American Association of Farmers' Institute Workers, Farmers' Institutes for Young People, List of State Directors of Farmers' Institutes and Farmers' Institute Lecturers of the United States, Agricultural Fair Associations and Their Utilization in Agricultural Education and Improvement, and The Transportation Companies as Factors in Agricultural Extension were issued during the year besides the Annual Report of the Farmers' Institute Specialist for 1910, a translation of the Agriculture of Belgium, 1885-1910, by J. M. Stedman, assistant farmers' institute specialist, and a revision of a bulletin on Legislation Relating to Farmers' Institutes in the United States. A number of addresses for conventions and institute meetings were also prepared. The farmers' institute specialist is secretary of the American Association of Farmers' Institute Workers, and as such has the preparation of the program for the annual meeting and the editing of the report of the proceedings. He is also secretary of the committee on extension work of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations and assists the committee in collecting information respecting that work. The correspondence of the office has likewise increased so as to require each succeeding year a larger portion of the time of the office force to conduct.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE OFFICE.

The office issued during the year 80 documents, aggregating 4,709 pages, not including 8 separates, a number of revised reprints, and a miscellaneous document, which aggregated 660 pages more. The publications included 18 numbers of Experiment Station Record, 15 technical bulletins, 2 reports of the office, 16 circulars, 5 publications of the insular stations, 10 Farmers' Bulletins, including 6 numbers of Experiment Station Work, 3 articles for the Yearbook of the department, and 12 monthly lists of station publications.

Following the plan of the year previous, Volumes XXIII and XXIV of Experiment Station Record were issued during the year. Each volume consisted of six monthly and two additional or, as they are termed, abstract numbers, together with the customary author and subject indexes.

As in previous years, the numbers have been made up largely of abstracts of agricultural literature, together with brief notes on the organization, equipment, and development of institutions for agricultural education and research in this country and abroad, and, in the case of the regular monthly numbers, of editorials and special articles on important phases of the progress of agricultural investigation and science. The abstracts have, as usual, covered the publications of the agricultural experiment stations of the United States and the United States Department of Agriculture, researches of experiment stations and similar institutions in all parts of the world, and a large number of articles having a direct bearing upon agricultural science and practice published in book form or in the domestic and foreign journals.

With the steady development of agricultural agencies the number of articles to be abstracted has continued to increase. The total number of abstracts included in the two volumes was 7,131, the largest number for any year and nearly 1,800 in excess of that of two

years before, when no abstract numbers were issued. Even this large increase, however, has proved inadequate to secure as prompt publication of accumulated material as is desirable. With a view to lessening the congestion, as well as to permit of a more complete review of the literature, arrangements have recently been completed whereby two additional abstract numbers will be issued annually. This has involved a change as to the date of issue of these numbers. Hereafter they will constitute Nos. 3, 6, and 9 of each volume instead of Nos. 4 and 8 as at present, and will appear at bimonthly intervals, beginning with August, 1911.

As time goes on the value of the Record as a great repository of information pertaining to agriculture, otherwise available only by an extended examination of the enormous mass of literature which has been published, continues to increase. The 24 volumes thus far issued contain references to no fewer than 85,829 articles, besides editorials, special articles, and notes. The experiment station reports abstracted have alone numbered 956, the station bulletins and circulars 7,956, and the publications of this department 4,488. The carefully prepared author and subject indexes to the individual volumes and the general index to Volumes I to XII have greatly enhanced the usefulness of the Record. Considerable progress was made during the year in the preparation of a similar general index for Volumes XIII to XXV.

An indication of the usefulness of publications such as the Record for the assembling, preservation, and dissemination of the results of the vast fund of agricultural knowledge which is accumulating is afforded by the recent establishment of a publication by the International Institute of Agriculture at Rome, with its announced purpose to "review without delay the scientific and technical, and in part the legislative, literature of agriculture and the allied industries," and to furnish "a periodical summary of the agricultural literature of the world." This publication, designated "The Bulletin of the Bureau of Agricultural Intelligence and of Plant Diseases," is issued monthly in both English and French editions, each number thus far containing about 200 pages. It is of interest to note that although the Bulletin at present gives more prominence to articles. of a popular nature and of more immediate practical interest than has been deemed advisable in the Record, from which it also differs in many other important respects, it is understood to have been patterned directly upon it and to have followed many of its details.

