The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-05-17
GOVERNMENT CROP REPORT.


In the May number of At-the-Market
is an interesting story of the govern
ment's methods of collecting crop re-
ports. These reports are particularly
interesting at this time because upon
them are based prices for several
months to come. The early reports
show the acreage of the various crops,
the condition of the crops that have
been planted, the possibility of injury
from late frosts and other causes, and
q wealth of general information along
agricultural lines.
1t is stated that about 49,, 900 agents
are employed by the government in the
collection of this data. The number in
cludes 10000 state agents and fifteen
travelling agents. The latter move
about constantly from one place to an
other, checking up the returns of the
reporters and reducing what is known
as the bias" percentage to a minimum.
Since the leak" in the cotton reports
that caused such a scandal in the ag-
riculturaI department some months ago
prevent any future occurrence of that
sort.
After the field data has been collect
ell and carefully checked It is turned
over to a board consisting of five mem
bers. The board meets behind locked
doors and its personnel is changed
every month in order to prevent coIlu-
sion. Each member computes percent
ages from the reports of the observers.
Then the results are compared and
carefully noted before any effort to
give out the information is made.
The secretary of agriculture has es-
tablished conditions that make it i'm
possible for a board member to see the
statistical returns until the dag of the
board meeting. And until the work Of
the board is finished it is locked up Just
as a jury is locked up. No commune
cation with an outsider can be had
Thus the possibility of a board MEM
Der profting, or enabling anyone else
to profit, by advance information IS
practically eliminated. The article con-
tinues:
In the distribution Of the concur
sions of the board, on the tenth day
of each month during the crop season,
all the facilities of the telegraph equip
ment of the country and of the post
Office department are regularly en-
played. At a given hour, officially an
nounced in advance by the department
officials. copies of the report are given
10 the telegraph companies, whose lines
are kept free from all private business
long enough to insure instant transmits
sion of the figures to all markets and
TO the newspapers. At the same time
the report is mailed to 1900 postciices
in all parts of the country for public
display, a large number of copies arc
mailed to interested persons, and 100, 900
copies of the Crop Reporter containing
the figures are distributed as soon as
practicable after the Geographic ar
nouEcement. The news is thus deliv-
cred simultaneously 10 all exchanges
and markets, preventing any unjust
advantage of one over another"
Ii is possible, of course, for errors
to creep into the reports, but they are
very rare indeed, because the checking
system approaches very closely to per-
lection. Foreign nations accept the
accuracy Of our reports as beyond
question, and they are certainly enti-
tied to full credencc from the people of
this country.