ENTOMOLOGY.

The labors of the entomological division have greatly increased during the past year. Letters of inquiry in regard to insects destructive to the crops have been far more numerous than formerly. The ravages of the cotton army-worm at the south, and of the potato-bug and locust at the west, have aroused the attention of farmers and cultivators generally, and excited an unusual degree of interest in the subject of practical entomology.

As lands are brought under cultivation, insects which formerly preyed upon indigenous weeds, finding cultivated plants more attractive and congenial food, have multiplied so rapidly as to alarm the farmer and stimulate inquiry into their habits and the means for their destruction. Letters on these subjects are daily received, many containing specimens of the insects either known or supposed to be injurious, with details of the damage done, the means used to prevent their depredations, and the success or failure attending them. This correspondence is filed as a record of the progress of entomology. All the insects thus received, if new or hitherto undescribed, have been figured by Professor Glover, and copies of the plates, twenty to thirty in number, have been added to the large collection in the museum, now comprising about one hundred and eighty plates, containing from twenty to fifty figures each. These insect illustrations, accompanied as they are by names and references to habits and means of destruction, form one of the most useful and instructive features of the museum of which they are a part.

THE MUSEUM.

In removing from the Patent Office to the new building of the department it was found that many of the specimens of natural history were so much injured by dampness and consequent mold as to be unfit for the uses of the collection; these were destroyed, and it will be necessary to replace them with new and better types. It is also deemed important to procure type specimens of pure-bred domestic fowls, and some of the smaller farm animals.

Now that adequate accommodations are furnished for the museum, it is hoped that greater interest will be shown by agricultural and horticul tural societies of the different States, and that samples of grain, fruits, &c., will be more freely contributed than heretofore, so that each may be fully represented at the capital of our national government. It is designed as soon as possible to duplicate this collection, for the purpose of aiding the several States to establish museums of their own, in which the agriculture and natural history of the various sections may be correctly represented.

There are already collected about fifteen hundred samples of foreign cereals and vegetable seeds, which for want of room and proper conveniences have never been exhibited; and about the same quantity of native grains, seeds, &c., a portion of which were shown in the old rooms. It should be understood that this is not intended to be a mere collection

of beautiful, unique, or curious specimens, but a cabinet of reference, where the merits of each group may be shown, together with their uses, habits, and adaptability to various sections of the country. It has been planned with a design entirely utilitarian by the entomologist and naturalist of the department, under whose special charge it is, and who has here created a substantial foundation for a great national agricultural and economic repository of useful knowledge. A glance at what has already been done, and a consideration of the scope and bearings of the plan, cannot fail to recommend it to popular favor and insure its permanence as a most desirable adjunct of the department, worthy of the fostering care of the government.

EXPERIMENTAL GARDEN.

The distribution of plants from the garden during the past year embraced thirty thousand plants. Many thousands of scions and cuttings of fruit trees have also been disseminated. Great care is taken to preserve the nomenclature, to guard against errors in the numerous varieties cultivated. The utility of the garden is not confined to the propagation and distribution of useful plants. The information derived from observation of their growth is of great benefit to the department in its correspondence. Questions relative to fruit trees, medical, and other useful plants, are daily considered, which could not be satisfactorily answered without the aid of the garden. The progress of horticulture has never been so rapid in the country as it is at the present time; and the great increase of new fruits and plants demands vigilant attention and considerable means to maintain and complete the collection, since the knowledge derived from experiments with new varieties to be useful must be prompt.

It is necessary that the legitimate operations of the garden should be kept in view. It cannot be either useful or expedient for the department to propagate or disseminate plants indiscriminately, a supposition that seems prevalent, judging from its correspondence. Orders are received for almost every description of plant, entailing a vast amount of unnecessary correspondence, since all such orders are entirely out of place, and utterly beyond the means and inconsistent with the objects of the department.

DEPARTMENT GROUNDS AND ARBORETUM.

The grounds connected with the new building are being rapidly improved. The adoption of a well-matured plan, before commencing active operations, has tended to facilitate the execution of the work at those points more immediately pressing. The roads and walks in close proximity to the building have been constructed as far as practicable with the time and means at command. A portion of the main road has been finished with a concrete surface, which has proved even more satisfactory than was anticipated. This road, while it is no more expensive than one of granite properly macadamized, has many and great advan

tages over one constructed in that mode. It at once presents a smooth, hard surface, which it constantly maintains, and its entire freedom from vegetation, such as mosses and other weeds, will be an annual saving of many hundreds of dollars, with the additional advantage that there is no probability of any necessity for repairs.

The main feature of the plan is the arboretum. This it is proposed to make as perfect and complete in species and varieties as the climate will admit, and will prove of great benefit in the workings of the department. With a strictly botanical arrangement the idea of landscape effect is happily combined; and in designing the roads the ultimate connection of the contiguous reservation has been kept in view, admitting of a uniform style of improvement with the surrounding grounds in the highest order of landscape gardening. This, in addition to the intrinsic utilitarian value of the collection, cannot fail in giving great attraction to these grounds.

The department is constantly engaged in procuring specimens of rare plants for practical uses. The most important of these are collections of both hardy and exotic plants used in medicine, the fine arts, dyeing, and in manufactures. In the arboretum will be found all that are sufficiently hardy to stand unprotected in this climate; but the most valuable will require protection-some constantly, others only during the progress of acclimatization. A commodious range of glass structures should therefore be provided at once for these purposes. A design with detailed plans of suitable buildings is in course of preparation, and will be submitted for consideration when completed.

