Issno 
 
 0, 1908. 
 
 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 BUREAU OF STATISTICS— CIRCULAR 17. 
 
 CHAS. C. CLARK, Acting Chief. 
 
 GOVERNMENT CROP REPORTS 
 
 THEIR VALUE, SCOPE, AND PREPARATION. 
 
 COMPILED AND PREPARED BY 
 
 CHAS. C. CLARK. Associate Statistician. 
 
 55581— Cir. 17—08 
 
 WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1*06 
 
 
 
ORGANIZATION OF BUREAU OF STATISTICS. 
 
 Statistician and Chief: Victor H. Olmsted. 
 Associate Statistician : Charles C. Clark. 
 Assistant Statistician : Nat. C. Murray. 
 Chief Clerk : Samuel A. Jones. 
 
 Division of Domestic Crop Reports : Fred. J. Blair, Chief. 
 Division of Foreign Markets : George K. Holmes, Chief. 
 Editorial Division and Library: Charles M. Daugherty, Chief. 
 Crop Reporting Board : 
 
 Chairman, Victor H. Olmsted, Statistician and Chief of Bureau. 
 Four other members chosen each month from the following : 
 Charles C. Clark, Associate Statistician. 
 Nat. C. Murray, Assistant Statistician. 
 George K. Holmes, Chief of Division of Foreign Markets. 
 One or more persons called in from the corps of special field agents 
 and State statistical agents. 
 [Cir. 17] 
 
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 ^ 1 
 
LETTER or TRANSMITTAL 
 
 U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
 
 Bureai of Statistic s, 
 Washington^ D. < .. September /. 19 
 Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a paper entitled " Gov- 
 ernment Crop Reports," and to recommend its publication as Circu- 
 lar 17. of this Bureau. This material has been prepared at different 
 times during the past two years by Victor II. Olmsted, chief statis- 
 tician; Charles C. Clark, associate statistician; and Nat C. Murray. 
 assistant statistician of this Bureau; and I have arranged it in the 
 present convenient form so as to meet numerous inquiries a> to the 
 value, methods, and scope of the crop-reporting service of this 
 Department. 
 
 Very respectfully, C. C. Clark, 
 
 Acting Chief of Bureau. 
 Hon. James WlLSON, 
 
 Secretary of Agriculture. 
 
 [Cir. IT] 
 
 (3) 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page. 
 
 Value of Government crop reports 7 
 
 Origin of the crop-reporting service 10 
 
 Methods of crop reporting 11 
 
 Scope of crop reports 12 
 
 Transmission of reports to Bureau by correspondents 14 
 
 Preparation of reports 15 
 
 Method of issuing reports 16 
 
 [Cir. 17] 
 
 (5) 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
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 http://archive.org/details/govcropreOOusde 
 
GOVERNMENT CROP REPORTS: THEIR VALUE, SCOPE, AND 
 
 PREPARATION. 
 
 VALUE OF GOVERNMENT CROP REPORTS. 
 
 Prices of agricultural products are primarily governed by the law 
 of supply and demand; therefore early information concerning the 
 supply is of value to all. Those who produce and those who con- 
 sume are vitally interested as well as the dealer who stands between 
 them. The mutual relation- and interests of agriculture, industry, 
 commerce, and labor demand that there should he published at brief 
 intervals during the crop season reliable information on the condition, 
 acreage, production, and value of the principal crops, by States and 
 agricultural area-. 
 
 Foreign countries depend to a large and increasing extent upon the 
 United States for agricultural products. To meet the market de- 
 mands at home and abroad is the mis-ion of American agriculture. 
 The manufacturer, the merchant, the mechanic, the -killed operative 
 in the factory, in fact, all who consume the products of American 
 agriculture, whether at home or abroad, are interested in the monthly 
 Government reports of conditions on the farms of the United States. 
 
 A- commerce consists largely in an exchange of the products of 
 agriculture and manufacture among their respective producers, com- 
 merce thrives a- the farmer and the factory operator prosper. Some 
 individual-, however, do not always regard the common welfare, and 
 injurious commercial speculations occur when ignorance prevails 
 concerning the condition of our crops and the true relations of supply 
 and demand. At such times the farmer often does not obtain just 
 prices, while the consumer derives no benefit and business is injuri- 
 ously affected. The consequences of false reports concerning the con- 
 dition and prospective yield of the cotton crop alone may be very 
 damaging. If there were no adequate Government crop-reporting 
 service, and by misleading reports .speculators should depress the 
 price a single cent per pound, growers would lose $f)0,000,000 or 
 more; if prices were improperly increased, manufacturers and allied 
 interests would be affected to a proportionate degree. 
 
