examination of the geological structure and the mineral resources and products of the national domain. In conformity with its organic act and later legislation the Geological Survey is engaged in the preparation and publication of reports upon the geology and mineral resources of the United States and Alaska, and in the chemical and physical research incident to this work; in the preparation, publication, and sale of topographic maps of the United States and its dependencies; in investigating and reporting upon water resources, both surface and underground; in classifying the public lands as to their mineral and power value and in supervising the technical phases of mineral leasing on lands in which the title to the mineral resources remains in the United States.

COMMISSIONER OF RECLAMATION

The Commissioner, under supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, is charged with the responsibility for the operation of all activities of the Bureau, including investigation of irrigation resources; preparation of plans, construction, operation, and maintenance of irrigation projects, including power development; administration of funds provided for reclamation; the settlement and improvement of irrigated lands; the repayment of sums due from irrigators; and the investigation of reclamation and farm development projects both inside and outside of the arid region of the United States.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

Under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, administers the national park system in accordance with the act of August 26, 1916, as amended; the act of June 8, 1906; the Executive order of August 11, 1933; the act of August 21, 1935; and the act of June 23, 1936; formulates policies and directs protective work from standpoint of preservation and utilization and enjoyment of visitors; directs construction from engineering, architectural, and landscape viewpoints, including sanitation facilities; directs public educational service in natural sciences, history and archaeology, and provides for museum developments; and is responsible for creation and organization of new national parks, monuments, historic sites and buildings and other areas. The Director is charged with the supervision of the Civilian Conservation Corps work on Federal and State park lands and with the supervision of park, parkway, and recreational area, and historic sites and buildings surveys.

DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF MINES

The Director of the Bureau of Mines is charged with the investigation of methods of mining, especially in relation to the safety of miners, the appliances best adapted to prevent accidents, and the possible improvement of conditions under which mining operations are carried on; the treatment of ores and other mineral substances; the use of explosives and electricity; the prevention of accidents; the prevention of waste; the improvement of methods in the production of petroleum and natural gas; and other inquiries and technological investigations pertinent to such industries. He has charge of tests and analyses of ores, coals, lignites, and other mineral fuel substances belonging to or for use of the United States; has charge of the collection of statistics on mineral resources, and economic studies of metals and minerals produced or consumed in the United States and of statistical and other economic information pertaining to world production, distribution, and consumption of all mineral commodities; supervises all work relating to the production and conservation of helium; in case of war, he has charge of issuance of licenses covering the manufacture, distribution, storage, use, or possession of all explosives and their ingredients.

THE ALASKA RAILROAD

The Alaskan Engineering Commission was created under the act of March 12, 1914, which empowered, authorized, and directed the President to locate, construct, operate, or lease a railroad, or railroads, to connect one or more of the open harbors on the southern coast of Alaska with the navigable waters in the interior, and a coal field or fields, and agricultural lands. Authority was also granted to purchase existing railroads, to construct, maintain, and operate telegraph and telephone lines, and to make reservations of public lands in Alaska necessary for the purposes of the railroad.

For the execution of this work a commission of three engineers was appointed by the President to make the necessary surveys. They were directed to report to the Secretary of the Interior, under whom the President placed the general

administration of the work. After the completion of the preliminary surveys, the President, by Executive order, selected the route for the railway from the coast to the interior. Construction of the railway was begun in 1915, under the general supervision of the Secretary of the Interior.

The railroad was completed in the spring of 1923 and is now under operation. By Executive order of June 8, 1923, the President placed the operation of the railroad under the Secretary of the Interior, and by order of the Secretary of the Interior of August 15, 1923, the designation of the Alaskan Engineering Commission was changed to The Alaska Railroad, and a general manager was appointed in October of 1923, whose headquarters are at Anchorage, Alaska, with a purchasing office at Seattle, Wash., and a freight, passenger, and general business office at 333 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Ill. Reports and miscellaneous correspondence in relation to the railroad are handled in the Division of Territories and Island Possessions.

