Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1900-04-05
Taking the Census.

D"n"so" Sy W." 'SV
enumerators In the work Of taking
the census and the number applying
is at least three times as many as the
number Of placey to be filed. How
ever, not enough competent men
have been approved to do the work.
which must be completed rapidly
and also accurately. The applica-
tons must be made by candidates,
who are required to fill out trial
sheet with this application, and these
are forwarded to the department for
inspection and approval or rejection.
There are over a hundred to be ap-
pointed in the Fifth distrirt, and the
work Of selecting competent men is
arduous. There are about fifty thou.
sand in all in the United States, and
/
In the country districts more time is
given to get started than anywhere
else. The questions asked are nu-
merous, and the work difficult, but
the pay Is liberal for the short time
required. Everything must be &C.
curate and confirmed.
Farmers, as a class, do not keep
their accounts as well as manuiactur-
ers, and the returns from farmers
may occasionally include serious
errors, which trained eye will at
once detect. Hence the farm sched-
ule must be examined and such errors
corrected before the tables can be
made up from them with safety. II a
farmer reports that his land sown to
wheat was ten acres and the yield
1000 bushels, it is clear that an aver
age yield Of 400 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 schedules; sometimes
correspondence must be opened to
settle the doubt. All this ranks
under the general head Of verifying
the schedules, and all the time posi-
BILE to the work of veri-schedules. TO
acco mplish this in the time allowed,
the work of several hundred clerks
will be required, and they must have
hard and fast rules to guide them.
For example, they might be told:
When the wheat reports show pro-
duet 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 than a yield Of
forty bushels in another. Hence the
division must be fixed in 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. TO get the limits Of
probability for this purpose for each
county in the United States, that is,
the maximum and minimum yield
and the maximum and minimum
price which may be accepted without
veri fcation, is the object Of an extern
sive correspondence now being
carried on by the bureau. Three
simple schedules have been pre-
pared and printed on different col
ored paper in order that they may be
readily distinguished one from the
other. One of them covers ordinary
garden vegetables, 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 vegetables, ask
for the highest and lowest yield Of
each crop per acre. These schedules
are being mailed to prominent farm
ers all over the country and in many
instances returns have already been
received. Then the returns scheme
will be made from them Of what is to
be accepted as correct in each case
and what is to be probed farther. The
only aim Of the office is to get what
was really the intention Of the farmer
in answering the questions. II the