In the work of the Office relating to agricultural education special emphasis has been placed on encouraging the establishment of secondary and elementary courses in agriculture, and to aid this movement publications have been issued showing the progress already made in these lines. Advantage has been taken of a considerable number of opportunities to bring these matters directly to the attention of teachers at meetings of their associations in different parts of the country.

The Office has continued to have charge of the agricultural experiment stations in Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico, and of the nutrition and irrigation investigations which are conducted in different parts of the country, largely in cooperation with the agricultural colleges and experiment stations.

In cooperation with the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, the Office has undertaken a large amount of work in connection with an exhibit of the progress of agricultural education and research at the St. Louis Exposition.

With the development of the work of the experiment stations and kindred institutions in this country and abroad, the publications of this Office based on the reports of these institutions have increased in number and variety. Results of the special investigations in charge of this Office have also accumulated so as to afford more material for useful publication. For these reasons, the extent of the publications of the Office has increased during the past year. Special efforts have, however, been made to publish this material in forms which will contribute to its effective and economical distribution.

The records of the Division of Publications for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1903, show that out of a total of 456 original publications issued by the Department during that year 123 were from this Office, and that 132 of our documents were reprinted out of a total of 482 for the Department. The aggregate number of copies of publications of this Office issued during the year was 2,255,400 out of a total of 11,698,564 for the Department. Of these publications 1,998,000 were Farmers' Bulletins prepared in this Office.

From this statement it will be seen that the Office is doing a large work in providing means by which the results of agricultural investigations made by our State experiment stations and kindred institutions throughout the world can readily be made use of by farmers throughout the United States.

A brief account of the general business of the Office will be found on page 60, and details of its operations are given in other portions of this report.

EXPERIMENT STATIONS IN ALASKA, HAWAII, AND PORTO RICO.

In Alaska experiment stations were maintained during the past fiscal year at Sitka, Kenai, and Rampart. A new station was established at Copper Center, and cooperative investigations were carried on in a

number of localities. In this way considerable additional evidence was obtained that vegetables of various kinds may be successfully grown in different parts of the Territory, and that there are considerable areas in which oats, barley, and wheat can be matured, and an abundance of grass be grown for the maintenance of live stock.

Important testimony regarding the agricultural possibilities of Alaska has recently been given by Gen. A. W. Greely, Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army, in a letter to the Secretary of Agriculture, in connection with which he transmitted samples of vegetables grown in the garden of Gov. John G. Brady, of Sitka, Alaska. In this letter he makes the following statements:

They are not hothouse plants nor are they simply examples, but they are part of large quantities of vegetables-potatoes, turnips, carrots, parsnips, beets, onions, and celery. Fully 200 bushels of potatoes of the finest possible character were grown in this garden during the past summer. They are illustrations of the capabilities of Alaska as regards the growth of vegetables.

To my knowledge large quantities of similar vegetables are grown in the valley of the Yukon, especially in its lower part.

I do not compare the agricultural possibilities of Alaska with those of the United States, but feel confident from personal observation that there are thousands of square miles which are admirably adapted to the growth of vegetables and forage in large quantities and for the local market.

In Hawaii the station at Honolulu has increased its equipment and extended its experimental investigations. The experiments on taro rot and potato rot have been continued upon an enlarged scale. One of the diseases of the taro plant was held in check by proper attention to irrigation water and the application of proper fertilizers. The results obtained will have an important bearing on the production of this staple food crop.

Experiments to promote the improvement in corn culture on the island of Maui have been begun, and important studies of injurious insects have been made. Experiments have also been undertaken with fiber plants, vanilla, cacao, cotton, and tobacco.

Members of the station staff have from time to time visited the different islands for the purpose of investigating specific problems, and of attending farmers' institutes which have been held in a number of localities and have been very successful. The legislature of Hawaii has appropriated $16,800 toward the support of the station for the two years ending June 30, 1905.

In Porto Rico much attention has necessarily been given during the past year to the repair of buildings on the new station farm at Mayaguez, the preparation of land, and the inauguration of experiments. Special attention has been given to the establishment of plantations of tropical plants, including such things as mangoes, alligator pears, the mammee apple, cassava, yams, bananas, cacao, and citrus fruits. Experiments with coffee have been carried on during the year and the

results of the application of fertilizers have been marked. Bat guano secured from caves on the island has given better results than any of the commercial fertilizers.

The cordial support which has been accorded the station by the people and legislature of Porto Rico has been very encouraging.

The details of the work of the stations in Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico may be found in the reports of the officers in charge of these stations, on pages 313, 391, and 419.

NUTRITION INVESTIGATIONS.

