Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1900-04-10
EAsuess AND the CENSUS.


To build ND great Office like the Gen.
sus Once In fifteen months from abso-
lutely nothing to an efficient machine.
employing about three thousand men IN
Washington and about hfty thousand
elsewhere In the country, is difficult
task, and entire success IL out OF the
question. The Office naturally compares
itself with the stage OF preparation
attained At the same period ten years
ago aud tried by this test, It has gained
several months on It's predecessor. One
Of the problems before It IL how to Pot
In the time thus secured Ia such way
NJ most to benefit the Census.
In the Agricultural Division the need
Of time for preliminary work IL perhaps
AZ great as anywhere In the Census Office.
Farmers, rs a class, do not keep their
accounts as well a. manufacturers, and
the returns from farmers may OCCASION
ally include serious errors which trsined
eve will at once detect. Hence the farm
schedules must be examined and such
errors corrected before the tables can be
made ND from them with safety. II a
farmer reports that his land sown to
wheat was ten acres and the yield four
/ I
age yield Of four hundred bushels to the
acre is incredible, and must be rejected
or corrected In accordance With the
probabilities. Sometimes the truth can be
made out by an expert from comparison
with entries In other parts OF the sched-
ules; sometimes correspondence must be
opened TO settle the doubt. All this ranks
under the general head OF verifying the
schedules, and the Agricultural Division
plans TO give all the time possible 10 the
work Of verifying each OF the millions OF
farm schedules. To accomplish this In
the time allowed, the work Of several
hundred clerks will be required, and
they must have hard and fast rules 10
guide them. For example, they might
be told: When the wheat reports show n
product Of over forty bushels To the acre,
they are suspicious and must be laid
aside for an expert to pass npon. But
any such rules must vary with the sec
ton of the country. A yield OF twenty
bushels In one section might he more
questionable than yield OF forty bushels
In another. Hence the division must hx
In advance what IL the range OF reports
In each part Of the country and for each
crop that may be accepted as probable
on their face and not requiring special
examination. To get the limits OF proba-
bilitv for this purpose for each county 10
the United States, that Is, the maximum
and minimum yield and the maximum
and minimum price which may be &C
cepted without veritlcstion, Ia the object
OF an extensive correspondence now being
carried on by the Agricultural Division
under the direction Of Mr.. l. g. Powers,
Chief Ststisticisn In charge Of that
division. Three simple schedules have
been prepared and printed on different
colored paper Ia order that they may be
readily distinguished one from another.
One OF them covers ordinary garden veg
etables, n second covers fruits, aud the
third the great staple field crops. Each
asks about the units Of measure employed
and the net price realized. and the two
more important schedules, those for
sta pie field products and for vegetables,
ask for the highest and lowest yield OF
each crop per acre. These schedules are
being nailed TO prominent farmers all
over the country and In many instances
returns have already been received
When the returns have been received and
tsbuisted, n scheme will be made from
them NJ what Is TO be accepted as correct
In each case aud what Is Ia be probed
farther. The only aim OF the Office Is "a
get what Was really the intention OF the
farmer In answering the questions. |,
the presumption IL strongly against hi:
meaning what the schedule says, TN,
Office will try TO learn BY correspondence
from the supervisor, or the enumerstor,
or the farmer himself what the real fac:'
J were.
IL the farming public will continue tc
cooperate with the hesrtiness already
displayed. this effort will result In I
more trustworthy census Of farms thar
. has ever been taken. Farmers, ss 4
clsss, are less able TO cooperate than thu
, representatives Of any other great indus
try. Hence the Census Office can d.
more for them than IL can for centralized
lines Of business, which can and do make
their own Investigations, and IL will do
It's best to present full and accurate
photograph Of thia leading occupation
The Director of the Census urges ever,
one interested TO aid the work.