Evening star., 1926-06-06
One Of til e
Great Achieve
ments of Ameri-
can History.
How Scientists
Made Possible
the Digging of the
Panama Canal.
Practical Re-
suits.

found in minute qua ntities on GER
tain trees of that region. It has been
found also in minute quantities on
melee or larch trees i'll France, and
from that it took it's name of ms
leZitose.
A report was recoived by the depart
ment recently that the bees in GER
tain sections Of Pennsylvania were
dying because their honey crystallized
and they could not eat 1t. 1t was
found that the honeycombs were full
or melezitoSe. Then the discovery
was made that the bees had been feed
ing on honey dew on the pine trees,
and that led to the discovery that
this particular honey dew was Sc
creted by some very small insects.
Now the world has enough melezitose
to enable the chemists to find OUT
what 1t really is and the uses to which
| it may be applied. The sugar and
sirup experts have been at work also
on the production Of q uniform care
sirup that will neither ferment nor
crystalline.
There used to be, every now and
then, a mysterious explosion in a
grain elevator or a mill. A great
deal of property was destroyed and
many lives were lost. Department
chemists discovered that they We're
sade Of prevention. largely by super
vision and education, was begun.
Methods have been developed since
then Of minimizing the possibility OF
explosions.
WHEN the Department of Agricul-
w ture was established in 1852. the
Smithsonian Institution was making
some efforts at gathering meteorolog-
ical data. The department began pub
lishiue these data in its monthly re
ports. The first Commissioner OF
Agriculture, Isaac Newton twice rec
commended to Congress that "n. un-
der the direction OF the Government.
the state of the weather at different
points of the country could be daily
communicated by telegraph, so as to
be Immediately spread over the whole
country, very important and bene-
ficial results might follow
| The department continued TO pub
| lish the Smithsonian data until 1870
when pressure from many sources to
induce the Government to establish
practical service for the prediction
of storms and floods resulted in the
organization of a meteorological di-
vision in the Office of the chief signal
officer of the Army. The weather
service was conducted by that Office
until 1890. when the Weather Bureau,
as such, was officially organized and
transferred to the Department OF
Agriculture.
The Weather Bureau maintains
staff of observers stationed at suitable
locations all over the United States.
on the islands of the oceans. in
Alaska. Cooperation is maintained
with other observers in Canada and
on the ships that ply the seas. Each
observer reports the weather condi-
tions by telegraph every day. From
these reports of heat and cold. of
cloudiness and rain and snow and
hail. and of wind. the forecasters are
enabled to know which way change
in weather is moving. how rapidly II
is moving and when it will arrive at
any particular place.
MANY of the observers are farmers
and business men, but some or them.
in order to perform their duties. have
to face hardships that most people
never dream of. Some of them are
stationed in wild and lonely places
where human society is hardly ever
to be found. Others are on little
necks of sand running out into the
ocean, or on little islands far on the
mainland. and they must stay at their
posts through all kinds Of weather.
More recently the Weather Bureau
has been working out a system OF
flying weather forecasts, In anticipa-
ton of the time when well all be
flying"
THE Bureau of Agricultural Eco
nomics. one of the young bureaus
in the department, has made impor-
tant contributions in its brief span
to promoting the economic phases OF
agriculture, such as the marketing OF
crops and live stock and the organi-
zation of production to meet con-
sumption requirements. A market
news service by telegraph and radio
has been developed by the bureau.
whereby farmers everywhere are Kept
informed of market conditions, avail
able supplies of food products both
in the United States and abroad. and
prices. The crop-reporting service is
said to he the most efficient OF its
kind in the world.
On the morning of crop reporting
day the crop reporting board goes
into a, special room. The reports are
placed on a table by the Secretary OF
Agriculture or his representative.
Then the door of the room Is locked,
all telephones are disconnected and
the room Is so arranged that there is
no possibility of any one inside the
room making SiSildlS u ally OAlO Oii
the outside.
The necessity for guarding the re-
ports so strictly is that advance In
formation of what the estimate VIII
be would enable spectators to take
advantage of the knowledge and
manipulate the markets to the detr1-
ment of. the public. While the board
Is in session newspaper reporters are
gathering in a room arranged for
them on another floor. Each report
er has a telephone already connected
with the Office Of his newspaper or
press association.
When the estimate is finished 1t
is signed by the Secretary Of Agr1-
culture or his representative. Then
mimeographed copies or Aro cSauSnf
to the newspaper room and pfaced
face down alongside the telephone
and telegraph instruments. The
newspaper men stand behind a line
on the floor and at the word "GoP'
race to their instruments, turn over
the report and flash the news to the
world.
There was an occasion, several
years ago. when the information
leaked" out in advance. An investi-
CATION disclosed that the information
was conveyed to a man in the street
by means of signals made by raising
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