quate to the publication work required, is yet so large a sum as to make it a matter of economy to place its administration in practical hands. It is safe to say that in no private business would it be deemed wise to allow the expenditure of $40,000 annually on any line of work without placing it under some responsible and experienced head. The character of a bulletin must determine the extent of circulation, and hence the number of copies required. The occasional reproduction in another form of a portion of some bulletin can sometimes be economically and advantageously substituted for an increased edition of the original publication; the complete preparation of a work in proper form, ready for the printer's hand, is a saving of time and money, and in a variety of ways this Division, if managed as it ought to be, can and should aid in securing to the publication work of this Department-work that grows in importance every day-a full measure of efficiency and economy. There could be no better evidence of the possible efficiency of the new Division than that afforded by the subjoined list, which represents the publication work of the Department for the past twelve months. THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT. The editing of all the bulletins issued by the Department from its several divisions, and the conferences entailed in the course of my duties with the chiefs of the several divisions, have resulted in some conclusions as to the publications of the Department, which I have now the honor to lay before you. The first element entitled to our consideration in the preparation of the Department publications must be the constituents whom the Department is specially designed to serve. The value of the Department must necessarily be measured in a large degree by the amount of valuable practical information which it is enabled to impart to farmers in regard to their business, and in the aid which it can thus afford them in solving the problems with which they find themselves confronted. At the same time there is an obvious necessity for the preservation in printed form of a record of all scientific work done in the various divisions of the Department, whether its immediate results have or have not any direct interest for the practical farmer. The Department owes something to the student and the scientist, as well as to the farmers, and it owes this much at least to its own workers and to those who are to succeed them, namely, to place in their hands a complete detailed record of all the technical and scientific work carried on in the several divisions, whatever the results thereof may have been. It is obvious, then, that we are confronted at the outset with the necessity for at least two classes of publications-one consisting simply of records of scientific work; the other presenting results of practical value to the farmers themselves. The first being of value chiefly to agricultural students, scientific men, and the workers in the Department and in the agricultural colleges and experiment stations of the country, can be issued in comparatively limited editions; the others according to their character in larger editions. The great increase in the number of divisions preparing mattor for publication, and the dual character of most of them-combining administrative duties with scientific research-have resulted in the necessity for important modifications in the character and scope of the Annual Report of the Department. Your own declaration approving the frequent issue of special bulletins from the various divisions relating to the work undertaken by them instead of awaiting the issue of the Annual Report, already too bulky for the purpose for which I conceive it to be designed," suggests in the main the character of the modifications to which I refer; and the neces sity for such modifications was amply confirmed when, after consultation with the various chiefs of divisions in anticipation of the publication of the Annual Report of the Department for 1889, it was found that space was desired which would have resulted in a bulky volume of not far from 1,500 pages, whereas the Report as actually published consisted of less than 600 pages. It is evident that the time has come when the Annual Report of the Department must offer to each chief of Division merely an opportunity for a business report to his chief of the work actually performed in the Division which he superintends, for a general review of the field of economic agriculture assigned to his division, and for presenting suggestions and plans for increasing the efficiency and extending the benefits of his work. At the same time a great extension is called for in the line of publications in the form of special bulletins. It should not be forgotten in this connection that notwithstanding the increase in the number of divisions, the great extension of the general scope of work assigned to the Department, no increase has been made in the last few years in the amount of the printing fund, while on the other hand a considerable reduction has been made in the number of copies of the Annual Report remaining at the disposal of the Department. In anticipation of a considerable increase in the number of bulletins, and a considerable increase in many cases of the number of copies issued, as, for instance, in the case of the monthly crop report, which, being practically a monthly review of the condition of agriculture throughout the world, should be far more extensively distributed than it is; and in view also of the necessity for increasing the number of the bulletins referred to as "Farmers' Bulletins," it seems quite impossible that even with all the discrimination exercised in the distribution, the