Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1900-03-31
HINTS TO FARnERS.
Difficulties of the Agricultural Divi-
sions of the Census Bureafl.


To build Up a great Office like the
Census Office in fifteen months from
absolutely nothing to an eficiennt
machine employing about three
J Thousand men in Washington and
fifty thousand elsewhere in the
country, is difficult task, and entire
success is out of the question. The
office naturally compares itself with
the stage of preparation attained at
the same period ten years ago and
tried by this test, it has gained sever
al months on it's predecessor. One
of the problems before it is how to
put in the time thus secured in such
a way as most to benefit the Census.
In the Agricultural Division the
need of time for preliminary work is
perhaps as great as anywhere in the
Census Office. Farmers, as a class,
do not keep their accounts as we'll as
manufactures and the returns from
farmers may occasional include SER
ious errors which trained eye will
at once detect. Hence the farm
schedules must be examined and such
| errors corrected before the tables can
! be made up from them with safety. |
Ii farmer reports that his land sown
to wheat was ten acres and the yield |
! four thousand bushels, it is clear that !
an average yield Of four hundred |
bushels to the acre is Incredible, and i
must be rejected or corrected in ac,
cordance with the probabilities. Some
times the truth can be made out by |
an expert from comparison Of it with
entries in other parts of the schedule;
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 to the work of veri
flying each Of the millions of farm |
schedules. To accomplish this in |
the time allowed, the work of seyes al !
hundred clerks will be required, and |
they must have hard and fast rules to |
guide them. For example. they
might be told: When wheat reports
show product OF over forty bushels
to the acre, they are suspicious and
must be laid aside for an expert to
pass upon. But any such rules must
vary with the section of the country.
A yield of twenty bushels in one
section might be more questionable.l
than yield of forty bushels in anot-
her. Hence the division must fix inl
advance what is 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. 4oI
get the limits of probability for this.
purpose for each county in the:
United States. that is, the maximuml
and mimi yield and the maxi
mum and minimum pri> which may
be accepted without vertifcation, is
the object of extensive correspond |,
ence now being caEried on by the
Agricultural Division under the di-
rection of Mr.. 4. O.. Powers, Chief
Statistician ia charge of that division.
Three simple schedules have been
prepared and printed on different
colored paper in order that they may
be readily distinguished one from
another. Que Of them covers ordin-
arY garden vegetables, a second
covers fruits, and 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
staple field products and for vege
tables, ask for the highest and lowest
yield Of each crop per acre. These
schedules are being mailed to promi-
nsnt farmers all over the country and
in many instances returns have al
ready been received. When re-
ceiVed and tabulated, a scheme will
be made from them of what is to be
accepted as correct in each case and
what is to be probed fer farther
ThesoDiE aim of the Office is to get
what was really the intention OF the
farmer in answering the questions
If the presumption is strongly against
his meaning Ehat the schedule saws
the office will try to learn by corres
pondence from the Supervisor or the
or the farmer himself
what the real facts were.
Te ho 20 l