report, with map, on the life zones of the State. The biological survey of the Canal Zone in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution will be continued.

A report on a biological reconnoissance through northern British Columbia will be prepared for publication. A report upon the birds of Texas, now nearing completion, will be published; also a bulletin on the distribution and migration of the herons and ibises.

The preparation of maps showing the distribution of the species of North American mammals and birds, as well as the collection and card cataloguing of information concerning their distribution and habits, will be pushed as rapidly as possible.

GAME PROTECTION.

In addition to carrying on the various projects now under way, attention will be given to a number of new matters. It may be necessary to establish inspection of importations in Porto Rico on account of a law adopted in that Territory early in 1911. It may also be necessary to place restrictions on the importations into the United States of monkeys, to guard against the danger of the introduction of the disease trypanosomiasis.

Operations connected with the enforcement of the Federal law regulating interstate commerce in game will be continued and extended. Many waterfowl are illegally shipped from North Carolina to northern markets, and the practice will be investigated and steps taken to stop it. The passage of the Bayne bill in New York, by closing the markets of New York to native game, will greatly facilitate this work. The shipping of deer and grouse to the Chicago market from Michigan and Wisconsin, in violation of the laws of these States, will be investigated.

Several bird reservations now without warden service or supplied only temporarily will be provided with regular wardens, including probably the reservations in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, also the Belle Fourche Reservation in South Dakota, and possibly some of the Florida reservations. It is planned also to appoint inspectors for several districts. Efforts will be made to establish a warden service on Laysan Island during next spring and summer and to have the Thetis visit the island again next winter. Steps will be taken also to exterminate or at least reduce the numbers of rabbits that now are a pest on the island.

Attempts (unsuccessful last year) will be renewed to secure mountain sheep for the National Bison Range in Montana. In cooperation with the American Bison Society efforts to secure a suitable site in South Dakota for a new bison range will be continued. The preliminary steps have been taken, and early in the new fiscal year an agent will examine the various localities that have been suggested. The problem of the preservation and restoration of the big game of the country is receiving careful consideration, and several measures will be undertaken during the coming year along that line. Efforts will be made to provide elk for one or two National Forests in Colorado, for the Medicine Bow Mountains in Wyoming, and for various points in eastern Oregon, provided they prove suitable for elk. Through one of the principal associations of sportsmen it is

hoped to introduce elk at one or two points in Arizona, and through the Order of Elks or otherwise an effort will be made to increase the herd of elk in the Wichita Game Preserve. These measures are part of a plan to restock the Rocky Mountain States with elk. The preservation of the antelope is one of the most difficult problems presented. A careful survey of the condition of antelope will be made in two States in the Northwest, Idaho and Oregon, and three in the Southwest, Texas, Colorado, and Kansas, in order to ascertain what can be done to preserve from extinction this valuable and attractive species, the only antelope of the Western Hemisphere. The transfer of big game from points of comparative abundance to suitable localities where it is wanting will be made a special feature of the work of the coming year.

REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE DIVISION OF ACCOUNTS AND DISBURSEMENTS.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
DIVISION OF ACCOUNTS AND DISBURSEMENTS,

Washington, D. C., October 24, 1911. SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith a report of the work of the Division of Accounts and Disbursements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911.

Very respectfully,

Hon. JAMES WILSON,

Secretary of Agriculture.

A. ZAPPONE,

Chief of Division.

CHARACTER OF WORK.

The Division of Accounts and Disbursements audits, adjusts, and pays all accounts and claims against the department; decides questions involving the expenditure of public funds; prepares advertisements for all work and supplies not contracted for by the General Supply Committee of the Executive Departments; prepares letters of authority; writes, for the signature of the Secretary, all letters to the Treasury Department pertaining to fiscal matters; examines and signs requisitions for the purchase of supplies; issues bills ef lading and requests for passenger and freight transportation; propares the annual estimates of appropriations; prepares annual fiscal reports to Congress; and transacts all other business relating to the financial interests of the department.

ORGANIZATION.

For the purpose of systematizing its work, the division is divided into five sections, as follows:

CASHIER'S SECTION.-This section prepares and mails all checks and handles all moneys received and disbursed.

