Evening star., 1901-03-18
OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS
EXTENT OF THE WORK IN THE
AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.
Increase Expected During the Present
Year-Number of Persons EN-
ployed in the Division.

ASr1Cultufe, eXCeplHlS lHdt loT tHG WGdt.iei
bureau. 1t is charged with the preparation
Of the illustrations and with the distribu-
ton of the publications issued. The num-
Der of persons employed in this division is
slightly above one hundred, and includes
editorial clerks. proof readers. indexers. art.
lists, engrayers. stenographers. typewriters.
bookkeepers, folders and laborers. The
division of publications was established in
1889 az a section of the division of statis-
tics. which originally had charge of editing
reports Of the department. In 1880 1t was
organized as the division of records and
editing and in 1895 It became the division
Of publications. George William Hill OF
Minnesota was appointed editor July g.
1889. and remains chief of the division. JOS
A. Arnold of Indiana, at present assistant
chief, was appointed clerk in the division
June II. 1894.
The volume of work Of this division for
1901 will vastly exceed that done during
the last fiscal year." said one of the de-
partment officials to reporter for The star
today. ~,
1000. the number Of publications issued un-
der supervision Of the editor, was 1913. The
number of printed pages contained in these
was 1852 and the number Of copies print
ed was 1852. .47s. In 1893 the number OF
publications issued was 210. and the num-
ber of printed copies was 2,69S.0S4. Be
tween 1893 and 1900 and inclusive Of those
years the number of publications issued by
this DIVISION was o,V4A, anu Tie uumucI "a
copies printed was 1850, 1872.
The regular annual printing fund Of the
department is $1O0,O and Of this SIC. 600
is regularly set apart for the weather bu-
reau During the last fiscal year Congress
made an additional appropriation Of $35 600
for the preparation and printing Of farm
ers' bulletins. The number of copies OF
these printed and distributed. two-thirds
being sent out on orders of senators, repre-
sentatives and delegates. was 2,360,0O0. The
additional appropriation for farmers bull
letins for the present fiscal year Is s57 500
and with this money, n approximateay pro- mi ;a s;9
which four-fifths will be for distribution
by members of Congress An appropria-
tion Of 100000 is also made annually for
the printing of 100000 copies of the year
book, which, since 1894, has taken the
place of the agricultural report. which had
been issued annually since 1S47. The fund
for printing illustrations and labor an
nually disbursed under the supervision of
the chief of the division Of publications
aggregates $500 900.
In addition to the regular work already
mentioned this division has charge Of the
printing of many million circulars, blanks
and labels, and prepares advance notices of
publications 70 the apesrs. A catalogue
Of publications Is issued monthly and sent
to applicants for it. A number of the
strictly scientific and technical publications
are turned over to the superintendent Of
documents for sale at cost price. The
amount realized from this source during
the last fiscal year was 81, 1875.
Waste of Publications..
In the matter Of the waste of department
publications. Mr.. Hill. in his last report,
said:
"One source Of frequent demand for our
publications arises from carelessness in
their custody in libraries. where complete
set Of them ought. ti, sbe found: such. for
instance, as the Libraries of the agricul-
tural colleges and. experiment stations. Of
state departments, and of boards of agri-
culture. The fact that a book or docu-
ment is pubHcaHiongof the government
seems in manyscas tb invite Indifference
as to itsl custody, and fogengerNder an easy
confidence that if necessary it can surely
be replaced. The result Is that we are
constantly in receipt of requests from such
Institutions for copies, of publications to
complete their SETS which, with little
proper care, would never have been broken.
Sometimes these requests, with the idea,
preferred through members of Congress,
which is. of course, quite unnecessary, as
the department is naturally desirous that
complete sets of it's publications should IL
possible. be found in such Libraries as
referred to. Consequently, as far as
possible these requests are always COM
piled with, but this only makes the evil
more serious. 1t is really high time that
the necessity for the careful preservation
of the department publications should be
recognized. in spite of the fact that they
are SO freely furnished without cost to the
recipient. In this connection, all persons
having duplicates of any of our pubIica-
tions are earnestly requested to communi-
cate the fact to the writer, upon which
franks for the return Of the same to this
office will be promptly furnished. Such re-
turned copies always serve a useful pur-
pose.
These facts are amply sufficient to show
tEat the great question today in connection
with our publications is that Of supply and
n ~ dnnr 10 fr,
begin with. Increases very slowly. The de-
mand, great at the start, increases with
rapid strides.
THE present efforts at remedying the
matter are quite inadequate and extremely
inequitable entailing determinations diff
cult to justify. The only fair and equitable
plan involves the charge Of small sum,
sufficient to defray expense of paper and
printing only, for each publication, which
sum should be turned over to the public
printer, subject to requsition for reprints
from the head of the department.
Correspondence of the Division.
In the matter Of the correspondence Of
the division Mr.. Hill says:
There were prepared in this section dur
ing the year 2O92 letters for the signature
OF the Secretary. and 6.741 communications
for the signature Of the editor. The par
TALLY printed blanks postal cards and cir
culars bearing printed signature numbered
,S2Z. making total of replies prepared.
addressed and mailed to communications re-
ceived, in the document section, of 291, 155.
Adding to this number the letters and other
communications prepared in the main Office
of the division. we have the enormous num-
Der OF $4,000 separate communications pre-
pared, addressed and mailed during the
year or 1000 for each working day. When
it Is remembered that each one Of these
communications involves the consideration,
handling and filing Of an order or an appli-
cation. some idea may, be formed Of the
amount of clerical and semi-clerical work
entailed upon the document section. largely
performed by persons employed as laborers,
and whose services are consequently only
incidentally available for clerical or semi.
clerical work-a circumstance which adds
largely to the difficulty of adequately per-
forming this vast arr1olnt of work.
"The number Of addressed franks, OF reg
istry records. of orders and other miscel