The Washington times., 1901-08-21
SALES OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.


The annual report of L. C. Terrell.
superintendent of Documents. shows that
he had distributed more than half mil
lion volumes during the last fiscal year.
OF these all but 80 SIS were sent to insti-
tutions where the public has access to
them at all times. The comparatively
small number not so sent were sold.
About three-fourths of them were publi
cations of the Department of Agricui-
ture. consisting mostly Of bulletins on
subjects of interest to the farmer and
householder. The records show that the
sales of these bulletins Increased nearly
20 per cent over the corresponding sales of
1900. OF publications. of other depart
ments. 9.i5S were sold, as against 1886 in
1900. For the agricultural publications.
however, there was received only s.. 220. -
whereas the publications of other depart
ments brought in 6sS2. "A. The dispropor-
ton between the numbers and the returns
of the two groups Is explained by the fact
that the price of agricultural bulletins
is. as rule. only 5. cents. while some of
the other publications sell for as much
as S1-75 each. g. ....4.a
Mr.. Terrell has kept an accurate rec
ord of the number of each book sold. and
glance through the list shows readily
partment OF Agriculture devoted consider
able time to the Investigation of the mos
quito, and published two bulletins about
this pest OF the first, $50 copies were sold
last year, and of the second 75l. Recent
discussion in the newspapers has renew
ed the demand for these pamphlets. and n
large number have been sold since the
LIST of July
Notwithstanding the fact that the books
on Diseases Of the Horse and Diseases
of Cattle" were first distributed some
years ago, there is still an active market
for them. The records show that 1879 of
the former and 155 of the latter were sold
last year. 1t Is explained that the sales
would have been much larger, but the
editions were exhausted, and the Super
intendent of Documents. in order to get
those he sent out, was obliged to enter
into trades with members of Congress for
some of their surplus documents
"A bulletin on Composition of American
Wines was in considerable demand, and
lS2 copies were sold. One on the honey
bee brought orders for 34s copies. Bulle-
tins relating to food problems seemed
popular, as Z79 copies of one on the chem
istry and economy of food, and 357 of an
other on the chemical composition of
American food matter. were sold. A treat
Use on losses in boiling vegetables had
A3 buyers. while sixty-seven housekeepers
spent cents each for a dissertation on
bread and bread making, and I73 bought
copies of a pamphlet on Investigations
into the digestibiiity and nutritive value
Of bread. Food and diet charts to the
number Of Ill were disposed of. Forestry
and horticultural bulletins were in consid-
cradle demand. too. OF the Primer of
Forestry, 267 copies were sold; of the
.Foresty Nursery 2e3; and of the Spot
Disease Of the Violet" 49,
The foregoing are the most popular of
the publications OF the Department of Ag-
riculture. Mr.. Terrell has had requests
FOR census reports on Indians. running as
far back as 1850 OF the Official Re gis-
ter" otherwise known as the "blue book"
whereas before the Civil Service law went
into effect thousands OF copies were is
sued. Thirty sets of Flags of All Ma
TONS, handsomely illustrated with col
hundred copies of the Revised Statues
We're sold. There was great demand in
1900 for copies of the Treaty of Peace
with Spain, but comparatively little in
1871, as people soon became familiar with
its provisions or lost interest In the sub
ject.
The heaviest work of the Office of Sup
erintendent of Documents is the distri-
button of Government publications to
designated repositories" Under the law
every Senator and Representative Is al
lowed to designate one library in his State
or district to which copies of all Gov
eminent documents are to be sent Last
year $50 documents, of an aggregate value
of 800. were sent to each The State IL
brary of each State is likewise favored
by law. and absorbs the same number OF
volumes. Then, there are 1000 scientific
institutions scattered through the coun-
try. to which copies of the publications
of the Geological Survey are sent. In adj
dition to these 700 other repositories re-
ceive surplus documents as they accumu-
late from time to time The superinten-
dent is now distributing about 1850 books
day to the various public institutions
on his list.
1t is odd that there never has been. I'M
til very recently, any attempt to give the
general public an intelligent idea of what
the Government publishes in the way of
bulletins and reports. There has been is
sued for five years or so monthly record
OF Government publications for the bene-
fit of Government employees, members OF
Congress, and the heads of executive de-
partments and few libraries, but nothing
available for general use The entire edi-
ton = limited by law to 1000 copies. which
does not begin to go around" About two
months ago a publication covering this
field made its appearance. under private
auspices, and rumOr credits IL with having
already attained to a circulation of some
1000 copies, with a tendency to increase
as fast as the public learns of it's exis-
tence. Year after year the Government
experts are in larger way putting the
results of their observations. which cover
nearly every field of practical endeavor
into popular form for use in Government
bulletins. These treat of all branches of
agriculture and their many highly devel-
oped specialtieS, as we'll as of manufac-
turing. mining, commerce. and trade In
the course of year every citizen of the
Republic Is liable to be interested in one
or more of these bulletins, but hitherto
there has been no adequate means of in
forming him of what was going through