his report for 1893, called attention to tlie faot that the appropriations made for the support of the experiment stations throughout the union were the olily moneys laken out of tLe natioual treitsury by act of congress for which no aorounting to federal authorities was required. Responding to this suggestion tne Fifty-nrst Cougrees, in m;mg the appropriation for tile department for the present Hscal year, provided that: "The seoretary of agricultura stiall prescribe the form of annual financial statement required by section 3 ot said act of Maren , S8Í; shail aucertain whether the expenditures uuder the appropriation hereby made arj iu accordance with the próvisions of said act, and shall mak report thereon to congress." Blank Furiun Ment Ont. The best service of the stal istician of the i pari ment of agriculture is the ascertainment, [ by all dílligence aun care, of the actua' and real conditiona, favorable rr i fa orab e. of tue farmers and farms of the country and to see the causes whic.i i duce tli; conditions to the end taat the faets. ascertained ni;iy guide iheir ia.elligein treatmeiit lu obqdit nee ta this faw, the Krionltural departmsnt iinmedjately out blank foruis oCexii-;se acc.mnrs to each siation and proposes in ad lition to make. through trusted experts, systematicexaminaCoa of the several stations during eaoh year parpase of I qnirlng bv personal iuvetigation the detailed informntio-i neeossary to enable the secretary of aerlculture to make, as the statuto provides, a satisfaiHory report ti congre88. The boards of management of i eral stations, with great alatrity and cordiaity have apiiroveu the aivendment 'to the this suporsi.m of their expei.ditnres, antieipatiug that it wiil increase the efficiency of the stations mid protect their diroctors and i manager from loo e chftrg -8 concerning thñi;use of public funds. besi nes brinïinji the I paitment of agrieultuie iuto .loser an.l more ! confklential relations vritü the expor, mental stations and through thair joint service ïargelv jncreasing their useiulness to the agricufture o'f the conntry. " Arting upon a recomraendation coutained in the report of 18K1. cougivss appro priated $1O.'JU(I " to enabie the Secretary of Agriculture to investígate and pon upon the nutritive valno of variou iiticl-s and commoditléa used tor hu; mm food. with special su 'gestión o. ful!. whole-omn d edible rations less wa-teful and more económica] tnun those in oom'mon ose". Dnclei thi aypropriation the departmenthas pret) ired and nou ha-, ne.n y ready for d.strihutum au elementar discussion of the I t.y. vajne aml peeuuijiry ecoii' my of food. I Whe i we eonsi Ier that fuily one-half of all Ihe money .ar hik', by ihe wase-e irners of the civilized worM i-; expended by thjji for food, the ïnp an:l utillty of such au i '■ ga ion is i:p_ir:ut. Tlie departmont ' pended in the nscal year 1 S-.'- $L;3&l,309.fi6, and ont of th:vt sam the, : total iraiunt eKpended in scientitic research ; was 45.il po ■ cent. But ::i the year ending June 80, 1894. out ol a total expei.diture of Sl,l4.f)S. ■ m, the depariment appliu 51. per cent of th.it sum to sciehtiü'c voik and investigation. It is, thereíore, very plainly observable that the econoniies which k&v been practiced in ihe administra! iou of tbc detiartmeut have not been at the expense of s -ientific research rritiaiscuous Free UUtribut.ou. The recommonUatioii ■.■r.tained in the report I of th ■ secretary for lHWi.rhat the vicious systam of ireu di-.truution of lts ment. ldicuiuent.T be ab t-iiilonedis again urged. Thee publicatious uiay weil oe furmshed wituout cost to public librarte, educati.mal institutions. and the ofüce s and librarte! of states uni of the Federal government, but from all individúala applying for them a 1 -ovrtnng the coat of the docuin nt asked for sh uld Im re ired. Thus the pubiidStionfl , and documoats would l)e s cur d by those who really desire thra tor propsr purposos. Half a nrlli u of 00 ui sof he report of the seoretary of' agriculure arp printe I for distribution at an aunaai ;ost of ábout thre-e htmdred tho isantl tioilar.s. Large numüers rf them are cumberings ore r oüisat tne capítol and the shelves of second-handed book stores hrough out ihe cou try. Ah this la or and wasiw migiit ije avoided if the r commenditiona of ih s cretary were adopted. The secretary also a aiu reommends tliat the g atuitous distributiou of seods cease. and iha . n i money be .ippropr at d for that urpose, except to experiment stations. He ïviterates the reasons giveu in his report for 18'.;! tur diseontinuing thi.s unjuatifiable gratu iv andlfully coucur iu the coaclusions which üe has reac led. A furt. ier impor.ant utility in agrcultural statistics is foun l in thuir eiucidation of tho rel ;tion of t .e supp y of farm producís t' the I demand for the.u in the murk-ts 'f tue United i States and of the world. .It i deem-id possible that au ..gricultural census ïaay be takeu each year throu,{ the agenta f the statistical división of the department. such a course is commended for trial by the chief of that división, lts scope would be: 1- The area uuder each of the more imiortant crops. 2 - The aggregate products of each of such crops. 'Í- Tue quautity of wheat and coru in the hands of farmers at a uateafter the spring sowiuga and plautings and before the Leginuingo; harvest; and also the quantity of cotton a. id tobáceo remaiuiíií iu the hands of planters, either at the same date or at some other desigiiat d time. The coat of the work is estima ted at 8500,0(10. Wórk or btatUticians. Owmg to the peculiar quality of the statisticiau's work. and the natui'al and acquired ticness ne.essary to its successful prosecution. the secretary of agric-ultu e exp esses tue opin on that every person emploped in gathering statistics under the chief ot that división snould be admitted to that service only af Car a thorouh, exhaustivo, and successful i ation at the hand , of the United staten civil service coiumission. Tuis has led him to cali such examination of candidates for the position of assistant statist.cians, and also of candidatos for chiefs of se tiona in that división. The work done by thö depaitmoiit of agriculture is very superticially dealt vviih in this commisuication and i cunniend tlie work of the secreiary and the very important iotorestp with vhich it deals to the caieful aiteucion of tiie congress. T.ie advauta'cs to the public service 'of au adherence to thj principies of civil service reio; m ai-e co .stantiy more api aretft; and uothing is so encoaraging to those in official lire who bouestly desire goo 1 government as the incr.asing appr-ciation by our people of these ad.antagex A vast majority of the voters of ihe land are ready to insist that the time and altention of thoe they sele. t to perf.irm for them important public duties, should not be distracted by doling out minor ornees, and they are growing to be unanimous m regard, ng party orgamzatiou as soiuething that should be used in establibhing party principies instead of dictating the disiribution of public places as rewards of partisan activity. A national board of healtn is recommended wliose dut y would be to protect our country from pestilence and disease. The Strike CommMao. By virtue of a statute of the United State3 pussed m lo8S, I appoiuted iu July lst Hon. John D. Kern .n, of the state of New York, and Hon. Nicholas E.Worthinglon, of the state of II inois, to forni wi;h Hon. Carroll D. Wright, commis-ioner of labor, who was designated by sa:d statute a commissiou for the purpose of making caref ui inquiry into the causes of the controversies between certain railroads and their employés which has result d in au extensive and destructive strike, accompanied by niuch viqlence and dangerou disturbanoe with consideratie loss of life and 1 great destruction of property. The report of I the commissioiiers has been submitted to me and will be transmitted to cong;esswith the evideuce taken upon their inveetigation. Their woi k has been weli doue and their standing and intslligence g.v assurance that the report ' and suigestions ilu-y make are worthy of carei ful consideration.