deduction of unexpended apportionments of appropriations applies also to appropriations under the Adams Act of March 16, 1906 (34 Stat., 63). (18 Comp. Dec., 485.)

Such unexpended balances must be accounted for as a part of the appropriation for the next succeeding year; in short, each station must account every year for the specific sum (fifteen thousand dollars) provided by Congress, although the amount actually paid to the station in any one year may be less than fifteen thousand dollars on account of the deduction of an unexpended balance for the preceding fiscal year.

RULINGS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ON THE WORK AND EXPENDITURES OF AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS

In connection with examinations of the work and expenditures of the agricultural experiment stations established in accordance with the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, and further endowed under act of Congress of March 16, 1906, under authority given to the Secretary of Agriculture by Congress, questions have arisen which have seemed to make it advisable to formulate the views of this department on certain matters affecting the management of the stations under those acts. The rulings which have been made from time to time on points which seemed to require special attention are as follows:

EXPENDITURES FOR PERMANENT SUBSTATIONS

This department holds that the expenditure of funds appropriated in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, for the maintenance of permanent substations is contrary to the spirit and intent of said act. The act provides for an experiment station in each State and Territory, which, except in cases specified in the act, is to be a department of the college established under the act of Congress of July 2, 1862. The objects of the stations, as defined in the first-mentioned act, are evidently of such a character as to necessitate the services of scientific and expert workers. Most of the lines of investigation named in the act are general, rather than local, and involve scientific equipment and work. It is obviously the intent that the stations established under this act shall carry on important investigations which shall be of general benefit to the agriculture of the several States and Territories. The sum of $15,000, which is annually appropriated by Congress under this act for each station, is only sufficient to carry out a limited number of investigations of the kind contemplated by the act.

As the work of the stations in the different States has developed, it has been found necessary to limit, rather than expand, the lines of work of the individual stations. Thorough work in a few lines has been found more effective and productive of more useful results than small investigations in numerous lines. When we consider the nature of the investigations, the amount of money provided for the work of each station, and the fact that the act expressly provides for only a single station in connection with each college, it becomes very clear that expenditures such as are necessary to effectually maintain permanent substations ought not to be made from the funds granted by Congress to the States and Territories for experiment stations. The maintenance of permanent substations, as a rule, involves the erection of buildings and the making of other permanent improvements. The sums of money which can be expended for permanent improvements under the act of Congress aforesaid are so small that it is clear they were not intended to meet the needs of more than one station in each State and Territory.

When the legislature of a State or Territory has given its assent to the provisions of the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, and has designated the institution which shall receive the benefits of said act, it would seem to have exhausted its powers in the matter. The responsibility for the maintenance of an experiment station under said act devolves upon the governing board of the institution thus designated. If the legislature of the State or Territory sees fit to provide funds for the equipment and maintenance of other experiment stations and to put them under the control of the same governing board, well and good, but this does not

in any way diminish the responsibility of the board to administer the funds granted by Congress in accordance with the provisions of said act.

The wisdom of Congress in limiting the number of stations to be established in each State and Territory under the aforesaid act has been clearly shown by the experience of the few States and Territories which have attempted the maintenance of substations with the funds granted under said act. The expense of maintaining substations has, as a rule, materially weakened the central station, and the investigations carried on at the substations have been superficial and temporary. It is granted that in many States and Territories more than one agricultural experiment station might do useful work, and in some States more than one station has already been successfully maintained; but in all these cases the State has given funds from its own treasury to supplement those given by Congress. It is also granted that experiment stations established under said act of Congress and having no other funds than those provided by that act will often need to carry on investigations in different localities in their respective States and Territories, but it is held that this should be done in such a way as will secure the thorough supervision of such investigations by the expert officers of the station and that arrangements for such experimental inquiries should not be of so permanent a character as to prevent the station from shifting its work from place to place as circumstances may require nor involve the expenditure of funds in such amounts and in such ways as will weaken the work of the station as a whole.

As far as practicable the cooperation of individuals and communities benefited by these special investigations should be sought and, if necessary, the aid of the States invoked to carry on enterprises too great to be successfully conducted within the limits of the appropriation granted by Congress under the act aforesaid.

PURCHASE OR RENTAL OF LANDS FOR AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS

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This department holds that the purchase or rental of lands by the experiment stations from the funds appropriated in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, is contrary to the spirit and intent of said act. The act provides for "paying the necessary expenses of conducting investigations and experiments and printing and distributing the results. * * Provided, however, That out of the first annual appropriation so received by any station an amount not exceeding one-fifth may be expended in the erection, enlargement, or repair of a building or buildings necessary for carrying on the work of such stations; and thereafter an amount not exceeding five per centum of such annual appropriation may be so expended" The only reference to land for the station in the act is in section 8, where state legislatures are authorized to apply appropriations made under said act to separate agricultural colleges or schools established by the State "which shall have connected there with an experimental farm or station? The strict limitation of the amount provided for buildings and the absence of any provision for the purchase or rental of lands, when taken in connection with the statement in the eighth section, which treats the farm as in a sense a necessary adjunct of the educational institution to which the whole or a part of the funds appropriated in accordance with said act might in certain cases be devoted, point to the conclusion that it was expected that the institution of which the station is a department would supply the land needed for experimental purposes and that charges for the purchase or rental of lands would not be made against the funds provided by Congress for the experiment station. This conclusion is reenforced by consideration of a wise and economic policy in the management of agricultural experiment stations, especially as relating to cases in which it might be desirable for the station to have land for experimental purposes in different localities. The investigations carried on by the stations in such cases being for the direct benefit of agriculture in the localities where the work is done, it seems only reasonable that persons or communities whose interests will be advanced by the station work should contribute the use of the small tracts of land which will be required for experimental purposes. Experience shows that in most cases the stations have had no difficulty in securing such land as they needed without expense, and it is believed that this may be done in every case without injuriously affecting the interests of the stations.