A number of changes in the personnel of the staff engaged in the preparation of the Record occurred during the year. Following the resignation of Mr. J. B. Morman, for several years in charge of the abstracting in rural economics and of the indexing, these duties were divided, the indexing being intrusted to Mr. M. D. Moore and the work in rural economics to Mr. B. B. Hare. A portion of the abstracting in veterinary medicine was undertaken by Dr. L. W. Fetzer in addition to his previous duties in agricultural chemistry. Mr. B. W. Tillman was added to the staff in connection with the abstracting in soils and fertilizers, and Mr. C. II. Lane in connection with that of agricultural education.

As heretofore, the editorial management of the Record was in direct charge of Dr. E. W. Allen, assistant director.

The office continued to supplement the Record by a bimonthly review of progress in the more practical lines of investigation at the experiment stations in the Experiment Station Work series of Farmers' Bulletins.

The proceedings of the American Association of Farmers' Institute Workers were prepared and submitted for publication by the department through the office.

The office continued the publication of the card index of experiment-station literature. The total number of cards of this index distributed has now reached 31,400. The receipts from sales of the index during the year were $250.77.

WORK FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION.

The director of the office has continued to act as the general representative of the department in matters relating to the examinations held by the Civil Service Commission for technical and scientific positions in the department. The number of papers received from the Civil Service Commission recorded in the office and rated by examiners in the department during the year was about 3,850, as compared with about 2,720 reported last year. Besides the regular examinations, 63 special examinations were held during the year, as compared with 38 last year.

INSULAR STATIONS.

An eminently successful year has been reported by each of the stations maintained by the office. A few changes in the personnel of some of the stations have been made, but there has been little interruption of the work. The policy adopted at the establishment of the stations of working for the diversification of agriculture remains unchanged.

Through local funds, contributed for the purpose, there have been several additions to the cooperative demonstration farms maintained by some of the stations. It is expected on these farms to present visual evidence of some of the more practical results of the stations' work, while the more technical experiments are carried out on the station proper. Some of the main features of the work of the different stations are briefly described in the subjoined reports.

All the stations are growing in the esteem and favor of the people for whom they are maintained. This is shown by the rapidly increasing growth in correspondence, in the demand for publications, and in individual requests for advice, the readiness to engage in cooperative work of all sorts, and the increasingly generous private and community contributions of funds. The scientific work of the stations is attracting wide attention, their publications being noted in the principal scientific review journals of the world, and in not a few instances permission has been given for the republication of some of the bulletins in foreign countries.

The several bureaus and divisions of this department continue to cooperate generously with the stations, supplying materials and information that are of great value and which the stations can not readily obtain for themselves on account of their isolation. It is desired to make proper acknowledgment here for this aid.

With the development of the stations the administrative work of this office continues to increase. The purchasing of materials, editing and publishing the bulletins and reports, correspondence, and other matters relating to the stations, require considerable time and attention. This work, as heretofore, was in charge of Dr. Walter H. Evans. All the fiscal affairs of the temporary disbursing agents in their relations with the Government are reviewed by the accountant of this office, and the satisfactory manner in which the accounts are handled has received hearty commendation.

During the past fiscal year the appropriation for the Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico stations was $28,000 each, and for Guam $15,000. These sums were supplemented by sales and other funds which were available for maintenance and for the extension of the work as follows: Alaska, $3,807.86; Hawaii, $18,494.47; Porto Rico, $2,382.81; and Guam, $35.74.

ALASKA STATIONS.

The work at the agricultural experiment stations in Alaska has been carried out during the past year in accordance with the plans outlined in former reports. At Sitka horticultural and plant-breeding work are given prominence. At Rampart the principal work is in testing and breeding varieties of grain and in experiments with potatoes and hardy leguminous plants. Farming on a commercial scale as it must be practiced by settlers is carried on at Fairbanks, and at Kodiak breeding and care of live stock are the principal investigations. For the present this work is confined to cattle and sheep.

