9^-^- Dei'aktmeat of Agcicultuee 



PLAN OF TAKING THE CENSUS 



On February 1, 19 IG, plans for taking the census were put 

 in operation. Blanks in cluj)licate to the number of 10,500 were 

 sent out to all teachers in the rural schools, one to be tilled in and 

 returned to the Department, the other to be retained for future 

 reference as a school record. A facsimile of. the blank is shown 

 on page 27 . 



At the same time the following detailed letter was sent out to 

 district superintendents of schools: 



State of Neav York 

 Department of Agriculture 



Albany, Fehruary 1, 1916. 

 To the District Superintendent of Schools: 



Dear Sir. — It is proposed to take a Farm Census of the 

 domestic animals, forage, grain and other farm products of the 

 state through the assistance of the public schools. The Education 

 Department has kindly consented to cooperate with this Depart- 

 ment in this work, and full instructions to the principals and 

 teachers are given in the University Bulletin for Feln-uary 1. 



The data to be obtained through this census are of great 

 importance to this department and to the state, and the work in 

 collecting the same by the pupils of the public schools will be of 

 considerable educational value to them. 



Many farmers dislike to make })ublic the details of their farm- 

 ing operations, fearing that such knowledge might affect the 

 assessed value of their property and increase their taxes. We wish 

 you would correct this impression as far as possible and would 

 suggest it can be done through the teachers. We are making an 

 effort through the ])ublic press to reach the farmers and assure 

 them that they will not in any way be injured by giving the 

 desired information. 



The blanks are now being mailed to the schools with return 

 postal cards to ])e signed by teachers, in order that a record may 

 be kept of each district. If for any reason it is found impossible 

 to secure the data, the teachers are requested to notify the district 

 superintendent at once, and in case he is unable to suggest to the 

 teacher a solution of the difficulty, he should immediately notify 

 this department, in which case a representative of the department 

 will be sent to the district to assist in the woik. 



