32 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



able farmers to determine whether their plans should be modified. 

 Estimates of surpluses or deficiencies in the supplies of seed, ferti- 

 lizers, and farm help tend to equalize both distribution and prices 

 and to insure adequate farm production. Estimates of acreage, 

 yield per acre, and production of each principal variety of a given 

 crop, in addition to total production of the entire crop, will show the 

 relative adaptability and productivity of varieties, and therefore will 

 be of assistance not only to farmers, but also to seedsmen and to 

 crop specialists and plant breeders of the State experiment sta- 

 tions and of the Federal Department of Agriculture. Those of crop 

 damage by counties from insect pests and plant diseases will enable 

 the entomologists and plant pathologists to work more intelligently 

 in developing and applying remedies. Those of marketable surpluses 

 on farms, or the portion of the crop sold from the farm and en- 

 tering the channels of trade, will facilitate the satisfactory market- 

 ing and distribution of surplus production. Such estimates have been 

 made for apples, peaches, potatoes, and truck crops, and they were 

 promptly and effectively utilized by growers and marketing agen- 

 cies. 



Perhaps the most important feature of the enlarged program is 

 that relating to live stock, which represents not only a farm invest- 

 ment of more than $10,000,000,000 but also constitutes the meat sup- 

 ply of the Nation, a considerable portion of the export trade, a very 

 important factor of successful farm management and economy, and 

 60 per cent of all farm sales. Yet for this important industry the 

 bureau, with its inadequate facilities, has been able to estimate, once 

 a year, only the gross number of animals on farms, the number of 

 brood sows, and the total losses from disease and exposure. No at- 

 tempt has been made in the past to estimate dairy and poultry pro- 

 duction between censuses, the annual value of which amounts to ap- 

 proximately $3,000,000,000. The great losses occurring yearly from 

 drought and feed shortage in portions of the Great Plains and in 

 limited areas of other sections might, to a considerable extent, be re- 

 duced by having definite and detailed information regarding the 

 feed situation. 



The expenditure of money for the execution of this program will 

 clearly be an investment, which should be made Avithout delay in 

 order that agricultural and business interests may have the benefit 

 of the improved service during the period of readjustment. It 



