irrigated. The cost of development, however, is so great that the supply of irrigated lands exceeds the demand at the price offered which in many cases is only the cost of development. It therefore appears that the remaining more expensive irrigation projects to be developed will have to wait until either the products of the farm are more valuable or capital and labor cost less. The country is hardly ready to accept the policy of building irrigation plants with general revenues and disposing of them at less than cost, or leasing them at rentals insufficient to pay for the capital invested. However, in spite of this status the bureau is called upon for a great deal of assistance in the irrigation districts of the Western States. For the purpose of effecting economy and more expeditious administration the bureau moved its irrigation headquarters in 1918 from Washington, D. C., to Berkeley, California. The recent increase of farm values gave considerable encouragement to the construction of irrigation plants, and in his report for 1919 the director states that in Idaho alone. projects including 1,500,000 acres are in various stages of promotion.

Another type of irrigation which the bureau has investigated and upon which it is prepared to give information, is pumping water from underground sources. Advice is given to farmers on engineering features of pumping equipment. High prices also halted the use of pumping apparatus, but cheaper materials are being provided, and in 1918 it is reported that on the Western Plains the prospects are that a considerable portion of the dry-farming will be overcome through the pumping method of irrigation.

Drainage is another subject receiving the attention of the engineering branch of the bureau. The reclamation of our swamp lands is a means of developing great agricultural resources. Problems taxing engineering ingenuity abound in the swamps along the coast. There are swamps that lie close to great urban centers, which, if drained, would yield very profitable returns. Such an instance is the one near New York City in the State of New Jersey. The bureau cooperates with

1 Yearbook for 1918, p. 437.

a number of states in working out their drainage problems. Considerable attention is given to small farm projects where immediate beneficial results follow. In 1918 drainage surveys and plans were prepared for 226 farms in eighteen States. The bureau gives advice on tile drainage, machine trenching, possible organization in the community to purchase equipment, and among other things assists States in framing proper drainage laws.

When one reviews the work of the bureau in the field of Rural Engineering the impression is received that, at least so far as aims and policies are concerned, the Department of Agriculture leaves not a stone unturned in its efforts to make the farm productive and a comfortable place to live. Engineering assistance given farmers includes hydraulic, mechanical, electrical, architectural, and other problems.

STATES RELATIONS SERVICE

The Office of Experiment Stations. The basis for the Office of Experiment Stations in the Department of Agriculture was laid with the establishment of the Land-grant Colleges in 1862 and the Agricultural Experiment Stations in 1887. The need for such a coordinating office in agricultural education and research was implicit in the establishment of the agricultural colleges. About a decade before the passing of the Hatch Act of 1887 actual experiment stations were being established and in many of the Land-grand Colleges experimental work was being carried on without an express organization or appropriation of funds for the purpose.

The result was that already in 1885 the Commissioner of Agriculture requested that delegates from all agricultural colleges and experiment stations meet in Washington with a view to coming to an understanding concerning the cooperation between experiment stations and the Department of Agriculture on research problems. The convention warmly approved the plan of the establishment of a central agency whereby the duplication of effort could be largely avoided. and through which comparisons of experiments could be made. and the results of experimentation throughout the country

could be collected and published. In view of these circumstances the Commissioner of Agriculture said: "Believing that the Department of Agriculture can, if wisely conducted, become a vitalizing center for a more general cooperative effort for the promotion of agricultural science, and that the various State Experiment Stations should be encouraged by the most cordial cooperation on the part of this branch of the National Government, I have endeavored with my very limited means and force, to organize a branch in this department to take charge of the returns from these colleges and stations, and to collect and distribute the information obtained for the benefit of all interested parties." Thus without any appropriations for this purpose the Commissioner began the work that later led to the organization of an experiment station office and recommended the new undertaking to the "careful consideration of Congress."

The impetus to establish experiment stations gained momentum and finally found favor with Congress in the passing of the Hatch Act of 1887. An act approved July 18, 1888, making appropriations for the department for the fiscal year 1889 provides for the establishment of an office of experiments stations in the following terms:

Five hundred and ninety-five thousand dollars; ten thousand dollars of which sum shall be payable upon the order of the Commissioner of Agriculture to enable him to carry out the provisions of section three of said act of March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and to compose, edit and publish such of the results of the experiments made under section two of said act by said experiment stations as he may deem necessary; and for these purposes the Commissioner of Agriculture is authorized to employ such assistants, clerks and other persons as he may deem necessary.

