(Witness: Melvin.) has in many ways rendered valuable assistance to our export interests. During the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the New England States he was largely instrumental in prevailing upon the British authorities not to prohibit all live stock from the United States. In this way our exporters were enabled to continue shipments from all the usual ports except those immediately in the affected section. If this had not been accomplished, a very large loss to the country would have resulted. The London representative is also generally useful in collecting and transmitting to the Department information as to foreign affairs relating to its work or affecting the export trade. For the convenience of importers of fine breeding cattle an inspector of the Bureau in Great Britain makes tuberculin tests of cattle intended for exportation to the United States. During the last fiscal year one-sixth of the cattle tested were found diseased with tuberculosis and were rejected. By this service the United States importers are enabled to buy cattle in Great Britain, subject to a reliable tuberculin test, with the assurance that they will be admitted into the United States. Otherwise they would often sustain heavy losses by having animals condemned and slaughtered on arrival in this country after they had bought and paid for them. SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF DISEASES. The scientific investigation of animal diseases has always been an important part of the Bureau's work, and some notable discoveries of great scientific and economic value have been made by the Bureau's staff and have gained for the Bureau a world-wide reputation. About 1890 the Bureau demonstrated that the cattle tick, Boophilus annulatus, was the carrier of the infection of Texas fever, through the succeeding generation, from animal to animal. This opened up a new field in medicine and established for the first time the principle of the transmission of disease by insects acting as intermediary hosts. This mode of transmitting infection has since become quite familiar to the public by the discovery that certain species of the mosquito spread malaria and yellow fever among people. The Bureau must also be credited with introducing the successful treatment of actinomycosis or lumpy jaw in cattle by means of iodide of potassium, thereby effecting a saving of $250,000 annually. The work done in the eradication of foot rot of sheep and cattle is worth $150,000 annually. Recent investigations have cleared up much of the mystery concerning hog cholera, which has puzzled the scientific world for years, and it is now known that the cause of the most acute and virulent forms of the disease is a virus that can pass through the finest filter and is invisible under the microscope, This work has since been confirmed by European scientists. A successful remedy has been worked out in an experimental way, and efforts are now being made to adapt it to practical and general use. This method has been patented in such a way as to allow anybody in the United States the right of its use free of royalty. Hog cholera has long been a cause of heavy loss to the farmer, and it is now believed that with the knowledge at hand it will be possible to reduce this loss very greatly in the future. The investigations regarding tuberculosis have also given important results. and the work of the Bureau has thrown considerable light upon the problem of combating this disease, not only in animals, but in man. A conservative estimate of the value of these investigations is $1,500,000 annually. The Bureau laboratories prepare and distribute, free of charge, to health officers tuberculin for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in cattle and mallein for the diagnosis of glanders in horses. The free distribution of blackleg vaccine to stock owners has been continued for several years with excellent results. During the last fiscal year 1,350,915 doses of this vaccine were prepared and distributed. As a result of its use the losses of young cattle on which it is used have been reduced to about one-half of 1 per cent, whereas the losses without the use of vaccine were formerly as high as 10 or 12 per cent of the calves produced annually in the infected districts. Some valuable work has recently been done in the investigation of internal parasites of sheep. The prevalence of these parasites has done great damage to the sheep industry in the eastern half of the United States, and has caused thousands of farmers to abandon sheep raising. By carefully studying one of the most troublesome of these parasites (the stomach worm) and establishing the principal facts in its life history the Bureau has placed before sheep raisers (Witness: Melvin.) Ex information which will enable them very largely to prevent its ravages. periments indicate that it is entirely feasible to raise lambs free from this and some other injurious parasites. Our investigations along this line save $500,000 annually. Many pathological specimens are sent from various parts of the country to the Bureau laboratories for examination and diagnosis. Dogs and other small animals are examined and tests made for rabies. The pathological laboratory in a valuable accessory to the meat-inspection service, as specimens are often sent in for confirmatory diagnosis. The Bureau owns an experiment station, consisting of a small farm near Washington, where animals are kept and experiments conducted in conjunction with the laboratories, which are located in the city. WORK FOR THE DAIRY INDUSTRY. The Dairy Division of the Bureau, established in 1895, has done much to promote and assist the dairy industry of the country. It assists the export trade in dairy products by inspecting them and certifying to their quality. It also supervises renovated-butter factories and inspects their products to guard against an unwholesome article being put upon the market. Its