mine and give public notice thereof, that such importation shall not tend to the introduction or spread of contagious or infectious diseases among the cattle of the United States, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and empowered, and it shall be his duty, to make all necessary orders and regulations.

Inasmuch as there is no officer of the National Government whose duty it is to have authentic information as to the existence of diseases among cattle in foreign countries and as to the contagious or infectious character of such diseases, and the probability of the introduction or spread thereof among the cattle of the United States, save only the Secretary of Agriculture, the provision in question which makes it the duty of another officer to declare officially as to such facts is, to say the least, an instance of glaring inconsistency in the law.

REORGANIZATION.

The act providing the necessary appropriations for carrying on the work of this Department became a law but a few months ago, and until this was done I was naturally much hampered in my efforts to carry out fully and thoroughly the measures indicated by me in my last report as essential to an efficient reorganization of the Department. During the past winter and spring I was obliged to do the best I could in this direction under these discouraging circumstances. Since the 14th of July, when the appropriation act became a law, I have, with such appropriations as Congress saw fit to place at my disposal, pushed the work of reorganization with all possible energy. Under that act several new divisions were created, but as the work for these divisions had already been duly considered and carefully outlined, and as the persons designed to take charge of them were already in the employ of the Department, their reorganization was effected, I may say, immediately on the passage of the law.

A review of the work of the several divisions, which I now have the honor to lay before you, indicates the activity and energy with which the work of the Department has been pushed; and with a well-deserved tribute to the intelligence and good will exercised by all the members of my large force, in the performance of the duties assigned to them, I will now call your attention to the most salient features of the work of each division.

BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY.

I have already alluded in this report to the exercise of the administrative powers of this Bureau and the generally satisfactory results which have followed, as well as to the additional powers which are in my opinion needed to make the work absolutely efficient.

INVESTIGATION OF DISEASES.

The scientific investigation of the communicable diseases has been carried on for the purpose of elucidating the many points in connec

tion with the cause and nature of these maladies which must be understood before they can be economically prevented or eradicated. The diseases to which most attention has been given are hog cholera and Southern fever of cattle. With both, discoveries of great importance have been made which are not only of value from a scientific point of view, but which promise important results in the way of prevention and treatment, and will accordingly be treated at length in the report of the Bureau of Animal Industry.

A thorough knowledge of animal plagues is becoming more and more necessary, both because of the great increase in the number of animals in the country and the multiplication of the transportation routes by which contagion may be carried, and also because of the recent legislation already mentioned looking to a Government guaranty that the animals shipped abroad and those from which our meat products are obtained have been unaffected by disease. The excellent results which have already been reached with pleuro-pneumonia and Texas fever demonstrate the possibility of controlling and even eradicating the most virulent diseases when our knowledge of them is sufficient to indicate the proper measures. That the most destructive diseases of swine and other animals will be ultimately controlled or eradicated is almost certain, and to hasten this result the scientific investigations should be maintained and made more comprehensive.

A short time ago, I regret to say, there was an announcement made under the authority of a State official, referring to an outbreak in a Western State, which was characterized as "foot-and-mouth disease." Issued under such auspices it was given extensive publication, but fortunately my attention was called to it at the start, and I immediately telegraphed the governor of the State in question, requesting him to do all that was in his power to repress the spread of a rumor which I felt sure must be groundless, and announcing my intention to have the matter immediately investigated by a competent authority. I at once dispatched one of our veterinary inspectors to the spot and received from him a report confirming my anticipations to the effect that it was not the disease known as "foot-and-mouth disease," and, furthermore, that it was not a contagious disease at all. Immediately on the receipt of this reassuring report, I cabled the facts to our consul-general's office in London, in order that he might make it public there, the unfortunate rumor to which I refer having already been reproduced in British journals.

I desire to emphasize here the danger of giving out statements of this kind without a thorough investigation. Immediate communication with this Department will always find me willing to co-operate in an investigation of this kind, and, until the exact facts are ascertained beyond a doubt, no statement alleging the existence of a dangerous contagious disease should be given to the public. It is

no exaggeration to say that the losses to our cattle growers from unfounded rumors of such diseases have been infinitely greater than the actual losses occasioned by the diseases themselves.

COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION.

The information obtained from year to year by the scientific investigation of diseases must necessarily form but a small portion of the existing knowledge on the subject of disease, and must be used in connection with what has been previously acquired in order to give satisfactory results. For this reason I have deemed it of great importance that reliable reports should be issued, treating systematically of the common diseases of animals with special reference to prevention and treatment. Taking these as a basis for comparison with the results of investigations issued annually, the farmer will be enabled at all times to obtain full information in regard to any disease with which his stock may be affected.

The first report of this series on the Animal Parasites of Sheep has recently been issued, and a second report on the Diseases of the Horse is now in press. Other volumes are in preparation and will be issued. as rapidly as possible. The favor with which the announcement of these publications has been received shows that they will supply a variety of useful knowledge which has been greatly needed by the agricultural community.