EXPENDITURES BY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS FOR CARRYING ON FARM OPERATIONS

This department holds that expenses incurred in conducting the operations of farms, whether the farms are connected with institutions established under the

act of Congress of July 2, 1862, or not, are not a proper charge against the funds appropriated by Congress for agricultural experiment stations in accordance with the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, unless such operations definitely constitute a part of agricultural investigations or experiments planned and conducted in accordance with the terms of the act aforesaid, under rules and regulations prescribed by the governing board of the station. The performance of ordinary farm operations by an experiment station does not constitute experimental work. Operations of this character by an experiment station should be confined to such as are a necessary part of experimental inquiries. Carrying on a farm for profit or as a model farm, or to secure funds which may be afterwards devoted to the erection of buildings for experiment station purposes, to the further development of experimental investigation, or to any other purpose, however laudable and desirable, is not contemplated by the law as a part of the functions of an agricultural experiment station established under the act of Congress of March 2, 1887. Section 5 of that act plainly limits the expenditures of funds appropriated in accordance with said act to "the necessary expenses of conducting investigations and experiments and printing and distributing the results?"

FUNDS ARISING FROM THE SALE OF FARM PRODUCTS OR OTHER PROPERTY OF AN AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

This department holds that moneys received from the sales of farm products or other property in the possession of an agricultural experiment station as the result of expenditures of funds received by the station in accordance with the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, rightfully belong to the experiment station as a department of the college or other institution with which it is connected, and may be expended in accordance with the laws or regulations governing the financial transactions of the governing board of the station; provided, however, that all expenses attending such sales, including those attending the delivery of the property into the possession of the purchaser, should be deducted from the gross receipts from the sales and should not be made a charge against the funds appropriated by Congress.

LIMIT OF EXPENDITURES OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS DURING ONE FISCAL YEAR

This department holds that expenses incurred by an agricultural experiment station in any one fiscal year to be paid from the funds provided under the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, should not exceed the amount appropriated to the station by Congress for that year, and especially that all personal services should be paid for out of the appropriation of the year in which they were performed, and that claims for compensation for such services cannot properly be paid out of the appropriations for succeeding years. The several appropriations for experiment stations under the aforesaid act are for one year only, and officers of experiment stations have no authority to contract for expenditures beyond the year for which Congress has made appropriations.

This is plainly implied in the act aforesaid, inasmuch as section 6 provides that unexpended balances shall revert to the Treasury of the United States, "in order that the amount of money appropriated to any station shall not exceed the amount actually and necessarily required for its maintenance and support" The annual financial report rendered in the form prescribed by this department should in every case include only the receipts and expenditures of the fiscal year for which the report is made.

EXPENDITURES BY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS FOR A WATER SYSTEM TO BE CHARGFD UNDER ९९ BUILDINGS AND REPAIRS"

This department holds that expenditures by agricultural experiment stations from the funds appropriated in accordance with the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, for the construction of wells, cisterns, ponds, or other reservoirs for the storage of water, and for piping, and other materials for a system of storing and distributing water, are properly charged, under abstract 18 in the schedule for financial reports prescribed by this department, as being for improvements on lands which have hitherto been held to come under the head of "buildings and repairs? The fact that a water system may be a necessary adjunct of certain experimental inquiries does not affect the case, inasmuch as the limitations on expenditures for improvements contained in section 5 of the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, expressly stipulate that these improvements shall be such as are necessary for carrying on the work of the station.

EXPENDITURES BY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP IN AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

This department holds that membership fees in associations and other organizations are not a proper charge against the funds appropriated by Congress in accordance with the act of March 2, 1887, except in the case of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, which is held to be an essential part of the system of experiment stations established under said act.

THE BORROWING OF MONEY TO PAY THE EXPENSES OF AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS

This department holds that experiment station officers have no authority to borrow money to be repaid out of appropriations made under the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, and that charges for interest cannot properly be made against funds appropriated under that act.

