The great pressing problems of agriculture in the Republic would seem to be quite sufficient for any one man’s energies, but, as the present government was planned and organized, an enormous amount of additional work, including the supervision of mines, forests, weights, measures, bank inspection, commerce and labor, come under its jurisdiction, rendering the responsibilities of the Department heavier and more complicated than any other branch of the Government, and demanding a degree of persistence and versatility probably not called for on the part of any other Cabinet Officer. The Department of Agriculture has a personnel of 640 while approximately a million and a half dollars are appropriated by the Budget for carrying on the work of the Department. For convenience of administration the Department is divided into the following sections: Agriculture, Veterinary Inspection and Zoology, Commerce and Industry, Immigration, Colonization and Labor, Forests and Mines, Patents and Trade Marks. In addition to these are several Bureaus, stations and offices that report directly to the Assistant Secretary. The Section of Agriculture, naturally, is the largest and most comprehensive of the various divisions or branches of the Department. Under its direction are the six various “granjas” or Agricultural Schools that are maintained, one in each Province. The distribution of seeds and the awarding of agricultural prizes come under its direction, as so also the inspection of fish, turtling and sponging, and the registration of domestic animals, including horses, mules and cattle. It has also charge of all agricultural fairs and exhibitions, either foreign or domestic. The purpose of the “Granjas” or agricultural schools is to educate the children of the rural districts along those lines which will tend to make them practical farmers and useful citizens of the community. Pupils are admitted at the age of fourteen and are given tuition, board, lodging and clothes at the expense of the Government. An excellently equipped laboratory for the analysis of soils, fertilizer, or other material pertaining to agricultural industries, is maintained by the Division of Agriculture, and forms one of the most useful branches of the Department. The Division of Commerce and Industry is entrusted with the inspection of nearly everything pertaining to the commerce and industry of the country. One very important branch is that of the inspection of banks, tobacco factories, sugar plantations and mills, and general industries of the Island. A Bureau of Statistics is also attached to this Division.