Department can accomplish the least that is expected of it in the line of publication with an appropriation of less than $60,000. In the meantime, in view of the large number of divisions engaged in preparing matter for publication, and the desirability of an equitable apportionment of the printing fund, it would seem as though some method might be devised which will give to every Division a fair share of the publication fund during the year in proportion to the relative importance of the matter which each has to present. To effect this, it would be necessary that each divisional chief should submit at the beginning of the fiscal year a table of matter on hand already prepared for publication, and also a list of proposed publications, the preparation of which could be completed in time to bring the publication within the current fiscal year. In this way the relative value of the proposed publications could be properly estimated; a suitable allotment of the printing fund arranged for by which justice should be done to every Division; and when the fund was found insufficient for all the publication work contemplated, that which seemed to promise the greatest general benefit could be selected. At present, it not unfrequently happens that a considerable amount of work is done in the preparation of a bulletin for publication, only to find out when the work is done, naturally to the great disappointment of the chief of the Division under whom it has been prepared, that there is no fund available to print it. The limited amount of the printing fund available for the publications of the Department outside of the Annual Report has necessitated great economy in the work of publication, sometimes limiting the number and editions, so that valuable bulletins are soon out of print, and at other times compelling the undue postponement of bulletins containing information which should promptly be made available, and in a few cases entailing the abandonment of a publication after a considerable amount of work had already been done in its preparation. Considerable economy has been and must continue to be exercised in the method of distribution, and the prevalent idea existing in the country that the bulletins of the Department are published in unlimited numbers, and that the easiest way to get any special one is to simply request that all the bulletins issued by the Department be sent regularly, permitting the two or three of practical use to the writer to be selected and the rest to be consigned to the garret, must be done away with. In fact, at present the varied character of the work carried on in the Department and the tendency of the farmers themselves to specialize, makes it well-nigh impossible for any one individual to be profited by all the bulletins issued. In the effort, therefore, to husband our resources, one of the first things to be done is to carefully discriminate in the distribution of the various bulletins of the Department, and simple requests that the writer may receive all the bulletins issued by the Department, without any explanation, should be entirely ignored. Another movement in the line of economy must be the frequent substitution for more expensive bulletins, of short treatises or tracts on some particular subject of special interest to the farmers generally, or to the farmers in some particular locality. Such were the special bulletins on "The Horn Fly," on "Potato Rot" and "Peach Blight," "Inoculation for Hog Cholera," "The Beef Supply," "The Hollyhock Disease," "The What and Why of the Experiment Stations,' and "The Work of the Experiment Stations," the last two having aggregated a circulation of 200,000, and having been given the suggestive title of "Farmers' Bulletins." The necessity for bulletins of this kind arises from time to time in all the divisions of the Department, and seems for many practical as well as economical reasons to be worthy of the greatest encouragement, and I would venture to suggest that all the bulletins of this character hereafter be issued, each as one of a Department series, to be known as "Farmers Bulletins," and to be numbered consecutively, and not as a special series of the Division from which it emanates. In some cases it has been deemed desirable to issue bulletins of a periodical character in monthly or quarterly parts. While no doubt much may be said in favor of such a method, it is in my opinion open to certain grave objections, likely to grow stronger as the work progresses, and sufficient to overcome all the arguments offered in its favor. In the first place, the Department is not a publishing house, and it is essential that the occasion of a publication should be not the recurrence of any particular date or the lapse of any particular period, but the possession of facts or information worth making public. Indeed, in pursuance of this idea, the regular periodicity of these serial publications in the Department must be and in some cases has been practically abandoned. There is a tendency, however, with all such serials to approach some hard and fast rule as to number of pages, etc., which ought to have no part whatever in regard to the publications of the Department. Whether a bulletin is to be ten pages or fifty should depend not upon looks or upon the relative number of pages in the preceding number, but whether the valuable information ready to be given out can best be presented in ten pages or more. Furthermore, from what has been said already in regard to the varied character and the several classes of bulletins which seem to be necessary to meet all requirements, it is obvious that serial publications containing a little of each sort entail a large waste of matter in distribution, for it would be wellnigh