Evening star., 1912-09-22

al eHtiie DullulIS, dSlOe from OHlceS IN
the main building of the department. is
required.
The division Of publications is the me-
dlum which joins the American farmer
with the department. Hundreds of en-
ployes are working toward the goal of
bettering agricultural conditions. and the
results or their labors are put directly
In the hands Of the farmer by this di-
vision. Without this medium the Depart
ment OF Agriculture would be in the posi-
ton or one-legged athlete, anxious but
unable to enter the field.
Two factors bring about the production
of document-investigati and popu-
lar demand. Every day
Popular from three to four thou
n.mo,a sand letters are received
asking for bulletins on all
possible subjects pertaining to :agricul-
ture. In the majority Of instances these
are on hand. Sometimes, however, the
subject is one on which the department
has not touched. In such an event few
requests would bring no results, but If
the demand becomes large the machinery
is started which results in special docu-
ment on that subject.
Matter to be published as a Depart
ment of Agriculture document is first
written in the bureau concerned with the
to the division Of publications, where
1t passes through the hands Of the edi-
torial corps The result of this reading
is reported to the Secretary. together
with any recommendations that may
seem expedient. the idea being to deter
mine the value Of the subject from the
standpoint of its possible popularity. If
approved by the Secretary the manu-
script is prepared for publication and
sent to the government printing Office,
taken and sent to the department.
These proofs are read by the editorial
force Of the division of publications. and
also by the experts in the bureau from
Both sets are then gone over, the cor
rection or alteration marks combined, and
the material is returned to the printing
office. The division of publications also
indexes the document and prepares any
illustrations which may be used.
Up until the present time the finished
edition of document has been sent to
the department from the printing Office,
where it was stored. and distributed as
the demand arose. Beginning the first of
next month. the printing office will have
charge of the actual distribution. The
executive work, however. will still be
done at the department.. the change SIM
ply taking the manual work from the de-
partment to the printing office without
affecting the clerical work.
In the matter of distributing documents
that is, from the clerical end-two meth
DDS are employed. The mail
Mailing ing lists of the Department
r:-4 of Agriculture contain about
100000 names The term
mailing list is applied to lists kept up
by each bureau containing the names of
persons to receive all documents prepared
by that bureau. No one document is sent
to all the 600, 600 names. A mailing list
may range from $500 to 10000 names,
according to the class Of work done. For
instance. the bureau of plant industry
and the bureau Of animal industry both
have large mailing lists on account of
the popularity of the work they do The
names on these mailing lists are those of
libraries. colleges. newspapers, agricul-
tural officials in all the states. and per-
sons abroad. In addition are individual
names, these being persons who "co-oper-
ate'' with the department by reporting
the results of their own work
The other method employed is by mis-
cellaneous distribution. and this is the
more difficult Of the two. In the mailing
sending out the matter is merely routine.
In the miscellaneous distribution docu-
ments are sent out on request. Each
month the department sends out what is
known as the monthly hst.'' a leafet
containing the names Of all publications
issued during the preceding month. About
275.OOO of these are sent out each month.
1t is partly as a result Of this list that
the office is flooded with letters asking
for bulletins but not altogether
The American public is athirst for
knowledge and the Department of Agri-
culture stands ready
Thirst for to quench it when
ever possible. Every
request for a docu-
ment is responded to whenever possible.
thus necessitating a large force which
is kept constantly at this kind of work.
This sometimes becomes so great that
the force is compelled to remain after
hours in order to keep up with it. Out of
the 5000 or 1000 letters which come in
every day asking for documents a large
per cent specify the exact documents de-
sired. Such letters are easy to take care
of. On the other hand. however. a large
percentage request that "an the publica-
tions on hog raising be forwarded. That
means that the clerk having charge of
that particular letter must assemble all
the matter pertaining to hog-raising and
mail it out. When 1t is realized that dur
ing the past few years the Department
has been preparing almost 1000 docu-
ments every year the work thus neces-
STATED is appreciated.
And then there Is still another class of
correspondence-that which lightens the
days work with touch of comedy. This
is the class which couples requests for
documents with advice, recommendations
or mere comments. "As l write this
President Taft is riding by. Please sefd
me ." Il want your work on
They have just fumigated downstairs for