The nutrition investigations have as hitherto been devoted mainly to a study of the physiological, hygienic, and economic branches of the subject, and have included dietary studies and digestion, cooking, and metabolism experiments. These studies have been carried on in cooperation with universities and experiment stations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, and Tennessee. In cooperation with the Department of the Interior dietary studies were carried on in the Government Hospital for the Insane in the District of Columbia. These investigations were inaugurated at the desire of the late Dr. A. B. Richardson, superintendent of the Government hospital, as a part of his general plan for maintaining a high standard for the conditions under which the patients and employees live in this institution. Twenty-seven dietary studies were made in all with about 1,600 male patients and 125 employees. Some of the general results of these investigations are stated in the report of the board of visitors of the hospital to the Secretary of the Interior for 1903, as follows:

It was noted in connection with these investigations that the food purchased was of good quality; that it was stored, handled, and cooked in a cleanly way, and that the service was as good as could be expected under existing conditions. *** So far as its nutritive value is concerned, the dietary was found to be adequate and reasonably satisfactory. The criticisms made had to do with details rather than with the system as a whole. So far as its cost is concerned, it is higher than seems needful on theoretical grounds, or than that of a similar diet at other institutions. From time to time as the dietary studies were in progress, changes were pointed out which woula check waste in certain directions, and these were promptly acted upon by the late superintendent, who stated that, in his opinion, as a result of these investigations the cost of the food during the last six months of the year was lower than for any other corresponding period during his connection with the institution. Similar studies are being continued this year. A further account of these investigations may be found on page 503.

The work with the respiration calorimeter, carried on at Middletown, Conn., has been largely devoted to the modification and improvement of the apparatus. In its modified form it is possible to make a more accurate determination of carbon dioxid and water and a still more important feature, a direct determination of oxygen, which has been

made possible by changes in the apparatus made under a grant from the Carnegie Institution.

Considerable additional data regarding the nutritive value of fruits. and nuts have been obtained, and a report on this subject has been published. Additional data on the digestibility and nutritive value of bread have also been published, and, as the result of the investigations of this Office on this subject, it has been clearly shown that ordinary wheat flours are thoroughly digested and have a high nutritive value. Six bulletins recording the results of nutrition investigations were published during the past year.

IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS.

The investigations carried on during the past year by this branch of the Office of Experiment Stations, as provided for by Congress, may be grouped under the following heads:

(1) The determination of the amount of water needed in irrigation and the methods of applying it to crops to secure the best results.

(2) The improvement of methods of distribution in order to lessen the cost of water to farmers, and reduce the waste from evaporation and the loss and damage caused by excessive seepage.

(3) Investigations of drainage problems (a) to prevent the injury of irrigated land through the accumulation of surplus and seepage waters, and (b) to reclaim swamp and overflowed lands by aiding farmers in the settlement of general drainage problems.

(4) Investigations of the best means of applying power in pumping and other branches of farm work.

(5) Studies of irrigation institutions, including the laws and customs under which rights to water are acquired and enforced, and the corporate and cooperative institutions which affect the economic relations of water users.

The irrigation investigations have been conducted largely in cooperation with agricultural colleges and experiment stations, State engineers' offices, and organizations of citizens, and during the past year have been conducted in the following States:

California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, Missouri, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Louisiana, Texas, and South Carolina.

THE DUTY OF WATER.

Along many streams in the West the irrigated area has been extended until there is not water enough to supply the lands already under cultivation except through the adoption of most skillful and economical methods of distribution and use in irrigation. This means that the losses in canals due to seepage and evaporation must be lessened, that lateral ditches must be planned and built with more care

than formerly, and that farmers must study, in a way not necessary when irrigators were few and the water supply abundant, the best means of spreading the water over their fields. They must do this in order to lessen losses from evaporation, increase yields, and prevent damage to the land either through the rise of alkali or the creating of swamps and marshes in areas where natural drainage is imperfect and artificial drainage has not been provided.

With the growing necessity for better systems of distribution and application and the increasing price of water, the need for its more accurate measurement is becoming more and more manifest. In other words, the next step in the development of irrigation in the West is largely dependent upon the adoption of better methods and practices on the part of farmers, and this Office is being looked to for aid in the discovery and substitution of these better practices for the ones hitherto followed. For this reason the character of the practical studies carried on by this Office has largely changed within the last two years. The first step in this investigation was to determine the requirements of irrigation under the methods in common use. The next step was to discover better methods of application. The investigations already made have shown that from one-fourth to one-half of the water diverted by canals is lost by seepage, reducing the areas irrigated and the productive value of the canals, as well as rendering unproductive for the time large tracts of land.

The measurements made in California in 1903 show how much the duty of water may be increased by the adoption of better methods. Where water was applied to the hot surface soil, 93 per cent disappeared in evaporation; where it was applied in shallow furrows, 83 per cent was lost; where it was applied in deep, narrow furrows, only 62 per cent was lost. In all cases the loss was sufficiently large to warrant the belief that the water now used to irrigate one acre will in time serve to irrigate two acres.

METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION OF WATER.

Another step in the improvement of irrigation methods is the better organization of communities in the distribution of water. When all the water is needed wasteful or unskillful use by one farmer means inevitable loss to a neighbor. Where all the water is sold or rented uncertainty of measurement almost always results in one farmer getting more than he pays for and another farmer getting less. The construction of storage works to supplement the natural flow of streams and the important agreements being entered into in Colorado, Utah, and elsewhere for exchanges of rights to the natural flow of streams for rights in reservoirs are making the measurement of water an important factor in the success of farmers and in the maintenance of peace and harmony in communities of irrigators. Hence a study of methods of