analyze the costs so ascertained, and, ultimately, to provide a basis for the discontinuation of unprofitable crops and the determination of the conditions which are essential for the successful management of farm enterprises. The studies are usually made in cooperation with State agricultural organizations, which lend their aid both in the selection of the farms to be studied and in the collection of the required data. They are in each case applied to comparatively small districts, selected as representing general conditions; and a sufficient number of farms are selected in each district to give results fairly representative of conditions throughout the district. Three methods are used in obtaining cost data: the accounting system, the survey, and the questionnaire. The first term is used to indicate an arrangement with a number of farmers, whereby they keep detailed records of their farm operations; the second, the field surveys made by trained investigators, who assemble the data for each farm by personal inspection and interview; and the third, schedules chiefly used for obtaining supplementary information by mail. Under the first method, the accounts kept make the conventional showing of receipts, expenses, outlays, and production, and record the distribution of the time of hired labor, draft animals, and equipment. The records are kept under the supervision of agents of the Bureau. Every phase of farm management is covered by the cost of production inquiry-investment of capital, distribution of acreage, yield of crops, sources of revenue, direct and indirect charges-all items properly included in the cost of producing the particular crop under survey being as accurately determined as may be possible. The studies vary in detail according to the character of the enterprise surveyed. After the material is assembled it is checked and tabulated and the costs determined for each farm in the district. The results are published in Departmental bulletins or in special reports, such as: Cost of Producing Wheat on 481 Farms, 1919; Cost of Producing Cotton; and Farm Practice in Growing Sugar Beets in Three Districts in Colorado. The reports are largely statistical, containing detailed tables showing unit costs of production, acreage, and total yield, for all farms included in the study.

Farm Finance.

Studies in farm finance by the Office of Farm Management have so far been limited to fire insurance and rural credits. No work upon the latter subject has been completed. The insurance investigations were undertaken to demonstrate the best types of fire insurance for the protection of farmers. The required information is secured from reports of State insurance departments and by correspondence. The statistical work involved is of no importance.

Farm Labor.

The problem of farm labor became of great importance during the war, and the Office of Farm Management accordingly undertook research work in this field. Such work included studies of the classification of labor from the standpoint of agriculture, the farm labor supply and movement, the trend of population, living and housing problems, and standards of supervision and compensation. Owing to a lack of funds, this work has now been suspended.

Agricultural History and Geography.

The studies undertaken under the classification of agricultural history and geography relate to six specific subjects, as follows: (1) The trend of agricultural production; (2) the relation of American to foreign agriculture; (3) the geographic distribution of farm enterprises; (4) the geography of farm practices, labor requirements and systems of farming; (5) geographic conditions in relation to the classification and utilization of land; and (6) the Atlas of American Agriculture.

In the prosecution of these studies statistics compiled from numerous secondary sources are employed as a guide to the investigators, and the publications issued from time to time as the investigations progress themselves contain considerable statistical material, for the most part, however, reproduced from other publications. The original statistical work involved in these surveys is of small importance, but the statistical matter included in the published bulletins usually represents at least a rearrangement of material in order that it may be given its greatest interpretative value. Maps, geographical charts, and graphs are usually employed in presenting the data, which is disseminated through Departmental bulletins and the Departmental Yearbook.

The studies of agricultural production are based upon statistics derived from Federal and State censuses, crop estimates, and published foreign trade and price data; they are designed to show the historical development of American agriculture.

The information relating to foreign agriculture is obtained from reports of the International Institute of Agriculture at Rome, from consular reports, and from statistical publications issued by foreign governments or by trade organizations, and is presented to show the influences of foreign production upon American production.

Information regarding the geographic distribution of farm enterprises is secured from Census reports, farm management surveys, estimates of crop acreage, and from published data concerning weather and soils in different parts of the United States.

The study relating to the geography of farm practices, labor requirements, and systems of farming is, more nearly than any of the

other five, an original investigation, the necessary information being specially secured, in schedule form, from the township reporters of the Bureau of Crop Estimates.

Studies of the classification and utilization of land are based upon Census records, soil surveys, and climatic data.

The Atlas of American Agriculture is a publication designed to illustrate graphically the effect of various physical, economic, and other factors upon agricultural conditions throughout the country. The material for this atlas is contributed by other bureaus of the Department, but the work of compilation is performed by the Office of Farm Management. The sections of this publication so far issued are entitled, respectively, Cotton; Frost and the Growing Season; and Rural Population.

Land Utilization or Land Economics.

Surveys have only recently been undertaken in this field. They relate to several phases of the general problem of land utilization, such as the classification of land from the standpoint of its economic use, ownership and tenancy, settlement and colonization of unoccupied lands, etc. Particular emphasis is placed upon the inquiry relating to the various systems of land tenure and farm operation.. Schedules are used adapted to meet the needs of the particular section of the country being studied; and the data are collected by field agents from either the landlord or tenant or both. The records of a certain number of representative farms are analyzed to discover the character of the tenure, the amount of capital invested in land, buildings, and equipment, the sources and amounts of revenue, the expenses, the cost of farm labor, etc. No publications have so far been issued in this field. Two are in course of preparation, entitled Farm Land Values in Iowa, and Farm Lease Contract.