ALASKA ROAD COMMISSION

The Board of Road Commissioners in Alaska was created by the act of Congress approved January 27, 1905 (sec. 2), amended by the act approved May 14, 1906. By act approved June 30, 1932, the duties of the board were transferred from the jurisdiction of the Secretary of War to the Secretary of the Interior. Funds for the work are derived from a tax fund collected in Alaska and from special appropriations made by Congress.

The board is charged by law with the construction, repair, and maintenance of roads, tramways, ferries, bridges, and trails in the Territory of Alaska.

Under the act of June 30, 1921, there was authorized to be received from the Territory of Alaska or other source funds contributed for the construction, repair, and maintenance of roads, bridges, trails, and related works, said funds to be deposited in the United States Treasury and expended in accordance with the purpose for which they were contributed.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

The Secretary of Agriculture is charged with the work of promoting agriculture in its broadest sense. He exercises general supervision and control over the affairs of the Department and formulates and establishes the general policies to be pursued by its various branches.

The Under Secretary and Assistant Secretary act for the Secretary in his absence and assist in the general direction of the work of the Department.

DIRECTORS

Each of the directors, of extension work, research, personnel, finance, and information, reporting directly to the Secretary, has general supervision over all the work of the Department of the type which the title of his position implies.

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

This office has general direction and supervision of the personnel, salary classification, organization, and related operations of the Department as a whole. It conducts the business of the Department with the Civil Service Commission and, where personnel matters are concerned, with other agencies doing business with the Department of Agriculture.

OFFICE OF BUDGET AND FINANCE

This Office exercises general direction and supervision of the budget, fiscal, purchasing, accounting, and related work of the Department. It conducts the business of the Department with the Bureau of the Budget, the General Accounting Office, the Treasury Department, the Appropriations Committees, and other agencies of the Government concerned with fiscal and related matters.

OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR

The Solicitor is the legal adviser of the Secretary and the heads of the several branches of the Department. He directs and supervises all law work of the Department.

DIVISION OF OPERATION

This Division is responsible for the management of the buildings and other facilities occupied or used by the Department of Agriculture in the District of Columbia, the telephone and telegraph service, the mails and files, and post office, and the motor-truck and other service units. The Chief of the Division of Operation also acts as real-estate officer of the Department and as personnel and administrative officer for the internal operation of the Office of the Secretary.

OFFICE OF INFORMATION

The Office of Information supervises the publication, press, and radio activities of the Department. It has general supervision of all editing, illustrating, indexing, printing and binding, and distributing of publications. It cooperates with the bureaus in the accurate recording of the results of scientific agricultural research and in the printing of these results in technical publications, and then assists the scientists and the bureaus to popularize this information in publications that are available to farmers, homemakers, and others interested in the practical use of the facts. Such publications serve to facilitate the Department's voluminous correspondence and reduce its cost. Through newspapers, farm journals, and other periodicals, this office also secures the circulation in popular form of the discoveries and recommendations of the scientists, specialists, and field workers of the Department, thus enlarging the Department's service by placing facts about improved practices in the hands of greater numbers who can benefit by this information. This office also furnishes daily to 380 radio stations, in all parts of the country, authentic, timely information of practical use to farmers and others. Radio stations donate the broadcasting time as an aid in disseminating facts about the important discoveries made by the Department and the farm practices recommended by it.

LIBRARY

The Department library, with its branch libraries in the various bureaus, contains approximately 280,000 volumes on agriculture, the related sciences, and economics, exclusive of the collections in the Weather Bureau library, which comprise approximately 50,000 volumes. It receives currently approximately 4,500 periodicals.

The dictionary card catalog of the main library, containing three-quarters of a million cards, is a record of the book resources of the whole Department. It is supplemented by several extensive special indexes which are maintained by the branch libraries in the various bureaus. These together form the most comprehensive bibliography of agriculture and the related sciences available in the United States. Various current lists of accessions are also issued by the main library and the branch libraries.