 The Government crop reports are especially valuable to farmers, 
 who are benefited by them both directly and indirectly. Those farm- 
 ers who read the report- and thus keep informed as to condition and 
 prospects of crops profit in a direct way, while all are indirectly 
 benefited through this knowledge being imparted to the great body 
 
 [Cir. 17] 
 
 (7) 
 
8 
 
 of progressive and intelligent farmers and dealers instead of remain- 
 ing the exclusive possession of a few persons. 
 
 It is well known that speculators and large dealers in farm prod- 
 ucts do not depend entirely upon Government reports for informa- 
 tion concerning crop conditions. They have traveling agents and 
 correspondents (usually local buyers) throughout the United States, 
 who keep them posted upon local conditions, and the large buyer or 
 speculator in return gives to these local buyers or correspondents in- 
 formation in regard to general conditions. Local buyers know the 
 conditions of crops in their vicinity better, as a rule, than the average 
 farmer, because it is their business to keep well informed. The 
 farmer can not, by refusing to report for his locality the condition 
 of crops, prevent buyers or speculators from knowing the condition 
 of the crop. But without the Government crop reports, which are 
 made up largely b}^ and for him, the farmer could not be sure of 
 receiving any equivalent information from a disinterested source. 
 He may know very well the condition of crops in his own locality, 
 but must depend upon reports of others, in the newspapers or else- 
 where, for the conditions of the entire crop. Prices in his home 
 market are influenced, as a rule, more by the condition of the whole 
 crop than by local conditions. The entire wheat crop of his county 
 may be destroyed and prices be low, if the entire crop is large, or 
 his county may have a " bumper " crop and prices be very high, if 
 the entire crop is short. 
 
 Some private crop reports published in newspapers are honestly 
 prepared and more or less reliable; on the other hand, misleading 
 crop reports are frequently sent throughout the country to affect 
 prices in the interest of speculators. The average farmer does not 
 know which reports are reliable and which are sent out to mislead. 
 The Government reports enable farmers to keep themselves informed 
 as to the general conditions, while the wide publicity given them 
 checks and limits the evils of false reports sent out by persons in- 
 terested in forcing the prices of products to figures not justified by 
 actual conditions. 
 
 The more certainty there is as to the supply of and demand for 
 a crop the less hazard or speculation there is in the business of dis- 
 tributing the crop, to the benefit, in the long run, of both producer 
 and consumer. 
 
 Large manufacturing firms and agricultural implement or hard- 
 ware companies, who neither buy nor sell farm products, are much 
 interested in the prospects and conditions of crops. This knowledge 
 enables them to distribute their wares more economically by sending 
 large consignments to sections where crops are good and farmers 
 have the power to buy, and less to sections of crop shortage where 
 [Cir. 17] 
 
there is obviously Less demand. Few fanners realize how much is 
 saved by the even distribution of ware- which they buy from a knowl- 
 edge of crop prospects. By this saving, fanner- in the long run are 
 benefited. 
 
 It is important to railroad companies to know the probable size of 
 crops in the country in order to provide sufficient car-. The more; 
 nearly they can learn the size of the crop- the belter able are they to 
 move them economically and promptly. Here, again, in the long run, 
 fanner- are indirectly benefited by the cheaper distribution of the 
 crop, due to better information of crop condition-. 
 
 Under modern trade regulations and conditions, prompt and re- 
 liable information regarding agricultural area.-, prospects, and yields 
 is also an important factor in the proper conduct of commercial, 
 industrial, and transportation enterprises. The earlier the informa- 
 tion regarding the probable production of the great agricultural 
 commodities can be made public, the more safely can the busine 
 the country be managed from year to year. 
 
 Retail dealers in all lines of goods, whether in city or country, 
 order from wholesale merchants, jobbers, or manufacturers the goods 
 they expect to sell many weeks, frequently months, before actual 
 purchase and shipment. Jobbers follow the same course, and manu- 
 facturers produce the goods and wares handled by merchant- of 
 every class far ahead of their actual distribution and consumption. 
 
