250 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Indian Territory exceeded New Mexico 16 per cent., I am unable to sug- 

 gest, except the possibility of the loss of mails in transit, by fire, wreck- 

 ing, robbing of mail coaches, etc. 



A grouping of the geographical sections yields some interesting re- 

 sults : 



Middle States. 



j> 



Per cent. 



New.Tersey 77 



New York 70 



Pennsylvania , 67 



Delaware 66 



Average. 69 



The Southwest 



Per cent. 



Texas 78 



Missouri 72 



Arkansas 68 



Kentucky 65 



Tennessee 65 



Mississippi 64 



Alabama 63 



Louisiana 61 



Average |8 



The Southeast. 



Per cent 



Florida 79 



North Carolina 70 



Maryland 69 



West Virginia 69 



Georgia 65 



South Carolina 63 



Virginia 62 



Average... 67 



RECAPITULATION. 



New England 



Great Plain Region 



Pacific Coast 



The Northwest 



Middle States 



The Southwest..... 

 The Southeast 



Total 



%1 



. o 

 ■SSs 

 S 2 



s~ 

 o 



82 

 82 

 81 

 78 

 69 

 68 

 67 



For quantity, these results were entirely satisfactory. The quality 

 of the replies was of all grades. A ver3 r large per cent., however, bore 

 internal evidence of truthfulness. A wise discretion was needed in the 

 compilation, but with skilled compilers excellent results could bo pro- 

 duced. A discussion of methods of compilation, eliminating errors, etc., 

 would be interesting, but cannot be included in this paper. 



Let it not bo supposed tlat these excellent results can be obtained 

 only by government machinery. The official nature of this correspond- 



