DIVISION OF RECORDS AND EDITING.

The Division of Records and Editing has issued during the past fiscal year two hundred and five (205) different publications. Fifty-six (56) of these were printed at the Weather Bureau. The remainder were published at the office of the Public Printer. All editions of the above publications aggregate 3,169,310 copies. They contained 10,512 pages. Farmers' bulletins were increased in numbers so as to make it possible to economically reach many readers. The reduction in the cost of printing for this Department during the year as compared with the previous twelve months is nearly $20,000. It is suggested, nevertheless, that an increase in the printing fund is necessary if all the information acquired by the Department through its several divisions is to be promptly printed, published, and disseminated.

In harmony with the Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1893, it is urged that the vicious system of promiscuous free distribution or departmental documents should be abandoned. Public libraries, educational institutions, and the offices of States and of the Federal Government might be furnished without cost, but from all individuals applying for the publications of the Department, a price covering the cost of the document asked for should be required. Thus the publications and documents would be secured by those who really desire them for proper purposes. Half a million of copies of the Report of the Secretary of Agriculture are printed for distribution, at an annual cost of about $300,000. Many of these reports apportioned to members of the Senate and House of Representatives remain undistributed. Large numbers of the annual reports of this Department have been found cumbering the storerooms at the Capitol and the shelves of secondhand bookstores throughout the country. All this labor and waste could be avoided it payment of cost price was demanded for all Government publications.

As long as the custom or law requires the annual issuance of half a million of copies of this report, it is obviously the duty of those who make up that document to strive to render it instructive, interesting, and useful to all the people. It ought to contain the results of the researches made in the various bureaus and laboratories during the year, and should be so plainly written and popular in its character as to adapt itself to the practical farmer and be held in esteem by him as a work of reference on agricultural science, practice, and statistics. Such a handbook by the Department of Agriculture, with all purely executive matter eliminated, might prove of infinite service in the advancement and exaltation of the vocation of agriculture throughout the United States.

The chairman of the House Committee on Printing favorably reported a resolution at the last session of Congress providing for the printing of the report of this Department in two parts. As it passed the House

the resolution and the report of the committee, containing a letter from the Secretary of Agriculture with reference thereto, are appended.

[H. RES. 198, to print Agricultural Report for eighteen hundred and ninety-four.] Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Annual Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for the year eighteen hundred and ninety-four be printed. Said report shall hereafter be submitted and printed in two parts, as follows: Part one, which shall contain purely business and executive matter which it is necessary for the Secretary to submit to the President and Congress; part two, which shall contain such reports from the different bureaus and divisions, and such papers prepared by their special agents, accompanied by suitable illustrations as shall, in the opinion of the Secretary, be specially suited to interest and instruct the farmers of the country, and to include a general report of the operations of the Department for their information. There shall be printed of part one, one thousand copies for the Senate, two thousand copies for the House, and three thousand copies for the Department of Agriculture; and of part two, one hundred and ten thousand copies for the use of the Senate, three hundred and sixty thousand copies for the use of the House of Representatives, and thirty thousand copies for the use of the Department of Agriculture, the illustrations for the same to be executed under the supervision of the Public Printer, in accordance with directions of the Joint Committee on Printing, said illustrations to be subject to the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture: Provided, That the title of each of the said parts shall be such as to show that such part is complete in itself. Passed the House of Representatives June 29, 1894.

[Report to accompany H. Res. 198.]

The Committee on Printing have considered House joint resolution No. 198, to print Agricultural Report for 1894, and report same with recommendation that it do pass.

The committee are of the opinion that it is wise to print said report in two parts, as provided in the resolution, with contents divided as suggested. This proposed change has been submitted to the Department of Agriculture, and has the approval of the Secretary, as shown by the letter from him herewith submitted.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,

Washington, D. C., June 21, 1894.

SIR: I believe that the Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture, distributed to the farmers of the country in such large numbers, could be greatly improved by publishing it in two separate parts, as follows:

Part 1 to contain purely business and executive matter, which it is necessary for the Secretary to submit to the President and Congress.

Part 2 to include such carefully prepared and selected matter, with proper illus trations, as will especially interest and benefit the farmers of the country, excluding everything that belongs to Part 1 and including a general report on the work of the Department, written with special reference to the needs of the farming public.

The advantages of such a division of the report are so apparent that no argument is needed to support them. The plan will give this Department the opportunity to prepare a report which will interest and benefit the farming classes more than anything which has hitherto been issued from it.

If this division is to be made it will be necessary that this Department be notified so that it can give early instructions to the chiefs of Bureaus and Divisions, who will soon begin the preparation of the annual report to be submitted on the 1st of December. I would respectfully suggest, therefore, the incorporation of some provision like that inclosed in the printing bill now under consideration by your committee.

Respectfully yours,

Hon. JAMES D. RICHARDSON,

J. STERLING MORTON,
Secretary.

Chairman Committee on Printing, House of Representatives,
Washington, D. C.

In view of the possibly favorable action of the Senate on the foregoing resolution, the several chiefs of the various bureaus and divisions of the Department of Agriculture have been directed to prepare their reports in accordance therewith. It is believed that the result will supply a more useful, practical, instructive, and popular report than the late method has heretofore furnished to the public.

DEPARTMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

The constantly increasing demands for the printing of various blanks, letter heads, envelopes, circulars, etc., for use in the different divisions and bureaus has been promptly and satisfactorily met by the printing office under the control of this Department. Much of the work is needed for immediate use, and the ability to furnish it without delay demonstrates the efficiency of the present management. This office also prints the packets used in the distribution of seeds, of which, in September, October, and November, 4,747,550 were delivered to the Seed Division. During the year 1892-'93, and for many years previous, the force consisted of 17 employés, working the entire year. In November, 1893, the force was reduced to 7 employés for twelve months and 8 temporary employés for seven months. During the first six months of the present year the number of impressions amounted to 8,210,110, against 5,201,665 during the same period of the preceding year; so that, with half the force, a third more work is now done, and that, too, of an improved quality.

DOCUMENT AND FOLDING ROOM.

The manual labor in this division has been nearly doubled, owing to the largely increased number of publications which have been issued during the past year. Notwithstanding this, the work of the division has been accomplished with celerity and certainty, although the force of employés has been considerably less than during the preceding year. A record has been kept, for the first time since the establishment of the division, during the entire year, which shows each and every publication mailed from the Department of Agriculture. Three times as many packages were transmitted by the Department through the mails during the year as were sent out during the previous twelve months. During the year this division committed to the mails of the United States two million two hundred thousand (2,200,000) pieces of franked mail matter.

The correspondence of the Document and Folding Room naturally increased very largely during the year, but it has been handled most efficiently by the clerical force. The entire mailing list of the Department is being revised and compiled so as to eliminate duplications from the mailing list. Already, in this readjustment of that list, duplication and triplication of names have been frequently discovered. One

address, indeed, has been found receiving twelve copies of each publication.

During the year there were purchased two patent mailing machines, which will very materially facilitate the addressing of documents.

DIVISION OF GARDENS AND GROUNDS.

The gardens and grounds of the Department of Agriculture, containing forty (40) acres, demand the constant attention of the superintendent and his subordinates. Glass structures cover nearly an acre of this reservation, and necessarily require the closest daily care and labor.

Several of the glass structures are used for the propagation of plants, of which many are used to embellish the grounds; but the larger portion, mainly those of economic value, are distributed throughout the States and Territories. During the last year there were thus distributed 75,000 plants.

The expenditures upon gardens and grounds for the fiscal year are somewhat reduced. At the present rate the salaries are $3,000 less than those of the last fiscal year. It is impossible to make any exact estimates as to the possible miscellaneous expenditures, in the future, of this division. Exigences may occur which can not be computed with any degree of exactness before their necessity arises. In any event the appropriation recommended is deemed sufficient for this division.

OFFICE OF ROAD INQUIRY.

October 3, 1893, in pursuance of the act of Congress appropriating ten thousand dollars ($10,000) "to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to make inquiries in regard to the systems of road management throughout the United States, to make investigations in regard to the best methods of road-making, to prepare publications on this subject suitable for distribution, and to enable him to assist the agricultural colleges and experiment stations in disseminating information on this subject," the Office of Road Inquiry was instituted and Gen. Roy Stone, of New York, appointed to take charge thereof.

During the nine months of the fiscal year the work was necessarily of a tentative character. Bulletins Nos. 1 to 9, inclusive, of the Office of Road Inquiry, were collected, compiled, and published. These bulletins have been in such demand that first editions have, in many instances, been exhausted and reprints required.

During the year Gen. Stone, besides attending to the literary work of the office, has attended and addressed conventions and meetings relative to road improvement in various States. It is proposed to increase the work of the office the coming year, to extend the inquiry on the same lines, and to publish maps showing the mileage of improved roads constructed in the United States during the last three years. The coöperation of the agricultural colleges and experiment stations will be

sought, so as to advance and disseminate a knowledge of the economic advantages of good roads and of the best methods of constructing them.

DIVISION OF STATISTICS.

There is no phrase in the English language which, by implication, conveys the impression of so much vast and exact knowledge as the word statistics. Literally it means "a state of," "a condition," or "a standing." It depicts, to one accustomed to dwell upon tabulated facts and figures, the mental image of a curious collection of valuable data and figures, caged in mathematical tables, for the purpose of elucidating facts which may be used in the further investigation of special subjects. Statistical investigations should always be made in accordance with the rule of the theory of mathematical probabilities that "numerical fractions express the value of the degree of presumption in favor of the correctness of a particular event, when the causes or conditions which influenced the result are partly known and partly indeterminate."

Under this theory statisticians arrange results in numerical tables. Facts existing in large numbers are thus compactly and clearly set forth. Statisticians, therefore, should not be content with giving deductions which admit of serious doubts. It is the duty of the statistician to supply credible materials whence anyone may, by examination and reasoning, evolve his own deductions.

But statistics do not consist entirely of columns of figures. Conclusions may be fairly drawn only from well-attested data, though in many instances they may not be susceptible of mathematical demonstration.

The particular object of this division of the U. S. Department of Agriculture is the ascertainment, by diligence and care, of the actual and real condition of the farms and farmers of this country. Its duty is to seek the causes which produced that condition. The utility of ascertaining the condition is in the service which the ascertained facts may render in improving or mitigating, intensifying or repressing, that condition.

A further important utility is found in agricultural statistics, through their elucidation of the relation of the supply of farm products to the demand for farm products in the markets of the United States, and in the other markets of the world. Before the statistician begins an investigation in any certain line he should be sure that the agriculture, commerce, and manufacture of this country need to know the facts which he proposes to gather. And in all researches statisticians should be ready to receive suggestions from those versed, either by experience or observation, in the subject which they consider, and they should be always without prejudice and ready to abandon with alacrity any hypotheses which they find untenable. The statistician's collection of materials should be willingly submitted, on demand, to any new tests which occasion may offer. And no statistician of an economic subject so vast as