 For example, retail shoe dealers place their orders in summer for 
 shoes to be sold during the fall, winter, or following spring months. 
 Wholesale shoe dealers and jobbers, similarly, order from manu- 
 facturers the particular qualities and styles of shoes indicated by 
 the orders of the retail dealers in such quantities as the orders show 
 to be necessary. The manufacturers, constantly receiving these 
 orders, adjust, a- closely as they can. their purchases of material. 
 employment of operatives, and quantity of output so as to enable 
 them to supply the quantity of shoes which have been or are likely 
 to be ordered, their aim being, on the one hand, to meet fully and 
 promptly the requirements of trade (in other word-, the demand of 
 the purchasing public) and. on the other hand, to avoid such over- 
 production as will result in a large surplus unsalable except at a loss. 
 
 The same ideas and rules prevail throughout every branch of 
 trade, commerce, and transportation, the shoe business being simply 
 an example of other lines of business in the matter of ,w doing things 
 in advance." 
 
 Xow, it is universally conceded that farming — agriculture — is the 
 basic industry upon which all other industries greatly depend. The 
 measure of the country ? s crops is to a large extent the measure of 
 the country's prosperity, and the purchasing power of the people is 
 
 [Cir. 17] 
 
10 
 
 increased or diminished as the crops are bountiful or meager. There- 
 fore the commercial interests of the country are vitally affected by 
 the quantity and quality of the crops; and it becomes a matter of 
 vast importance to them to know " in advance " what the crop pros- 
 pects are during the growing season and what the output is at harvest. 
 
 With such information carefully and scientifically gathered and 
 compiled, and honestly disseminated, so that it can be depended upon 
 as being as reliable as any forecast or estimate can possibly be, and 
 relied upon as emanating from an impartial and disinterested source, 
 the merchants and manufacturers of the country can certainly act 
 with a degree of prudence and intelligence not possible were the in- 
 formation lacking. 
 
 If reports show, during the growing season, that the condition of 
 wheat is such as to indicate a full crop on a large area, the mer- 
 chants of the wheat-producing sections of the country know that they 
 can give liberal orders for goods to be handled by them several weeks 
 or months later; the manufacturers, located far from the wheat 
 fields, know where there will be a large demand for such of their 
 products as are used by all dependent upon the wheat industry; the 
 railroad companies know they will have heavy freights to transport ; 
 and so the advance knowledge regarding the probable future out- 
 come of the crop serves as a guide to every branch of commerce and 
 trade connected with the wheat-growing areas of the country. The 
 same is true as to the other crops — corn, cotton, oats, rye, tobacco, etc. 
 
 If. on the other hand, the condition of growing crops is unfavor- 
 able, reliable information to that effect is equally, in fact more, im- 
 portant to trade and commerce than when the promise is good. For, 
 when conditions are unfavorable, the merchants, manufacturers, and 
 transporters must move with a degree of caution not necessary when 
 the prospects are highly encouraging. 
 
 It was to remedy the evils and to subserve and protect the interests 
 of all, as above noted, that Congress provided for issuing monthly 
 crop reports, and the crop-reporting service of the Department of Ag- 
 riculture aims to supply the public at large with impartial, unbiased 
 information regarding crop areas, conditions, and yields which, it must 
 be apparent, is highly essential and beneficial not only to farmers, but 
 also, equally, to our commercial interests of every kind and class. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE CROP-REPORTING SERVICE. 
 
 The first enactment authorizing the collection of agricultural sta- 
 tistics by the Department of Agriculture was the act, passed May 15, 
 18G2, establishing the Department, " the general design and duties 
 of which shall be to acquire and to diffuse among the people of 
 ilic [Jnited States information on subjects connected with agricul- 
 
 [Cir. 17] 
 
11 
 
 tare, in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word." 
 The Commissioner was required by this ad to u procure and preserve 
 
 all information concerning agriculture winch he can obtain by means 
 of books, correspondence, and by practical and scientific experi- 
 ment-, accurate records of which experiment- shall be kept in his 
 office, by the collection of statistics, and by any other appropriate 
 means within his power." 
 
 The first appropriation for collecting agricultural statistic- by the 
 Department was provided for by the act of February ii">. 1863, which 
 wafl made in bulk for the work of the Department, amounting in all 
 0,000. The then Commissioner of Agriculture allotted a part of 
 this amount for collecting agricultural statistics, and appointed a 
 statistician for that purpose. For the fiscal year ended June o<), 
 . the first distinct and separate provision was made for collecting 
 agricultural statistics for information and reports, and the amount 
 of s-jn.nno was appropriated. 
 
 from an allotment of a few thousand dollars each year at first the 
 crop-reporting service has been evolved, perfected, and enlarged into 
 the Bureau of Statistics of this Department. 
 