Farm Life.

This study can scarcely be classified as even partly statistical. It applies to farm life from the viewpoint of such socializing factors as churches and schools. This activity has only recently been begun and consequently no publications have so far been issued.

Farm Equipment.

Studies of farm equipment deal with such problems as the efficiency of farm tractors and trucks in comparison with horse and man-propelled appliances. The information is collected in large part by special questionnaires. The results of these studies are disseminated in Departmental bulletins consisting almost wholly of textual discussion.

BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY.

The Bureau of Animal Industry was established by the Act of Congress approved May 29, 1884, "to investigate and report upon the condition of the domestic animals of the United States, their protection and use, and also inquire into and report the causes of contagious, infectious, and communicable diseases among them, and the means for the prevention and cure of the same, and to collect such information on these subjects as shall be valuable to the agricultural and commercial interests of the country."

The work of the Bureau, as developed through subsequent legislation, is designed generally to improve conditions in animal husbandry and dairying. The Bureau is specifically charged, however, with the investigation, control, and eradication of diseases of animals, the inspection of meat and meat food products, and the inspection and quarantine of live stock, with reference to the movement of live stock and meats in interstate and foreign commerce. The statistics published by the Bureau of Animal Industry have been compiled primarily for the purpose of indicating the progress and the extent of the Bureau's regulatory and inspectional work. Certain published statistics, however, are of general interest and value. The principal medium for the dissemination of the statistical information gathered by the Bureau of Animal Industry is a monthly publication entitled Service and Regulatory Announcements.

Meat Inspection Reports.

Under the Meat Inspection Act of June 30, 1906, the Bureau of Animal Industry employs approximately 2,500 inspectors, who inspect meat animals before and after slaughter in packing plants and slaughterhouses in about 260 cities and towns. The classes of animals inspected are cattle, calves, sheep, goats, and swine, also some horses. All establishments in the United States engaged in the slaughter of meat for interstate shipment are covered by the inspection.1 The inspectors record the results of each inspection and render daily reports to the Washington Office showing the number of each class of animals inspected, ante-mortem and post-mortem, and the number of condemned animals and carcasses, classified by causes. Tables are presented in the annual report of the chief of the Bureau showing, for all packing plants and slaughterhouses collectively, the number of each class of animals passed, the number suspected 2 and

1 About 65 per cent of the total number of animals slaughtered in the United States are covered by Federal inspection.

2 This term is used to designate animals found or suspected of being unfit for food on ante-mortem inspection, most of which are afterwards slaughtered under special supervision, the final disposal being determined on post-mortem inspection.

the number condemned on ante-mortem inspection, and the number passed and the number condemned on post-mortem inspection. Supplementary tables are included, for condemnations on both antemortem and post-mortem inspections, showing the numbers of animals, carcasses, and parts of carcasses condemned for various causes. The number of animals of each class slaughtered under Federal inspection is shown for the principal meat packing cities1 separately and for all other cities and towns collectively in a table published every month in the Service and Regulatory Announcements. This table is also published in the Market Reporter of the Bureau of Markets.

The reports received by the Bureau of Animal Industry from meat inspections include statements of the quantities of different kinds of prepared and processed meats and meat products, as for example, cured beef, canned beef, and oleomargarine, which have been inspected. A table showing the quantities of such commodities passing under inspection appears in the annual report of the chief of the Bureau.2

MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS CERTIFIED FOR EXPORT.

Meat and meat products to be exported from the United States must be accompanied by a certificate signed by an inspector of the Bureau of Animal Industry. Copies of all such certificates are sent to and filed in the Washington Office. No statistical tables are prepared for publication on the basis of these certificates, because of the fact that commodities certified for export are not necessarily exported subsequently. The annual report of the chief of the Bureau contains textual statements, however, which show the number of pounds thus certified of (1) beef and beef products, (2) mutton and mutton products, (3) pork and pork products, and (4) also some horse meat.

INSPECTION OF IMPORTED MEATS AND MEAT FOOD PRODUCTS.

The following statement is taken from Department of Agriculture Yearbook Separate No. 714:

The regulations governing the admission of meat and meat food products from foreign countries require that every importation shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by an official of the national government of the country of origin, stating that the animals from which the meat or meat food product was derived receive an ante-mortem and a post-mortem veterinary inspection, and that at the time of slaughter the meat and products were sound, healthful,

1 Chicago, Fort Worth, Kansas City, National Stock Yards (East St. Louis), Omaha, St. Louis, Sioux City, South St. Joseph, and South St. Paul.

2 This table is accompanied by a foreword explaining that as the same product is sometimes reported in different stages of preparation under more than one heading, the figures are to be considered as a record only of the supervisory work performed and not as a statement of the aggregate quantity of products prepared.