The work with hybrid strawberries at Sitka has been continued with marked success. Of the earlier hybrids produced by crossing the native strawberry of the coast region with a cultivated variety, nearly 200 have shown such valuable characters that they are being propagated and tested to determine their true value. About 35 varieties have already produced berries that exceed in size and flavor any of the cultivated ones found in the local markets. Continued efforts have been made to produce additional hybrids, and about 2,000 hybrid seedlings are now being grown at the station. These should begin to bear in two years and give some indication as to their value. In like manner the study of the crosses between the salmon berry and the cultivated raspberry is being continued. Thus far the hybrids have proved very shy bearers, and little judgment can be made as to their value. The station is continuing to propagate and distribute for trial a large number of fruit trees and bushes and some ornamental plants. These are furnished to settlers upon request, as far as the supplies will admit, and some are sent to the other stations, where the facilities for propagation are not as complete as at the main station.

Comparative tests of about 60 varieties of potatoes and of many varieties of cabbage, cauliflower, and other vegetables are being continued at the Sitka Station to determine which varieties are best adapted to the climatic conditions of the coast region.

At the Rampart Station uniformly successful efforts in growing barley and oats have been made, but with rye and wheat less favorable results have been secured. The normal growing season at this place is about 110 days, and in 1910 the maximum temperature was

in July, when 92° F. was attained, with a daily mean temperature of 61.1°. This gave sufficient warmth to ripen practically all varieties of spring-sown grains except wheat. Where rye and wheat were sown in the fall and well covered with snow they came through the winter and matured a considerable portion of their crop. The spring of 1911 was abnormally late in starting, but spring-sown grains are reported as having done well. Winter rye and winter wheat were badly injured by severe freezing in the early winter before snow covered the ground. A number of successful crosses of varieties of barley have been made, and in the first generation some appear to have desirable qualities, but they will have to be grown longer to fix the varieties and determine their worth. As a result of 10 years' work at this station it appears that grain growing is practicable in the interior of Alaska, and that it can be made a success in many parts of the broad interior valleys. An attempt is being made to introduce some of the Siberian alfalfas brought to this country by Prof. N. E. Hansen, of the South Dakota Experiment Station, and there is reason to believe that some of them will become established.

An experiment with potatoes was carried on at Sitka and Rampart with practically the same results at each station. The tubers of a number of varieties were placed in greenhouse flats and allowed to sprout in the light for four weeks before planting. These yielded in nearly every instance an increase of 10 per cent or more in the total crop, with a proportionate increase in marketable tubers.

The Fairbanks Station was largely established to determine the practicability of farming on a considerable scale. With this in view, grain and potatoes were grown on a commercial scale, over $1,500 worth of potatoes being sold from the station farm. Some of the potatoes were destroyed by early frost, but from 34 acres 410 bushels of potatoes were harvested. A considerable amount of grain and hay was produced, and a self-binding reaper, perhaps the first in Alaska, was added to the equipment. The principal energies were expended in extending the area of cultivable land by clearing the dense growth of spruce and birch, about 4 acres being prepared for the plow, with 40 acres additional cleared for pasture and mowing.

Satisfactory progress is reported from the Kodiak Station, where there are now 82 head of pure-bred Galloway cattle of all ages, 10 grade cattle, and 89 sheep and lambs. The stock was successfully wintered on native forage, supplemented by a small amount of purchased grain feed, and there does not appear to be any reason why stock raising should not be made a success in the coast region of Alaska if care is exercised in selecting the stock and they are sufficiently well housed and winter fed. Arrangements are being made to take up dairying as a part of the work at Kodiak, and an attempt will be made to select out the best milkers of the Galloway herd and purchase others to carry on this work.

Some additions have been made to the equipment of the stations, the most important of which are a stock and hay barn and an additional 100-ton silo at the stock farm on Calsinsky Bay and a silo and dairy barn at Kodiak; a barn, a well, and a frost-proof cellar at Fairbanks; and a barn and implement shed at Rampart.

A survey has been made of the tract of land occupied by the station on Calsinsky Bay, and its reservation for station purposes will be asked for.