sible, remain sufficiently liberal to provide copies to such persons as are especially interested in the publications, and make application for them. The problem is undoubtedly a perplexing one, and unless Congress makes liberal additions to the printing fund, is likely to prove more troublesome with succeeding years.
The present organization of the Department of Agriculture is for the most part one of divisions quite independent of each other in their operations. These are not generally grouped into bureaus, as is the case in other departments of the Government, but each is responsible directly to the Secretary of Agriculture. The lines of work of different divisions very naturally overlap, and as new lines are taken up, troublesome questions arise as to their assignment. The condition is one which calls for close cooperation along the broadest lines possible, but the segregation which has resulted from the multiplication of divisions has not conduced to this. The Secretary believes that the best interests of the Department now demand aggregation, rather than segregation, and that the time has come to bring together the related lines of work. In accordance with this policy he announces the affiliation of four divisions, closely allied by the nature of their work, under the title of Office of Plant Industry, with a director in charge. How far anything like a reorganization of the Department will be carried is at present uncertain, but it is felt that the movement is in the direction of progress, and will almost inevitably be extended sooner or later. In point of location, furthermore, the scientific divisions are widely separated, the laboratories being for the most part in separate rented buildings, removed some distance from the executive offices and the library. These buildings are regarded as temporary makeshifts, and are wholly inadequate to the present needs, several of them being dwelling houses, with small, poorly-lighted rooms. The Secretary makes a strong plea for a laboratory building, and submits plans for a fire-proof structure costing approximately $200,000. He points out that the items of rent and other expenses connected with the present laboratory quarters amount to about $10,000 a year, and that the Department is far behind many State institutions in its laboratory facilities. The excellent equipment which is being brought together in these laboratories, the extensive collections and the valuable records of investigation, are jeopardized by their present location. It seems eminently fitting that the National Department of Agriculture should be provided with the very best facilities for the important and far-reaching work which it is conducting.
The account of the extensive and varied operations of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, as contained in the annual report of the Commissioner for 1900, shows a growth, as remarkable as it was unforeseen, during the three decades that have elapsed since Professor Baird was appointed "to prosecute investigations with a view of ascertaining what diminution in the number of food-fishes of the coast and the lakes of the United States has taken place, to what causes the same is due, and what protective, prohibitory or precautionary measures should be adopted." A summary by the Commissioner of the work of the different divisions of the service is followed by detailed accounts of the propagation and distribution of food-fishes, the biological investigations, the collection of statistics of the commercial fisheries, the study of the methods of the fisheries, the inspection of the fur-seal rookeries of the Pribilof Islands, and the operations of the vessels, including a narrative of the recent South Sea expedition of the Albatross under Mr. Agassiz. The scientific investigations conducted in the field, on the vessels and in the laboratories pertain to almost every phase of aquatic biology. Much of the biological work is naturally and necessarily addressed to practical questions connected with the economic fisheries and fish-culture,