The library lends its books for purposes of research to other libraries and institutions throughout the country, especially to the State agricultural colleges and experiment stations, and through the cooperation of the Bibliofilm Service of the American Documentation Institute, is also able to supply film copies of scientific articles, when desired, particularly those contained in periodicals. It also furnishes bibliographical assistance and endeavors in various other ways to serve as the national agricultural library.

OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS

The Office of Experiment Stations administers Federal funds provided by the Hatch, Adams, Purnell, and supplementary acts, and the Bankhead-Jones Act for the support of research in agriculture and home economics by experiment stations in the several States and Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and has immediate supervision of the experiment stations of the Department of Agriculture in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. It examines in detail the work and expenditures of the State experiment stations to ascertain whether the Federal funds for their support are used and accounted for in accordance with the Federal acts and rulings, and reports annually on the work and expenditures of the experiment stations, as required by law.

The Office aids in coordinating the research work of the Department of Agriculture and in coordinating the research work of the Department with that of the State, Alaskan, Hawaiian, and Puerto Rican agricultural colleges and experiment stations. It collects and disseminates information and gives such advice

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and assistance as will best promote the efficiency of the stations and the effective coordination of their work with that of the Department, and issues Experiment Station Record, which gives a comprehensive current review of progress and results of scientific research conducted by the stations and other agencies for the improvement of agriculture and rural life.

The Office is responsible for the administration of the "Special research fund, Department of Agriculture", including the planning and coordination of the research program of the Department under this fund which is authorized by the Bankhead-Jones Act of June 29, 1935.

EXTENSION SERVICE

The Extension Service cooperates with State agricultural colleges, under the Smith-Lever and supplementary acts, in making available to rural people information on agriculture and home economics. Its workers assist adults and young people in the application of the results of research to meet local conditions and to the individual farm and home enterprises. The Extension Service acts as an agency for coordinating the extension activities of the several bureaus of the Department with similar work conducted by the State agricultural colleges. It also has charge of the Department's activity in the preparation, distribution, and display of agricultural exhibits and motion pictures. Through these educational activities extension work serves to aid in maintaining and stimulating the interests of farm families in a progressive agriculture.

AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ADMINISTRATION

The Agricultural Adjustment Administration is established within the Department of Agriculture to carry out certain provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act approved May 12, 1933, as amended, certain provisions of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act approved February 29, 1936, the Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, and other related legislation.

Under the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act the Secretary of Agriculture is empowered to encourage farm practices that protect and improve the soil by making payments to producers who adopt specific soil-building practices or who increase the proportion of their land devoted to soil-benefiting crops by shifting from the production of intensively cultivated, soil-depleting crops. In determining such payments, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to consider (1) producers' treatment or use of land for soil restoration or conservation, or erosion prevention; (2) changes in the use of their land; (3) that percentage of their normal production of one or more designated commodities that is equal to the normal percentage of the national production of those commodities used for domestic consumption; or (4) any combination of these considerations. Interest of domestic consumers is taken into account through provisions in the act that (1) no action shall be taken under it which will discourage production of a supply of any agricultural commodity equal to the domestic consumption of that commodity during the years 1920-29, as adjusted in view of changes in population and shifts in marketing and consumption of the commodity, and (2) that due consideration shall be given to the maintenance of a continuous and stable supply of agricultural commodities adequate to meet consumer demands at prices fair to both producers and consumers. The Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act authorizes the appropriation of not more than $500,000,000 annually for carrying out the purposes of the act, and the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to use the organization and personnel of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration to effectuate those purposes.

The Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into marketing agreements with processors and handlers of certain agricultural commodities and with producers and associations of producers of these commodities, such agreements being designed to stabilize and improve the market conditions of the commodities concerned and to increase the returns to their producers by regulating the flow of the products in commerce with foreign nations and among the States and by other methods. Under certain conditions the Secretary is empowered to issue orders supplementing the marketing agreements. Under section 32 of the act of August 24, 1935 (Public, No. 320, 74th Cong.), funds are provided and authority is given for removing burdensome surpluses of agricultural commodities from ordinary market channels, for encouraging and stimulating domestic and foreign consumption of these commodities, and for making payments to producers in connection with the production of that part of any agricultural commodity required for domestic consumption.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act empowers the Secretary to determine the consumption requirements of sugar for the United States and to fix marketing quotas for the continental United States, insular territories and possessions, and foreign countries; to allot the quotas for the continental United States among processors, persons engaged in the handling of sugar, and others.

Under the supplemental appropriation act, fiscal year 1936, approved February 11, 1936, payments are being made to carry out moral obligations incurred by the Secretary in connection with production-adjustment contract programs under the Agricultural Adjustment Act. The same act authorizes the completion of the 1935 cotton price-adjustment plan formulated under section 32 of the act of August 24, 1935 (Public, No. 320, 74th Cong.).

BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

The Bureau of Agricultural Economics conducts studies of the economics of production and marketing, farm organization, farm financial relations, farm labor, land economics, and the problems of rural life. It acquires and disseminates current information regarding the marketing and distribution of farm products; collects, compiles, summarizes, interprets, and makes public statistical data relating to agricultural production, including crop and livestock estimates, and estimates of the grade and staple length of the cotton crop and carry-over; studies marketing methods and conditions and the standardization, transportation, handling, financing, utilization, and storage of agricultural products; prepares and publishes reports on the outlook for farm products; and issues quarterly reports on stocks of leaf tobacco.

Reports are issued which furnish information on the supply, commercial movement, disposition, and market prices of fruits and vegetables, livestock and livestock products, dairy and poultry products, grain, hay, feed, seed, cotton, cottonseed, tobacco, and other products. Information is obtained and published also with regard to the supply of and demand for agricultural products in foreign countries. A market inspection service is available in many of the principal producing areas and receiving centers on fruits and vegetables, hay, beans, and other products, and a grading service is conducted on dairy and poultry products, canned fruits and vegetables, meats, tobacco, cottonseed, and rice.

Regulatory work is performed in connection with the enforcement of the Cotton Futures Act, Cotton Standards Act, Grain Standards Act, Standard Container Act, Standard Hamper Act, Produce Agency Act, Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, the Tobacco Inspection Act, and the administration of the Warehouse Act.

The Bureau of Agricultural Economics administers the land-conservation and land-utilization program provided for under title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of July 22, 1937.

BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

The Bureau of Agricultural Engineering conducts investigations of farm irrigation, farm drainage, farm machinery, farm buildings, and other rural engineering problems. These investigations include studies of the hydraulics of flow in open watercourses and in closed conduits; organization, administration, and operation of community enterprises for irrigating and for draining farm lands; water requirements for irrigating various lands and crops; land-clearing methods; rearrangement of field boundaries for effective use of farming machinery; mechanical equipment for use in producing crops, farm processing of products, and controlling insect pests; and the planning and construction of farm buildings. Service is rendered in the design and construction of engineering structures and the purchase of engineering equipment for other bureaus of the Department. The Bureau gives supervision to the Civilian Conservation Corps camps working on the maintenance of drainage improvements in organized drainage enterprises.

BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY

The Bureau of Animal Industry is primarily concerned with the protection and development of the livestock and meat industries of the United States. It conducts scientific investigations of the causes, prevention, and treatment of diseases of domestic animals; investigates the existence of communicable diseases of such animals, and aids in their control or eradication; and carries on investigations and experiments in animal husbandry, and in the feeding and breeding of animals. It also is charged with the administration of the Meat Inspection Act, the Animal Quarantine Acts, the 28-hour law, the Diseased Animal