CULTIVATION OF RURAL TASTE.

While all these improvements will be highly utilitarian in their aim, the love of rural life is worthy of the most careful culture. In this connection it is proper to observe that one of the most certain means of encouraging a taste for rural pursuits, both in agriculture and horticulture, and of instilling a desire for the study of botany and vegetable physiology, is that of proper embellishment of school-house and college grounds. Surround these seats of learning with an extensive variety of trees and shrubs, with the name of each conspicuously attached, arranged with artistic discrimination, and the minds of students will necessarily be drawn to the study of the vegetable kingdom. To know how to plant and cultivate a tree should certainly be a knowledge possessed by every person, whatever his proposed profession or aim in life. This is obvious to every reflecting mind; yet there is a total want of this variety of external attractions in these institutions, for which there is no possible excuse.

DISTRIBUTION OF SEEDS.

The seeds contracted for by my predecessor, (with the exception of the wheat, which was imported by myself,) under the very liberal appropriation of the past fiscal year, have been distributed extensively, and as

judiciously as the nature of the case would admit. Among the thousands of applicants for these favors from every portion of the United States it has been difficult always to discriminate, but great care has been taken to place them in the hands of those appreciating most fully the object of the government in the appropriation, and their obligation to the department to make the most intelligent and careful test, to disseminate the product throughout the community in which they reside, and to report to the department the results of experiments. While many recipients give lit tle attention to the invariable request going forth with every package of seeds and plants, it is gratifying and encouraging to note the reports of many successful experiments, especially upon the staple cereal products. The result of a single importation of wheat has alone been worth more than an annual appropriation for the whole department.

Our floral wealth has been enriched by the introduction of new and rare varieties of seeds and plants. Much attention has also been given to the extension of our knowledge of pharmaceutical plants, and their adaptation and acclimatization in various portions of our widely extended domain. The same may be said of the fiber-producing plants. The cultivation of the citrus family, and other sub-tropical productions, and their introduction into Florida and other portions of our country favorable to their growth, has received earnest attention.

From every portion of the globe seeds and plants, and information as to their culture, have been successfully obtained, and the results promulgated through the annual and monthly reports. The care bestowed upon this work, in reforming the former pernicious system has been onerous and difficult, but I trust will ultimately be properly appreciated even by those whose individual interests may have been affected, and approved by enlightened agriculturists of the country as one more worthy of the nation.

Every day's experience develops the importance of a more liberal appropriation for this particular branch than was given it for the present fiscal year, which was less than a third of the appropriation of the previous year. New objects in this connection have been developed demanding special attention. The arrangements for an extended exchange with foreign countries of our valuable cereal and forest tree seeds properly come under this head, and will draw heavily upon this limited appropriation; but it is viewed as one of paramount importance, and destined to add greatly to our national wealth.

The economy of a judicious distribution of seeds by the-national gov. ernment is scarcely understood or appreciated. An illustration or two will prove suggestive in investigating its benefits. At a low estimate our wheat yield is reduced six bushels per acre by cultivation of new lands for ten years. If one bushel per acre only is accredited to seed deterioration that might be remedied by a proper wheat distribution, the aggregate will be eighteen million bushels, worth $30,000,000. Oats degenerate more rapidly than wheat, and it is perfectly practicable to increase the value of the crop ten per centum by change of seed, and this

increase should at least be equivalent to $15,000,000. And so the benefit might be aggregated till it represented more millions than the seed distribution of this department has ever cost in thousands in any year of its existence. If nine-tenths of the seed distributed are sheer waste, and a single tenth is judiciously used, the advantage to the country may be tenfold greater than the annual appropriations for agriculture. This is fully shown by the records of the department.

The following statement exhibits the disposition made of the seeds under the appropriation from the 1st December, 1867, to 1st December, 1868: Total number of packages and papers distributed, 592,398, which includes 32,127 sacks of winter wheat imported by the present Commis sioner, as follows: To members of Congress, 223,672; to agricultural and horticultural societies, 98,861; to statistical correspondents, 86,391; to individuals on applications, 183,474; total, 592,398.

FINANCIAL.

In presenting for your consideration the financial condition of the department, it is gratifying to have it in my power to state that the expenditures under each appropriation have come within the sums appropriated.

There has been expended since December 4, 1867-the date of my entry upon the duties of Commissioner-$217,400, leaving a balance unexpended of $103,600 for the remainder of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869.

The report of Mr. Cluss, the architect employed to superintend the erection of the building, and the necessary fitting and furnishing, shows the completion of the whole in a substantial and workmanlike manner, embracing the laboratory with its new and complete chemical apparatus, and the museum with its convenient and tasteful arrangement of cases, and the library, at a total cost of about $140,000.

The balances under each head are deemed sufficient to meet all future demands of the present fiscal year.

In view of the completion of the building in all its internal arrangements, the sphere for the operations of the department has been materially enlarged, and it is now prepared to assume its proper rank as the representative department of a largely predominating class.

The work of each division, with its modus operandi, has been outlined in this report, and new ideas suggested by the working of the department have been advanced for your consideration as worthy the encouragement of Congress as a part of the whole system, and in fact indispensable to its successful operation. My estimates for the next fiscal year are based upon these important measures for the enlargement and diversification of the industrial interests of the country, and I trust they may be met in a liberal and justly appreciative spirit.

HORACE CAPRON, Commissioner.

His Excellency ANDREW JOHNSON,

President of the United States.