work includes butter investigations, market-milk investigations, cheese investigations, building and management investigations, and laboratory work. It has conducted experiments to determine the best conditions for the manufacture and storage of butter and the manufacture and curing of cheese, and its experiments have made it possible to produce in this country cheeses of the finest European varieties. It studies the quality and character of butter as it comes to the large markets and reports defects to the makers, with suggestions for improvement. Over a thousand creameries have been assisted in this way, many of them to their material advantage. This division has recently devised a rapid method for determining moisture in butter, which will be of great practical value to creameries. Much of this work yields important financial results to the dairy industry of the country. An effort is being made to develop the dairy industry in the South, where there are not only great needs for improvement, but great possibilities. Much assistance is given to dairymen by the preparation of plans for improved and sanitary barns and other buildings. Investigations are being made to determine the best methods of producing clean, sanitary milk. Butter furnished to the Navy on contract is inspected and good quality required. The Bureau of Animal Industry has increased the value of dairy products at least $3,000,000 annually. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY. It is only within recent years that it has been found practicable to take up any special work in animal husbandry. Experiments in animal breeding and feeding are now under way both independently and in cooperation with several of the State experiment stations. Probably the most important work of this kind is that undertaken in Colorado with the object of developing a class of heavy harness horses to meet a great need which has long existed in this country. Experiments in breeding Morgan horses have also been begun in Vermont. Cooperative investigations in poultry breeding and management with the Maine Experiment Station have shown that the egg-laying capacity of hens may be increased by selective breeding and proper feeding. Several of the hens have laid more than 200 eggs in a year. The success of this work means a substantial addition to the income of the farmers of the country, amounting to not less than $200,000 annually. The estimated value of the investigations concerning fecundity of cows is $100,000 annually. PUBLICATIONS. A very important feature of the Bureau's work is the dissemination of information by means of its literature. The special reports on Diseases of the Horse and Diseases of Cattle are among the most popular and helpful publications ever issued by the Government. The annual reports, bulletins, and circulars have a wide circulation and give valuable information to the farmer, the stock raiser, the scientist, and the general public. Whereupon (at 3.30 o'clock p. m.) the committee adjourned until 11 o'clock to-morrow morning, January 15, 1907. 23848-07-15 COMMITTEE ON EXPENDITURES IN THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Washington, D. C., January 23, 1907. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: Will you be kind enough to advise me how many persons have been examined, how many persons have been passed, and how many appointed from the civil-service lists to the public service in the Department of Agriculture for the year 1906, giving the number for the different positions and especially with reference to scientific assistants? Also please advise me further if you have had any applications from the Department of Agriculture for places which you have not been able to fill from your examinations, and if so, how many and when, and for what places. Yours, very respectfully, C. E. LITTLEFIELD. Hon. C. E. LITTLEFIELD, UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, House of Representatives. SIR: In further response to your letter of January 23, the Commission has the honor to inclose herewith a table showing the number of persons examined, those who passed, and those who were appointed to positions in the Department of Agriculture during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1906, from examinations held especially for that Department. The list does not include appointments to the Department of Agriculture from the general departmental registers, such as for clerks, stenographer and typewriter, bookkeeper, messenger, watchman, and skilled laborer, as these registers are established to fill positions in all parts of the Federal civil service, and as it is not understood from your letter that you desire this information. For your information it may be stated that since the 1st of July last the Commission has held examinations for inspector of meat products (under the meat-inspection law), tagger, and veterinary inspector, and that over twelve hundred appointments have been made from the registers for these positions during the past six months. The only position in the Department of Agriculture for which the Commission experiences difficulty in securing eligibles is that of veterinary inspector. By holding the examination for veterinary inspector frequently, however, the Commission has been ultimately able to secure a sufficient number of eligibles to meet the demands of the service in this respect. Your attention is also invited to the inclosed announcement of examinations to be held on the dates given for the purpose of securing eligibles to fill certain positions in the Department of Agriculture, including inspectors under the pure-food law. Announcements will also be made within a few days of an examination for the position of civil-engineer student in the Division of Public Roads, at $50 a month, and of an examination to fill the position of clerk, stenographer, and typewriter in the Forest Service at Nevada City, Cal. By direction of the Commission. JOHN C. BLACK, President. Table showing the number of persons examined, those who passed, and those who avere appointed to positions in the Department of Agriculture during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1906, from examinations held especially for that Department. Table showing the number of persons examined, those who passed, and those who were appointed to positions in the Department of Agriculture, etc.