impossible for any Division to issue a satisfactory periodical bulletin consisting exclusively of matter appropriate to one or the other of the three classes of bulletins indicated. The arguments which have seemed sufficient to establish the necessity for the publication in some special form of the detailed scientific work of the several divisions of the Department have so far been mostly advanced in favor of the issue of periodicals by the several divisions. While the arguments themselves are well founded, I think, for reasons stated above, that the conclusions are not satisfactory. Taking, however, the arguments as to the necessity of a complete record of the scientific work done in the Department, and the objections that unquestionably obtain against the adoption of separate serial publications by the various scientific divisions, it would be possible, perhaps, to satisfy the first and to meet the second by adopting the serial form for a Department publication of a technical character, to which all the divisions would have access, and which should be practically a record or review of the scientific work of the several divisions of the Department, which would serve as a suitable book of reference for such work, not only for those who will carry it on in the future, but to the students and others engaged in the work of agricultural science. Such a publication, under certain limitations, ought, it seems to me, to answer a very useful purpose and satisfy the requirements of the various scientific divisions as well as the natural demands of those engaged in analogous work. A glance at the subjoined list of publications, and the fact that since 1885 no general index has been kept of the publications of the Department, point very strongly to the necessity of beginning such important work before it becomes an overwhelmingly tedious and irksome task. Indeed, in view of the vast importance of much of the work undertaken in the several divisions, and inasmuch as some of the most important bulletins have, as has already been stated, gone out of print, it seems to me worth while to consider whether work akin to that carried on in the office of Experiment Stations with reference to the publications of such Stations, in accordance with the law indicating the relation between the Stations and the Department, should not be undertaken with reference to the publications of the Department itself. For fear of causing misapprehension in reference to the suggestions contained herein as to increasing the number of special bulletins and the different classes of bulletins contemplated, it may be well that I should here emphasize my perfect understanding that the publication work of this Department must be carried out in full compliance with the general policy which demands that the work of a Government institution be directed to aid and supplement the efforts of, and not to compete with, private enterprise. I beg leave to direct your special attention to the subjoined list of the publications of the Department for the year. It presents, I think, a very striking exhibit of the activity of work in every Division of the Department under your charge, though inadequate in its testimony, inasmuch as several publications practically ready have had to be withheld, owing to the insufficiency of the printing fund. PUBLICATIONS OF THE YEAR. In the list subjoined the summary of publications contained in your last Annual Report is continued and brought down to the close of the current year. To supply a need repeatedly suggested by the correspondence of the Department, the character of each bulletin is briefly indicated in cases where this is not accomplished by the title alone. Circulars are not mentioned below, unless they have served to distribute information. Such as have been used to facilitate inquiry, though occasionally given a document number, may be classed more properly as correspondence, being, for the most part, blanks which are mailed to correspondents to be filled out and returned. The fact that during the year upwards of 400,000 have been mailed from the Division of Statistics alone will indicate the extent to which their use is found necessary. The size of bulletins mentioned below is uniformly octavo unless otherwise specified; the date assigned to each is intended to represent the date of its actual receipt for distribution from this Department. At this writing all bulletins of the year are available for distribution to public libraries, and copies of nearly all can be furnished to individual applicants. Owing to the wide demand for the Report of 1889, however, the supply allotted by law to this Department is now exhausted, and persons applying for the publication will necessarily have to be referred hereafter to their Representatives in Congress. (See page 2.) The annual reports of the Bureau of Animal Industry, also, are largely retained by Congress. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY. Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1889. With plates, wood cuts, and index. June, 1890, pp. 560. 400,000 Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1890. (Preliminary.) November, 1890, pp. 52 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 5,000 Fourth and Fifth Annual Reports of the Bureau of Animal Industry for Report on Inoculation as a Preventive of Swine Diseases. (Advance sheets 50,000 ! 10,000 10,000 Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry for the year 1889. Author's edition. (From the Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1889.) August, 1890, pp. 49-110 Proceedings of an Interstate Convention of Cattlemen, held at Fort Worth, 5,000 15,000 500 Special Report on Diseases of the Horse. (In press.).. 20,000 |