The record-union., 1898-12-02
Contains a Review of Our Agricultural Re-
IatIons In Foreign Fields.
Interest in the Territories Recent
ly Brought Under Control OF
the United States Urgently
Call for Attention by the De-
uartment-Congress Asked to
Provide a Sufficien Fund to In
vestigate the Resources OF the
Islands.

WASHINGTON, Lee.
of Agriculture James Wilson In ms an
nual report, made public to-nlght. III
addition to discussing domestic prop
aems reviews our agricultural relations
in foreign fields. He calls Tor an emer-
gency appropriation of a lump sum Tor
future requirements that cannot all De
anticipated specifically. Exploration
nv scientists of territorial acquisitions
and the sudden appearance of pests are
some of the possible emergencies.
Discussing agricultural resources IN
our new island acquisitions Secretary
Wilson says: .
I'm the territories recently brought
,,ndeY the control of the United States
Government agricultural interests ur-
gently call for attention by this de-
partment. Hawaii and the West In
dia Islands depend almost exclusively
for their prosperity upon their agrlcuit-
ural productions. 1t behooves the de-
partment, therefore, to place itself at
the earliest moment possible in posi-
ton to extend to the agriculturlsts Oh
those territories which have or may
come under the United States flag the
services and benefits which 1t renders
to the farmers of the United states.
The increased trade relations wh1cn
may be looked for between the United
States and it's insular dependencies,
moyeover, render the conditions OF ag-
r.iculture in the latter and the charac-
ter and extent of their productions
matter of profound interest TO the peo-
pie of the United States.
'sIn interest of our own agriculture,
not only must the agricultural re-
sources of these islands then be studied
closely and intelligently, but the dam
gers which threaten agriculture IN
these territories in the form of plant
diseases or insect pests must be made
the subject of special investigations
with a view to provide agriculture there
with preventive or remedial agencies,
and also to secure our own agriculture
from the possibility of their introduc-
tion into this country.
1T is urgently necessary, therefore,
that Congress should as speedily as
possible provide a sufficient fund for
the use of this department in making
such Investigations as may be neces-
sary into the agricultural resources and
conditions in Hawaii, Porto Rico, Cuba
and the Philippines"
LIE 00CI6IdIy SlAd1 SOQ 0kJOAk LIZ AACNN
of nature teaching in the common
schools.
The report announces that the Bu-
reau of Animal Industry has perfected
a dip which takes the fever ticks from
cattle so they can be brought North
at any season; that it has continued
experiments with anti-toxine serum to
prevent and cure hog cholera, and it
is recommended that this discovery,
having been made by public officials at
public expense, should not be diverted
to private cost, and that the serum
manufacture should be continued under
Government control, at least for some
years to come.
Texas fever dipping stations will be
established at convenient points before
the next quarantine season. The re-
suits from the black leg vaccine indi-
cate that the percentage of loss in
herds has been reduced from 10 to 20
per cent. to less than / per cent. This
indicates that if generally used it will
tend to eradicate the disease comp
pletely.
The report says good work has been
done in hybridizing the orange and
other citrus plants and in the crossing
of pineapples, increasing the size and
vigor and greatly improving the flavor
Observation and forecast weather
stations have been extended around the
Caribbean Sea, and increased through
the interior of this country, especially
in the mountain States.
The natural life zones of the United
States are being surveyed, and the
areas best adapted to various crops de-
termined. Four scientific explorers of
the department are abroad getting
seeds and plants in Russia, the Medi-
terranean region, the China Sea and
South America. Strenuous efforts are
making to perfect crop statistics.
The Alaskan interior will be explored