To carry out the provisions of the act the department formally established October 1, 1888, an Office of Experiment Stations with a director in charge.2

Early Functions of the Office of Experiment Stations.— The duties of the department with respect to the Experiment Stations are stated in section three of the Hatch Act. This section provides as follows:

1 Vide Report of Department of Agriculture for 1885, pp. 6 and 7. * Report of Department of Agriculture for 1888, p. 10.

2

That in order to secure, as far as practicable, uniformity of methods and results in the work of said stations, it shall be the duty of the United States Commissioner of Agriculture to furnish forms, as far as practicable, for the tabulation of results of investigation or experiments; to indicate, from time to time, such lines of inquiry as to him shall seem most important; and, in general, to furnish such advice and assistance as will best promote the purposes of this act. It shall be the duty of each said station, annually, on or before the first day of February, to make to the Governor of the State or Territory in which it is located a full and detailed report of its operations, including a statement of receipts and expenditures, a copy of which report shall be sent to each of said stations, to the said Commissioner of Agriculture, and to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.

As stated in his report of 1888 the Commissioner of Agriculture indicated that in its relations with the stations the department was to "exercise not dictatorship, but leadership.' This policy has been continued and is illustrated in the formation of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations which meets annually and whose purpose it is to discuss in the general assembly as well as in sections questions relating to the management and work of the stations. The name of the association was changed in 1919 to the Association of Land-grant Colleges. The association is composed of delegates from the Land-grant Colleges and Experiment Stations, the Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Education of the Department of the Interior.

To carry out the full purpose of the act, the Experiment Stations Office was to give information of a scientific character to the respective stations and to popularize the results of experiments among the people. The former object was accomplished in the publication of the Experiment Station Record, Station Bulletins, and the proceedings of the conventions of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations; while the latter purpose was fulfilled by the publication of Farmers' Bulletins and cooperating with Experiment Stations in supporting the Farmers' Institute movement. From time to time Congress provided funds for conducting special investigations in cooperation with the Experiment Stations. With respect to these special investigations Doctor True presents the following significant facts:

For many years the office carried on very important investigations on food and nutrition which did much toward laying a scientific basis for the home economics work of the colleges and schools. This work

is still continued along with investigations on clothing and household equipment and management in the Office of Home Economics of the States Relations Service.

Beginning with 1898 the Office undertook irrigation investigations and this proved to be a large enterprise. Out of this also grew drainage investigations which were extensively carried on. The work in irrigation and drainage was turned over to the Office of Public Roads in 1915 when the States Relations Service was formed. A broad foundation had been laid by the Office of Experiment Stations for the work in irrigation and drainage which the Department is now carrying on.

One of the most important lines of work carried on by the Office of Experiment Stations had to do with agricultural education. With respect to this field of endeavor Doctor True comments as follows:

A considerable part of this work was carried on in cooperation with the Association of Agricultural Colleges through a standing committee on Instruction in Agriculture, of which the Director of the Office of Experiment Stations was for many years chairman. This work dealt with the courses of instruction in agricultural colleges and schools, collection of data regarding the progress of agricultural education at home and abroad, and the publication of this material in annual reports; propaganda for the development of a comprehensive system of education in the colleges and secondary and elementary schools, and the management of a Graduate School of Agriculture held under the auspices of the Association of Agricultural Colleges. For many years no other federal organization, took any special interest in agricultural education. Now the Bureau of Education and the Federal Board for Vocational Education are working largely on the foundation laid by the Office of Experiment Stations. The States Relations Service is continuing the work in cooperation with the other federal organizations, the Land-Grant College Association, and State Departments of Education, but is now confining its attention chiefly to the preparation of subject matter for use in schools where agriculture is. taught.

In 1890 the Office of Experiment Stations was made the depository of the financial and statistical reports of the colleges and stations which provided a means for ascertaining the development of agricultural education in the United States. Beginning in 1898 the Office of Experiment Stations from time to time organized stations in Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico and Guam. The States Relations Service took over these stations and has also acquired the station in the Virgin Islands, which was originally maintained by the Danish Government. All these stations are in no way connected with agricultural colleges, but are wholly federal institutions, the employes of the stations being a part of the staff of the Office of Experiment Stations.