AUDITING SECTION. This section audits all salary, reimbursement, purchase, telegraph, and express accounts.

BOOKKEEPER'S SECTION.-This section keeps all books pertaining to the fiscal affairs of the department, indexes all accounts, prepares all requisitions on the Treasury for advances of public funds, compiles for rendition to the accounting officers of the Treasury the quarterly abstracts of expenditures and collections and the account current covering the liability for public funds, and has charge of the correspondence with the accounting officers of the Treasury in the settlement of accounts.

MISCELLANEOUS SECTION.-This section has charge of the preparation of the several annual reports to Congress and the administrative examination of the accounts of the Forest Service and of the Weather Bureau; also audits all accounts of the Board of Consulting Scientific Experts.

FREIGHT AND TRANSPORTATION SECTION.-This section audits all passenger and freight accounts and prepares and issues all passenger transportation requests and bills of lading covering freight shipments.

WORK OF THE YEAR.

APPROPRIATIONS, EXPENDITURES, ETC.

The total appropriations for the department for the year ended June 30, 1911, amounted to $17,278,976.10, not including $1,440,000 appropriated for the several State agricultural experiment stations. Of this sum ($17,278,976.10), $14,759,292.08 was disbursed prior to the close of the year, leaving a balance of $2,519,684.02, nearly all of which is covered by outstanding liabilities. Supplemental accounts for the year 1910 were also paid, amounting to $747,329.26. The unexpended balances for the year 1909, amounting to $306,336.91, were finally covered into the Treasury on June 30, 1911.

There were received, audited, and paid 62,424 accounts, amounting to $10,277,119.25 (not including Forest Service). In payment of these accounts 115,802 checks were drawn on the Treasury at Washington and the Subtreasuries at New York and at Chicago.

There were also audited and sent to the Treasury Department for payment 2,969 accounts.

LOST CHECKS.

During the year 71 checks were lost in transit through the mails or by the payees.

REQUISITIONS, LETTERS, AND REQUESTS.

One hundred and eight requisitions were drawn on the Treasury, aggregating $9,954,606.50 (this does not include Forest Service). The number of requisitions issued for supplies was 23,741.

The number of letters of authorization for travel was 6,307. The number of letters written and received in the ordinary transaction of business was about 95,000.

The number of requests for passenger transportation was 35,168. The number of requests on the Quartermaster General for the transportation of Government property was 551.

The number of departmental bills of lading issued was 3,113.

TEMPORARY SPECIAL DISBURSING AGENTS.

Twenty-six temporary special disbursing agents and nine district fiscal agents were active during the year, and the sum of $6,166,758.60 from the appropriations of the department was advanced to them, requiring the issuance of 188 requisitions upon the Treasury. The total number of temporary special disbursing agents and district fiscal agents shown includes 10 and 9, respectively, for Forest Service,

to whom $6,025,884.03 was advanced, requiring 136 requisitions upon the Treasury. All accounts of temporary special disbursing agents and district fiscal agents of the department were given an administrative examination in this division before being forwarded to the Treasury Department for final audit and settlement.

MILEAGE BOOKS.

During the fiscal year 764 mileage and scrip books were purchased for official use by employees of this department, at a cost of $25,287.50. Rebates on these books, amounting to $3,113.65, were deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the appropriations.

COMBINED ACCOUNTS.

There were 4,175 combined accounts handled during the fiscal year 1911, and it is estimated that the preparation of at least 20,875 checks was thereby avoided, to say nothing of the saving in clerical labor.

APPROPRIATIONS, DISBURSEMENTS, AND UNEXPENDED BALANCES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1911.

The table following shows for the fiscal year the amounts appropriated, disbursed, and unexpended:

Appropriations, disbursements, and unexpended balances for the fiscal year 1911.

1 And not to exceed 10 per cent of the foregoing amounts for the miscellaneous expenses of the work of any bureau, division, or office herein provided for shall be available interchangeably for expenditure on the objects included within the general expenses of such bureau, division, or office, but no more than 10 per cent shall be added to any one item of appropriation except in cases of extraordinary emergency, and then only upon the written order of the Secretary of Agriculture.