REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF CROP 



ESTIMATES. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



Bureau of Crop Estimates, 



Washington, D. C, October 1, 1915. 



Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith the report of the Bureau 

 of Crop Estimates for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915. 

 Respectfully, 



Leon M. Estabrook, 



CTiief of Bureau. 

 Hon. D. F. Houston, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The title "Bureau of Crop Estimates" was assumed on July 1, 

 1914, in Meu of the former title ''Bureau of Statistics," as provided 

 in the act making appropriations for the fiscal year ended June 30, 

 1915.. Various changes in the organization of the bureau were 

 effected as outlined m the Annual Report of the Bureau for the 

 fiscal year ended June 30, 1914. 



In heu of the former system of having a special field agent for a 

 group of two or more States, whose territory was too large to be 

 covered effectively, and a State statistical agent in each State, who 

 was not selected because of special fitness for the work and who 

 devoted only a portion of his time thereto, a trained field agent has 

 been assigned to each State, except the following: 



The field agent for Massachusetts reports also for Vermont, New 

 Hanrpshire, and Maine; the field agent for New York reports also 

 for Connecticut and Rhode Island; the field agent for Pennsylvania 

 reports also for New Jersey; the field agent for Maryland reports for 

 Delaware; the field agent for Utah reports for Nevada, and the field 

 agent for New Mexico reports also for Arizona. The total number 

 of field agents is therefore 39, each of whom has a corps of volunteer 

 State aids who report to him monthly, the number in each State 

 varying from 250 in some of the smaller States to more than 1,000 in 

 the larger States. With few exceptions the field agents are legal 

 residents of the States to which they are assigned and are men of 

 mature judgment, practical experience in farming, and trained in 

 methods of estimating crop and live-stock production. They are 

 required to travel throughout their States several weeks each month 

 dm-ing the crop season and to collect crop and live-stock data from 

 every available source. 



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