—Continued. @ Examination held in previous fiscal year. Some of these appointments were made from an examination held in the previous fiscal year. The majority of the examinations from which none or only a few appointments have been made, as indicated above, were held toward the close of the fiscal year and the appointments were made after July 1, 1906. In some cases, however, the examination was held to fill but one vacancy. ANNOUNCEMENT OF EXAMINATION FOR INSPECTOR OF MEAT PRODUCTS. The facilities the Commission has at hand for securing promptly a large number of persons qualified along special lines have been well illustrated by the examination for inspector of meat products held as a result of the act approved June 30, 1906. In the course of the debate on the measure some doubt was expressed by various Members of Congress as to whether the Commission would be able to secure qualified inspectors rapidly enough to meet the needs of the service. The act, however, as passed did not take the positions out of the competitive classified service, and results have demonstrated the wisdom of this course. On July 2 the Department of Agriculture asked the Commission to hold an examination to carry out the provisions of the law. Twenty-four hours thereafter an announcement giving the scope, times, and places of the examination was sent to the press, to local boards of examiners, and to various institutions through whose agency it was believed that competent inspectors could be secured. Applications came in from every section of the country, and the examination was held on July 21 at about 200 places, at which 2,496 persons appeared, 795 of whom attained eligible ratings. On July 28 the first certification of 51 names was sent to the Department, and within a few days of that time all the papers were rated. Owing to the heavy demands of the Department, the papers of persons receiving ratings of 65 per cent or over were made eligible, and as a result of this action 825 selections in all have been made from the registers of the Commission. This office has been informed by the Department of Agriculture that the results have been satisfactory. A considerable number of excellent employees has been secured, and an extremely small percentage of those certified has turned out to be unsatisfactory. The Commission has now established a second register, and is prepared to meet the future needs of the service. It is not believed to have been possible for the Department of Agriculture, with the machinery at its disposal, to itself weed out of the large number of applicants those not having the necessary qualifications for the position in anything like the time actually occupied by the Commission in accomplishing this task. In further illustration of the Commission's ability to supply large numbers of eligibles it may be added that almost 2,000 appointments have been made within the past four months from the examinations for meat inspector, forest ranger, veterinary inspector, printer's assistant, meat tagger, and forest supervisor. (Twenty-third Report, Civil Service Commission, pp. 7 and 8.) BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. JANUARY 17, 1907. (Part of testimony given on above date before Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Agriculture.) STATEMENT OF DR. B. T. GALLOWAY, CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. (The witness was duly sworn by the chairman.) The CHAIRMAN. Will you state what, if anything, is being done so far as you know with reference to bringing about coordination in the Departments in connection with this question of the collection of statistics, Doctor Galloway? Doctor GALLOWAY. Mr. Chairman, I can answer only in a general way. The question of statistics has not been specifically taken up by the subcommittees of the Keep Commission, but it is the object of the committees to survey the whole field and make recommendations to the Secretaries in reference to the organization of committees in the Department and recommendations in reference to the organization of committees for the purpose of coordinating the work of the Departments. That is about as far as the committee work has proceeded. The CHAIRMAN. That would involve, when it is carried out in its details, the statistical work as well as other work? Doctor GALLOWAY. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. So that that general comprehensive plan is now under consideration? Doctor GALLOWAY. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And is it being adopted, or is it simply being considered by the committee? Doctor GALLOWAY. The subcommittees have only gotten to the point of making specific recommendations for the appointment of committees within the Departments, and the President has issued an order to that effect, and the Secretary of Agriculture has recently promulgated such an order directing chiefs of Bureaus to appoint committees within their respective bureaus to consider certain phases of their work, and coordinate their work, and coordinate the work of their bureaus with other bureaus in the Department. That is as far as it has gone. I will put in the record the order of the Secretary with reference to the Department of Agriculture upon this subject. (The paper referred to is as follows:) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D. C., December 24, 1906. General Order No. 105. In conformity with the recommendations of the committee on Department methods, approved by the President, the following is promulgated: |