Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-03-12
SOURCES OF INFORMATION.

ktV0R Va ow0iA otot0cs hVOV AASsS
agents are In the classified civil service.
appointed only after passing rigid civil
service examination to test their educa'
tional and statistical qualifications.
Preference in appointment 10 given to
legal residents Of tho states In which
assignments arc made. Each 10 required
to travel over his state systematically
during the crop season and personally
to inspect crops, interview farmers,
representatives of commercial houses,
mills, elevators, buying and selling
associations OF all kinds, transportation
companies, state and local authorities,
and associations of every description; In
fact, each 10 expected to be better In
formed on crop production than any
other man 10 the state. Each agent en.
lists the voluntary services Of from $50
to 1900 selected crop correspondents In
bis state, who report to him every
month regarding the crops grown In the
state. At the close of each month the
agent makes up q detailed estimate on
the crops In his territory and forwards
it to the Washington Office, with full ex-
planatory notes showing the causes
which have resulted In changes from tho
estimates for the previous month.
In addition to the regular field agents,
the bureau employs 10. crop specialists,
/ each for cotton, rice, and tobacco, 4
for truck crops, and three for fruit
crops. These crop specialists are OF the
same high character, experience, and
educational qualifications a. the field
agents, and each devotes bis entire time
to investigating tho single crop for which
he is responsible. They travel through.
ont the regions in which their special
crops are grown, maintain large lists OF
growers, and each IL regarded ~ an
authority on the statistics Of his special
crop. Lists are kept OF growers OF
special crops, who report at the close OF
each month to the respective crop
specislists, each of whom, in turn,
makes mp report aud forwards 1t to
the central Office In Washington.
A third class OF reporters are the
voluntary county reporters, approxi-
mately 2,sO0 In number, each Of whom
reports for his county on printed
schedules directly to the bureau each
month. The county reporters base
their estimates upon personal observa.
tiou and inquiry and upon written and
telephone reports to them from aids In
different portions Of the county.
A fourth source of Information are
the voluntary township reporters, one
for each agricultural township In the
United States, approximately 80,220 In
number. These township reporters are
nearly oil practical farmers, and each
reports on the crops grown In bis I'M
mediate neighborhood directly to the
central Office In Washington N nthly
throughout the year.
Additional sources Of information
exist In the bureaus special lists of
growers Of potatoes, apples, cotton,
beans, cranberries, peanuts, broom corn,
maple syrup, honey, special truck crops,
and live stock, and In other lists OF buy.
ers, dealers, mills and elevators, produo.
ers and shipping associations, and other
agencies engaged in tho handling, trans.
porting, storing and distribution OF
crops.
HOW CROP REPORTS ARE MADE UP.
The returns from each class OF report
ers are tsbulsted and averaged separate
~ % check ono against the other. The
county totals are weighted; that is,
county which produces five times a.
much of Q particular crop a. another 70.
oeives Eve times the importance or
"weight" of the other county in deter
mining tho average for that crop.
Every possible precaution 10 taken to
prevent the totals for any of tho so-call-
ed speculative crops, such % corn,
wheat, oats and cotton, from becoming
known to any individual prior to tho
date fixed In advance by the Secretary
of Agriculture for tho issuance OF the
crop report. Even computers who make
up the totals do not know the states to
which they pertain, and the final tele-
graphic reports and comments OF the
field agents relating to tho speculative
crops are kept locked In the office OF the
Secretary until crop-reporting day,
whom they are turned over to . crop.re-
porting board, and the entire board 10
Immediately looked in until tho minute
that tho report 10 issued, guards being
stationed at the doors, and all telephones
disconnected.
The data supplied by the field agents.
crop specialists, and various classes OF
voluntary crop reporters are considered
By the crop reporting board, composed
of the chief of the bureau, the assistant
chief OF the bureau, the chief OF the
division of crop reports, two statistical
scientists, and one or more Held agents
called in from different states each
month, oil of whom are expert judges
of crops and have had many years' ex-
perience in analy xlng. interpreting. and
summarizing crop data. In. addition to
the special data sent In each month By
the Geld force the crop reporting board
has all other data which are available,
such ~ the Weather Rureau reports,
and such crop reports % are issued ~
state authorities, private crop-estimae-
ing agencies, associations, and others.
From Ill these data each member OF the
board prepares bis own individual ana
independent estimate for each crop ann
stste. These are compared; discrepancies
are discussed and explained. and unel
figure 10 adopted by the board. e
It 10 believed certain that the crop
reporting board has before Il at ~
sittings more complete. detailed ane'
accurate data than any other crop esti-
mating agency in the world. The mem
bers OF the crop reporting board, Ike
mn other department. employees who
have anything to do with crop estimates,
are prohibited BY law, under severe
penalties, from speculating in any prod
act OF tho soil, from giving ont any IN
formation In advance OF the oidctal crop
...n.< euA Spom kn0vin0lv oomptlinR