TABLE SHOWING THE BUSINESS OF THE OFFICE FOR THIRTY YEARS ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1867. The foregoing table shows a rapid increase in the number of applications for patents, and in the number of patents issued. The number of applications in 1867, was 55 per cent. greater than in 1865; and 116 per cent. greater than in 1860. The Commissioner in his report for 1867, says that great inconvenience has been experienced by the examiners for the want of sufficient room. Additional accommodations are also needed for the proper arrangement and preservation of the drawings of inventions. The library of the Patent Office has vastly grown in importance within the last few years. It is not only needed and used as an absolute necessity by the examiners in the performance of their duties, but it is now much consulted by inventors and those engaged in their interest. It is not an uncommon thing for persons to come from distant parts of the United States to consult books which can only be found in the Patent Office. The collection is now one of the best technical libraries in the world. *For year ending September 30, 1868. The Department of Agriculture was established by an act of Congress, approved May 15, 1862. The act provides that the department shall be located at the seat of government of the United States, and that its designs and duties shall be to acquire and to diffuse among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with agriculture in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word, and to procure, propagate, and distribute among the people new and valuable seeds and plants. The chief Executive officer is the "Commissioner of Agriculture," who holds his office by a tenure similar to that of other civil officers appointed by the President. The Commissioner is to acquire and preserve in his department all information concerning agriculture which he can obtain by means of books and correspondence, and by practical and scientific experiments, (accurate records of which experiments shall be kept in his office), by the collection of statistics, and by any other appropriate means within his power; to collect as he may be able new seeds and plants; to test, by cultivation, the value of such of them as may require such tests; to propagate such as may be worthy of propagation, and to distribute them among agriculturists. He annually makes a general report in writing of his acts to the President and to Congress, and he also makes special reports on particular subjects whenever required to do so by the President or either house of Congress, or whenever he thinks the subject in his charge requires it. He directs and superintends the expenditure of all money appropriated by Congress to the department, and renders accounts thereof. The chief clerk in the necessary absence of the Commissioner, or whenever the office becomes vacant, performs the duties of the office. The Commissioner under the provisions of Congress, appoints and employs chemists, botanists, entomologists, and other persons skilled in the natural sciences pertaining to agriculture. The new building of the Department which was contracted for in August 1867, was so far completed that the offices of the Commissioner and his assistants were removed to it in the summer of 1868. This building, situated just west of the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution, is 171 feet in length, and 62 feet in width, with a projection at each end extending 6 feet beyond the central portion, and one on the south front for hall and staircase. In the basement, are the operating rooms of the chemical laboratory, folding and packing rooms, and rooms for boiler and steam apparatus. On the first floor are the principal offices and library. The Commissioner's rooms on this floor are decorated with the new wood wall paper, not only for the purposes of ornament but to illustrate the effect of different kinds of this material when properly applied. The principal room of the second story is 103 feet long, 51 feet wide, and 26 feet high, and is designed for a grand agricultural The seed rooms are in the third story; and the attic, when completed, will furnish rooms for a variety of work connected with the operations of the department now performed in other places. museum. The propagating garden has been successfully conducted. During the first 13 weeks of 1867, the number of plants distributed from it was 42,173, principally through members of Congress. The distribution of seeds for 1867, amounted to 1,426,637 papers. Of this number 352,000 were distributed through Senators and members of the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth Congresses; 88,482 through agricultural and horticultural organizations; 164,953 to corps of statistical correspondents in acknowledgment of valuable gratuitous services; 299,975 to individuals upon letters of members of Congress, or upon personal application, or in answer to letters from individuals; and 521,227 to the southern states, under the special appropriation for that purpose. The present Commissioner has made arrangements for exchanges of cereals, rare seeds, and medicinal and other plants, with various institutions, agricultural departments, and societies, and several governments of different divisions of the globe. The arrangements include the governments of Austria, Prussia, China, Japan, Guatemala, and British Honduras; the botanical gardens