 The appropriation act for the Department of Agriculture for the 
 fiscal year ended June 30, li>0s. carried appropriations of about 
 s-j-j( i.OOO for the Bureau of Statistics, and for the current year the 
 appropriation has been increased to about s-_!±_!.00<). As the ap- 
 propriations for the statistical and crop-reporting service have been 
 gradually increased during the past several year-, the field service 
 and organization of the Bureau have been correspondingly enlarged. 
 
 METHODS OF CROP REPORTING. 
 
 The Bureau of Statistics issues each month detailed reports re- 
 lating to agricultural conditions throughout the United States, the 
 data upon which they are based being obtained through a special 
 field service, a corps of State statistical agents, and a Large body of 
 voluntary correspondents composed of the following classes: County 
 correspondents, township correspondents, individual farmers, and 
 special cotton correspondents. 
 
 The special held service consists of seventeen traveling np-ent^. each 
 assigned to report for a separate group of States. These agents are 
 especially qualified by statistical training and practical knowledge 
 of crops. They systematically travel over the district assigned to 
 them, carefully note the development of each crop, keep in touch 
 with best informed opinion, and render written and telegraphic 
 reports monthly and at such other times as required. 
 
 There are forty-five State statistical agents, each located in a dif- 
 ferent State. Each reports for his State as a whole, and maintains 
 [Cir. 17] 
 
12 
 
 a corps of correspondents entirely independent of those reporting 
 directly to the Department at Washington. These State statistical 
 correspondents report each month directly to the State agent on 
 schedules furnished him. The reports are then tabulated and 
 weighted according to the relative product or area of the given crop in 
 each county represented, and are summarized by the State agent, who 
 coordinates and analyzes them in the light of his personal knowledge 
 of conditions, and from them prepares his reports to the Department. 
 
 There are approximately 2,800 counties of agricultural importance 
 in the United States. In each the Department has a principal county 
 correspondent who maintains an organization of several assistants. 
 These county correspondents are selected with special reference to 
 their qualifications and constitute an efficient branch of the crop- 
 reporting service. They make the county the geographical unit of 
 their reports, and, after obtaining data each month from their assist- 
 ants and supplementing these with information obtained from their 
 own observation and knowledge, report directly to the Department 
 at Washington. 
 
 In the townships and voting precincts of the United States in 
 which farming operations are extensively carried on the Department 
 has township correspondents who make the township or precinct the 
 geographical basis of reports, which they also send directly to the 
 Department each month. 
 
 Finally, at the end of the growing season a large number of indi- 
 vidual farmers and planters report on the results of their own indi- 
 vidual farming operations during the year; valuable data are also 
 secured from 30,000 mills and elevators. 
 
 With regard to cotton, all the information from the foregoing- 
 sources is supplemented by that furnished by special cotton corre- 
 spondents, embracing a large number of persons intimately concerned 
 in the cotton industry; and, in addition, inquiries in relation to 
 acreage and yield per acre of cotton are addressed to the Bureau of the 
 Census's list of cotton ginners through the courtesy of that Bureau. 
 
 SCOPE OF CROP REPORTS. 
 
 Beginning with the planting, data are gathered and reports made 
 as to the condition and acreage of each of the principal agricultural 
 products, such as corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, potatoes, hay, cotton, 
 tobacco, rice, etc. As the crops progress the prospects are reflected 
 in monthly condition reports upon each growing crop; such reports 
 being expressed in percentages, 100 representing a normal condition. 
 A normal condition of 100 would be the condition of the plant where 
 il gives promise of such a crop as might be expected if the plant were 
 not subjected to damaging influences, but grew bountifully and under 
 [Or. 17 J 
 
13 
 
 favorable condition-, including favorable weather, freedom from 
 damaging insects, etc A "normal crop" is not a crop which might 
 be raised by exceptional skill or by an exceptional farmer, but such 
 ;i crop that, planted and cultivated, will be produced if not subj< 
 to damaging influences. Ai harvest time the yield- per acre are 
 certained, which, being multiplied by the acreage figures already 
 ascertained, give the production or quantitative figures i'<>r the year. 
 
 Eleven monthly reports on the principal crops are received yearly 
 
 from each of the special field agents, county correspondents, State 
 
 statistical agents, and township correspondent-, and one report relat- 
 
 to the acreage and production of general crops annually from 
 
 individual farmer.-. 
 
 Six special cotton reports arc received during the growing season 
 from the special field agents, from the county correspondents, from 
 the State statistical agents, and from township correspondents, and 
 the first and last of these reports are supplemented by returns from 
 individual farmer-, special correspondents, and cotton ginners. 
 