Various lines of investigation are being vigorously prosecuted with the design of showing the actual condition, means of improvement, and future prospects of various branches of the animal industry. A full report on the Sheep Industry is in preparation, well advanced towards completion, and will probably form the first volume of this series. Reports on the American Trotter and the Thoroughbred Horse of the United States will be ready for the press at about the same time. This brief statement of the reports now nearly completed will serve as an indication of the character and scope of this section of the work of the Bureau of Animal Industry.

Last February I received an invitation to attend an interstate convention of cattlemen, to be held the following month at Fort Worth, Texas. Though unable to attend, I was impressed with the character and scope of the work indicated in the call for this meeting, and detailed a special agent of this Department to be present. I also sent a stenographer from this Department, with instructions to take a full report of the proceedings for my information. One of the subjects which was thoroughly discussed at the important convention in question, at which thirteen States were represented, was the urgent necessity to cattle growers for more extended information on the subject of the cattle supply of the country, the condition of the cattle markets, and the relation of quality to price in the cattle marketed. I have given this subject considerable attention, have

invited an exchange of views on the subject from prominent cattlemen, and have concluded that an earnest endeavor to secure information of the kind desired must be made by this Department through the Bureau of Animal Industry and its agents. It is merely carrying out the conviction which I have frequently had occasion to express elsewhere. that the peculiar circumstances of our agricultural people and their lack of facilities such as are enjoyed by people whose occupations require them to live in cities, within easy access of all centers of information relating to their business, make it the imperative duty of this Department to supply this lack as far as possible, and I have determined that an earnest effort in this direction shall be made during the coming year.

DAIRY AND POULTRY INTEREST.

In my last report I announced my determination to establish in the Bureau of Animal Industry a special division devoted exclusively to the service of the dairy interest. The act of appropriation, with the changes made in the appropriation for the needs of this bureau, making it possible to carry this determination into effect, was passed so lately that the thorough organization and equipment of an important division of this character has not yet been possible. The present encouraging condition of the dairy interest, its vast extension throughout this country, and the general appreciation of the necessity for the successful conduct of the dairy business, of the strict application to the feeding of dairy cattle of the most scientific principles, and of the application to the business of perfect methods, make necessary the establishment in this Department of a division. which shall be in these matters the natural leader. Such a division should moreover be able to extend material benefit to the dairy interests of this country by lending its aid to the extension of our export trade in dairy products and to the development of the manufacture at home of every dollar's worth of dairy products which we consume, an object which will be still further facilitated by the recent increase in the duty on cheese, a product which constitutes almost our entire dairy import.

Regarding the poultry interest, I am inclined for the present to place it in the special charge of the Dairy Division. Even though it may not be essential that this interest should be represented at present by a special division, the magnitude of the interest requires that some one division be charged with its supervision. The poultry products of this country represent in the aggregate a vast sum; and the industry is one which exists, or should exist, on every farm in this country, and which, consequently, interests a larger number of the constituents of this Department than any other single industry. In this connection, I congratulate our poultry raisers on the recent change in the law, which instead of admitting imported eggs free,

now levies on them a duty of 5 cents per dozen. The large imports of eggs into this country in past years, which it seems have come not only from our neighbors in Canada but even from across the ocean, amply justify the imposition of this duty.

DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY.

A review of the work of the Chemical Division during the past year shows that it has been carried on with diligence and success. New and commodious quarters have been acquired for the use of the division, and many mechanical facilities have been provided which it was impossible to find in the old quarters in the basement of the main building.

Work in connection with the adulteration of foods has been heartily sustained by Congress, and an increase in the appropriation has been made therefor. This is a work which should have the sympathy of every legislator and the help of every honest man. The adulteration of human food is an evil whose proportions are growing, I am sorry to say, from year to year. It is an evil destined to undermine and destroy health; and its practice not only interferes with the sale. of products honestly manufactured, but also casts discredit upon our goods in foreign countries, corrupts morals, and places a premium upon dishonesty. I hope to be enabled, through the Chemical Division, to analyze specimens of every product placed upon our market in competition with pure goods and products of the farm, and the co-operation of Congress in these efforts is earnestly solicited. Investigations during the past year have related particularly to the adulteration of tea, coffee, chocolate, and other table beverages. These results are now nearly ready for delivery to the printer.

These investigations show that the adulteration of such articles is not very extensive, and, except in the case of tea, is easily distinguishable. The most frequent one is the introduction of substances to give additional weight, such substances as will attach themselves readily to the leaves and yet not be easily distinguished by the eye. These substances are mostly of a harmless character, although some of them have been found to be deleterious. In the case of coffee the chief adulterations have been found in the ground coffees, the difficulty of adulterating the berry, whether roasted or unroasted, being so great as to almost exclude this kind of fraud. With the green berry, the chief adulteration seems to be in exposing it to a moist atmosphere that it may absorb moisture and thus increase in weight; but this is a species of fraud which is easily distinguished, since the simple drying of the berry and the estimation of the water contained therein is sufficient to determine whether or not it has been thus exposed.