THE USE OF EXPERIMENT STATION FUNDS FOR COLLEGE PURPOSES

This department holds that no portion of the funds appropriated by Congress in accordance with the act of March 2, 1887, can legally be used, either directly or indirectly, for paying the salaries or wages of professors, teachers, or other persons whose duties are confined to teaching, administration, or other work in connection with the courses of instruction given in the colleges with which the stations are connected or in any other educational institution; nor should any other expenses connected with the work or facilities for instruction in school or college courses be paid from said fund. In case the same persons are employed in both the experiment station and the other departments of the college with which the station is connected a fair and equitable division of salaries or wages should be made, and in case of any other expenditures for the joint benefit of the experiment station and the other departments of the college the aforesaid funds should be charged with only a fair share of such expenditures.

EXPENSES FOR EXTENSION WORK NOT CHARGEABLE TO THE HATCH FUND [Extract from circular letter of Director of Office of Experiment Stations of Feb. 25, 1909] Expenses for extension work should not be charged against the Hatch fund, and * only such printing should be done with that fund as will record the experimental work of the stations established under the Hatch Act.

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EXPENDITURES AND ACCOUNTING UNDER THE ADAMS FUND [Extract from circular letter of the Secretary of Agriculture of March 20, 1906.] Under the terms of the act it will be necessary that a separate account of the Adams fund shall be kept at each station, which should be kept open at all times to the inspection of the Director of the Office of Experiment Stations or his accredited representative.

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The Adams fund is "to be applied only to paying the necessary expenses of conducting original researches or experiments bearing directly on the agricultural industry of the United States" It is for the "more complete endowment and maintenance" of the experiment stations, presupposing the provision of a working plant and administrative offices. Accordingly, expenses for administration, care of buildings and grounds, insurance, office furniture and fittings, general maintenance of the station farm and animals, verification and demonstration experiments, compilations, farmers' institute work, traveling, except as is immediately connected with original researches in progress under this act, and other general expenses for the maintenance of experiment stations, are not to be charged to this fund. The act makes no provision for printing or for the distribution of publications, which should be charged to other funds.

CLASSIFICATION OF STATION ACCOUNTS

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In accordance with the requirement that the Secretary of Agriculture shall prescribe the form of the annual financial statement required under the Hatch and Adams Acts, forms are issued by the Office of Experi

ment Stations which provide for the classification of station accounts under eighteen ledger headings, as follows:

(1) Salaries-administrative, technical, and clerical.

(2) Labor, regular and temporary, in connection with experiments.

(3) Publications, printing, illustration, envelopes for mailing, etc.

(4) Postage and stationery, including means of communication, such as telephone, telegraph, and cable service; and stationery for office and record purposes, forms, index cards, etc.

(5) Freight and express, including drayage or other charges for handling freight. (6) Heat, light, water, and power.

(7) Chemicals and laboratory supplies for all departments of the station, not including apparatus of permanent character.

(8) Seeds, plants, and sundry supplies not otherwise provided for, for various departments.

(9) Fertilizers, including water for irrigation.

(10) Feeding stuffs for work animals and those under experiment.

(11) Library-books, periodicals, and binding, but not including equipment or general supplies.

(12) Tools, machinery, and appliances, such as agricultural implements and machines, motors, mills, pumps, vehicles, harness, and small movable structures like animal cages, brooders, or shelter, including repairs to

same.

(13) Furniture and fixtures for offices and laboratories-desks, cases, typewriters, and office appliances.

(14) Scientific apparatus and specimens, including mounted insects, fungi, etc. (15) Live stock, including purchase of animals of all kinds for work or experimental purposes, but not their feeding and care.

(16) Traveling expenses in supervision of station work or in connection with it. (17) Contingent expenses, to be itemized in detail.

(18) Buildings and land, including all expenses for labor and material for the

erection, alteration, and repair of buildings, permanent structures built in place, purchase of permanent fixtures forming part of a building, purchase or rental of land (under Adams fund only), and improvements on land, such as roads, fences, drainage or water systems, etc.

REQUIREMENTS OF EXPERIMENT STATION ACCOUNTING

[See circular letter of Director of Office of Experiment Stations of Mar. 1, 1911]

The principle which should guide is that all expenditures from the Hatch fund must be for experimental work and publications, and all expenditures from the Adams fund for the projects agreed upon in advance with the Office of Experiment Stations.

In adjusting the salaries of station employees only such portion of their time as is occupied in connection with experimental work and the publication of the results thereof, including correspondence directly relating to the experimental work, should be charged to the Federal funds for the station. All business and correspondence connected with the college, inspection service, and extension department or bureau of information should be paid for from other funds.

The same principle should be applied to all other expenditures from these funds for the maintenance of the station.

The Adams fund expenditures for salaries, labor, travel, apparatus, books, and maintenance should be strictly confined to those necessitated by the projects on file which have been approved by this office. Each voucher should be indorsed with the title of the project for which the expenditure was incurred, and be O. K'd by the officer in immediate charge of the project, as well as by the director.

Separate accounts should be kept for the Hatch, Adams, and sales funds, and as far as practicable separate vouchers should be on file for each of these funds. The sales fund should be used only for experiment station work and publications and not for inspection or extension work or compiled pubiications.

Bills for printing, illustrations, preparation of MS., or mailing of publications should not be charged to the Hatch fund unless the publications clearly record the experimental work of the station. Popular bulletins charged to the Hatch