 The general reports for January and February are combined on one 
 schedule and relate to the number and value of farm animals. 
 
 The general report for March relates to the stock of grain in farm- 
 ers' hands, the distribution and consumption of corn, wheat, and oat-. 
 and the average natural weight per bushel of the wheat and oat- crop 
 of the previous year. 
 
 Reports on the condition of the crops each year begin with the 
 April report, when the condition of winter wheat and rye, prevailing 
 diseases of farm animals, and losses from disease and exposure are 
 dealt with. 
 
 The report for May comes at a time when few of the crops are 
 sufficiently advanced for their condition to be reported upon; conse- 
 quently the inquiries relative to condition apply only to winter wheat, 
 rye. meadow lands, and spring pasture. This schedule also deals 
 with the portion, if any. of the original acreage sown to winter wheat 
 that for any reason has been or will be abandoned, and contain- in- 
 quiries with regard to farm labor and tenants. 
 
 The schedule for June deals with the acreage of six crops, the most 
 important of which is spring wheat. It also covers the condition of 
 wheat, oat.-, barley, rye. clover, spring pastures, apples, peaches, and 
 rice. 
 
 The July schedule deals with the acreage of corn, potatoes, tobacco, 
 and sugar cane; the stocks of wheat in farmers' hands: the average 
 condition of all the principal crops, fruits, and spring pasture.-, and 
 the average weight of wool per fleece. 
 
 The August schedule deals with the average yield of winter wheat 
 per acre, acreage of buckwheat and hay, the condition of the prin- 
 [Cir. IT] 
 
14 
 
 cipal crops, the quality of clover hay, and the stocks of oats in 
 farmers* hands. 
 
 The September schedule deals with the condition, when harvested, 
 of wheat, oats, barley, and rye: the acreage of clover seed; the pro- 
 duction of peaches, and the number and condition of stock hogs on 
 hand for fattening. 
 
 The October schedule deals with the average yield per acre and the 
 quality of spring wheat, barley, oats, rye, and hops, and the condi- 
 tion of corn, potatoes, sugar cane, tobacco, rice, and apples. 
 
 The November schedule deals with the average yield per acre of 
 corn, buckwheat, potatoes, hay, tobacco, and rice. 
 
 The December schedule deals with the production and farm prices 
 of all the principal crops, the acreage of winter wheat and rye sown 
 for the crop of the following year, and with the condition of winter 
 wheat and rye. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing the reports during the past two years 
 have been extended to include condition figures of many small fruits, 
 vegetables, and minor products. Information in regard to such 
 products has been urgently requested, and as a basis for comparison 
 has now been satisfactorily established the reports are received with 
 interest and favorable comment. 
 
 TRANSMISSION OF REPORTS TO BUREAU BY CORRESPONDENTS. 
 
 Previous to the preparation and issuance of the Bureau's reports 
 each month, the correspondents of the several classes send their reports 
 separately and independently to the Department at Washington. 
 
 In order to prevent any possible access to reports which relate to 
 speculative crops, and to render it absolutely impossible for prema- 
 ture information to be derived from them, all of the reports from the 
 State statistical agents, as well as those of the special field agents, 
 are sent to the Secretary of Agriculture in specially prepared en- 
 velopes addressed in red ink with the letter "A" plainly marked on 
 them. By an arrangement with the postal authorities these envel- 
 opes are delivered to the Secretaiy of Agriculture in sealed mail 
 pouches. These pouches are opened only by the Secretary or Assist- 
 ant Secretary, and the reports, with seals unbroken, are immediately 
 placed in the safe in the Secretary^ office, where they remain sealed 
 until the morning of the day on which the Bureau report is issued, 
 when they are delivered to the Statistician by the Secretary or the 
 Assistant Secretary. The combination for opening the safe in which 
 such documents are kept is known only to the Secretary and the 
 Assistanl Secretary of Agriculture. Reports from special field agents 
 and State statistical agents residing at points more than 500 miles 
 from Washington are sent by telegraph, in cipher. Those in regard 
 to speculative crops are addressed to the Secretary of Agriculture. 
 
 [Cir. 17] 
 
L5 
 
 Reports from the State statistical agents and special field service 
 in relation to Qonspeculative crops are sent in similar envelopes 
 marked "B" to the Bureau of Statistics and are kept securely in 
 a safe until the data are required In* the Statistician in computing 
 estimates regarding the crops to which they relate. The reports 
 from the county correspondents, township correspondents, and other 
 voluntary agents are sent to the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics 
 by mail in sealed envelopes. 
 