of Melbourne, in Australia, and of Kew, in England; the India museum, in London; the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society; and the commissioner of patents of the Argentine Republic. The hearty co-operation of scientific men representing these governments and institutions has been secured. By these exchanges which are to extend to all parts of the world where practicable, there will be collected at the Department of Agriculture, Washington, the best variety of trees, shrubs, plants and seeds adapted to the climate and soil of any part of this country. At the experimental farm, tests of seeds, cereals and vegetables, both foreign and domestic, have been successfully continued, though the area cultivated has been too limited for the best results. Since the erection of the new building, the farm has, from necessity, been appropriated to other purposes. In the chemical laboratory of the department, analyses and tests have been made to ascertain the value and utility of various products, fertilizers, minerals and fibers, the benefits of which the country are reaping. The museum already contains a large collection of seeds, models of fruits, substances used for clothing, as silk, cotton, flax, &c., in different stages of growth or manufacture; preserved specimens of insects, birds and other animals injurious or beneficial to vegetation, all carefully classified and placed so as to be of the most service. The arrangements adopted, embrace: 1st. A general classification by subjects, including all the varieties and illustrations necessary under each head. 2d. A classification by states, exhib iting the products or noxious, animals of each. 3d. An economic classification exhibiting the substances and products adapted to economic purposes. Selections from the information obtained from correspondents and otherwise are published by the Department in monthly and annual reports. The following statistics have been compiled principally from the monthly reports for 1868, or have been furnished directly by the Department. TABLE I. gives the Mean Temperature and Rain Fall for each month, from July, 1867, to June, 1868, inclusive, compiled from reports made by the observers for the Smithsonian Institution. TABLE II. gives the average yield per acre and the average prices of the principal crops for 1867. TABLE III. gives the average prices of farm stock in January, 1868. TABLE IV. gives the condition of crops September 1, 1868, as compared with an average crop, where the crop had been harvested, or an average prospect of crop, where it had not. The highest temperature noted, was 103, at Raleigh, North Carolina, July 25, 1867; at San Francisco, California, July 30, 1867; at Allentown, Missouri, August 18, 1867; and at Baxter Springs, Kansas, June 28, 1868. The lowest temperature noted, was-40°, at Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 12, 1868. During the "heated term" in July, 1868, the maximum temperature reported, was July 20, at Honton, Kansas, where the thermometer stood at 113° in the shade for an hour; on 20 days, it was 100 and above. At Leavenworth, Kansas, the thermometer was 100° and upwards, on 16 days. The maximum temperature at other places on July 20, was, at Atchison, Kansas, 107; Glendale, Nebraska, 106; Omaha, 105; and Warrensburg, Missouri, 104. Wheat. The wheat crop in the following states is represented below the average, 10 representing an average crop: Maine, 9.5; New Hampshire, 9.5; New Jersey, 9.3; Delaware, 7; Virginia, 8; North Carolina, 7.5; South Carolina, 8.3; Georgia, 7.3; Alabama, 8; Mississippi, 8.8; Texas, 4.8; Arkansas, 9.1; Tennessee, 9.1; Kentucky, 8.6; Illinois, 9.2; Wisconsin, 9.8; Iowa, 9.5; Nebraska, 9.8; and the following up to or above the average: Vermont, 10.5; Massachusetts, 10; New York, 10.3; Pennsylvania, 10.4; Maryland, 10.1; West Virginia, 10.1; Missouri, 10.6; Indiana, 10.6; Ohio, 10; Michigan, 10.5; Minnesota, 11.4; Kansas, 10.8. Corn. The most remarkable fact in connection with the corn crop of 1868, is the great increase of its acreage in the south, the difference in number of acres between the present and preceding year being more than two millions and a half. A slight decrease is apparent in the eastern seaboard states, resulting from the unpropitious character of the cold, wet, and backward spring, which sadly interfered with planting. A careful estimate of the acreage shows a decrease of 49,609 acres in eight states, and an increase of 3,108,215 acres in the remaining states, as follows: These figures show an increase of over 3,000,000 of acres in corn, making about 36,000,000 in the United States, an advance of 9 per cent. The per centage of Louisiana reaches 65; Arkansas, 47; Kansas, 30; Mississippi, 25; Nebraska, 25; Missouri, 22; Texas, 18; Minnesota, 17; Iowa, 15; Illinois and Ohio, 8; Indiana, 4. 407,942 ..366,692 16,145 RAIN FALL, IN INCHES. I. MEAN TEMPERATURE AND RAIN FALL FOR EACH MONTH FROM JULY, 1867, TO JUNE, 1868, INCLUSIVE. STATES. MEAN TEMPERATURE. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. California.. 3 24 Indiana. 10 Iowa. 17 Kansas 7 11 80.5 78.6 77.1 65.2 56.6 52.8 41.8 47.5 60.4 63.7 69.6 78.3 3.91 5.52 3.49 1.78 3.21 2.94 8.44 3.89 3.61 7.83 3.11 0.99 ..... 82.1 72.3 71.2 64.4 52.8 43.8 27.0 24.7 22.4 28.0 44.2 56.9 68.8 3.93, 2.36 2.30 1.64 2.34 1.78 2.05 2.04 4.06 2.77 2.28 5.66 The second column gives the number of places in each state at which observations were made. |