 PREPARATION OF REPORTS. 
 
 The reports from the different classes of individual correspondent- 
 received by the Department are tabulated and compiled and the figure 
 for each separate State arrived at. After the reports from the 
 different counties are tabulated a true weighted figure for the State 
 is secured by taking into consideration the relative value which the 
 total acreage or production of each county in the State bear- to the- 
 total acreage or production of the State. The weighted figure show- 
 ing the value of the county is applied to the acreage, }-ield per acre, 
 or condition, whichever it might be, and from the totals of the weights 
 and the extensions a weighted average for the State is ascertained. 
 
 The work of making the final crop estimates each month culminates 
 at sessions of the Crop-Reporting Board, composed of five members, 
 presided over by the Statistician and Chief of Bureau as chairman, 
 whose services are brought into requisition each crop-reporting day 
 from among the statisticians and officials of the Bureau, and special 
 field and State statistical agents who are called to Washington for 
 the purpose. 
 
 The personnel of the Board is changed each month. The meeting- 
 are held in the office of the Statistician, which is kept locked during 
 sessions, no one being allowed to enter or leave the room or the 
 Bureau, and all telephones being disconnected. 
 
 When the Board has assembled, reports and telegrams regarding 
 speculative crops from State and field agents, which have been placed 
 unopened in a safe in the office of the Secretary of Agriculture, are 
 delivered by the Secretary, opened, and tabulated; and the figures, by 
 States, from the several classes of correspondents and agent- relating 
 to all crops dealt with are tabulated in convenient parallel columns; 
 the Board is thus provided with several separate estimates covering 
 each State and each separate crop, made independently by the re- 
 spective classes of correspondents and agents of the Bureau, each 
 reporting for a territory or geographical unit with which he is 
 thoroughly familiar. 
 
 Abstracts of the weather condition reports in relation to the dif- 
 ferent crops, by States, are also prepared from the weekly bulletins 
 
 [Cir. 17] 
 
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 
 
 16 
 
 3 1262 09216 8870 
 
 of the Weather Bureau. With all these data before the Board, each 
 individual member computes independently, on a separate sheet or 
 final computation slip, his own estimate of the acreage, condition, 
 or yield of each crop, or of the number, condition, etc., of farm ani- 
 mals for each State separately. These results are then compared and 
 discussed by the Board under the supervision of the chairman, and 
 the final figures for each State are decided upon. 
 
 The estimates by States as finally determined by the board are 
 weighted by the acreage figures for the respective States, the result 
 for the United States being a true weighted average for each subject. 
 Thus, the figures for the United States are not straight averages, 
 which would be secured by dividing the sum of the State averages by 
 the number of States; but each State is given its due weight in pro- 
 portion to its productive area for each crop. 
 
 METHOD OF ISSUING REPORTS. 
 
 Reports in relation to cotton, after being prepared by the Crop- 
 Eeporting Board, and personally approved by the Secretary of Agri- 
 culture, are issued on the first or second day of each month during 
 the growing season, and reports relating to the principal farm crops 
 and live stock on the seventh or eighth day of each month. In order 
 that the information contained in these reports may be made avail- 
 able simultaneously throughout the entire United States, they are 
 handed, at an announced hour on report days, to all applicants and 
 to the Western Union Telegraph Company and the Postal Telegraph 
 Cable Company, who have branch offices in the Department of Agri- 
 culture, for transmission to the Exchanges and to the press. These 
 companies have reserved their lines at the designated time, and for- 
 ward immediately the figures of most interest. A mimeograph or 
 multigraph statement, also containing such estimates of condition or 
 actual . production, together with the corresponding estimates of 
 former years for comparative purposes, is prepared and sent imme- 
 diately to Exchanges, newspaper publications, and individuals. The 
 same day printed cards containing the essential facts concerning the 
 mosi important crops of the report are mailed to the 77,000 post- 
 offices throughout the United States for public display, thus placing 
 most valuable information within the farmer's immediate reach. 
 
 Promptly after the issuing of the report, it, together with other 
 statistical information of value to the farmer and the country at 
 large, is published in the Crop Reporter, an eight-page publication 
 of the Bureau of Statistics, under the authority of the Secretary of 
 Agriculture. An edition of over 1_>0,000 copies is distributed to the 
 correspondents and other interested parties throughout the United 
 States each month. 
 [Cir. 17]