386 ANNUAL P.EPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



fiscal year. Members of Congress distributed 10.096,722 copies, 

 which was the largest number of bulletins distributed by Congress 

 since 1918. As large as was the distribution of this class of publica- 

 tions, it Avould have been materiallj^ increased had more bulletins 

 been available. The number of Farmers' Bulletins actually distrib- 

 uted corresponds very closely with the number issued, 14,565,113, 

 and the balance on hand on July 1, 1922. of 6,324,572 is almost the 

 same as that carried over from the previous year. There were also 

 4,506,517 miscellaneous publications on hand on July 1. 1922, making 

 a total carry over to the fiscal j^ear 1923 of 10,831,089. 



The accrued credit of Farmers' Bulletins to Members of Congress 

 on July 1, 1922, was 22,419,501. Taking into account the bulletins 

 on hand, the deficit was reduced to 16,094,929. This deficit, as has 

 been explained in previous reports, is due to the method of distribu- 

 tion necessitated by the wording of the appropriation act. It is 

 believed that this wording should be changed so that the entire dis- 

 tribution of Farmers' Bulletins be made by the department, or, fail- 

 ing this, to provide that undistributed quotas shall revert to the de- 

 partment at the end of each fiscal year as formerl3^ 



The following table shows the distribution of the miscellaneous 

 publications of the different bureaus : 



Office of the Secretary 90, 883 



Insecticide and Fungicide Board 37, 146 



Federal Horticultural Board 114, 488 



Division of Accounts and Disbursements 525 



I'arni Management 88, 318 



Weather Bureau 850 



Office of the Solicitor 4, 402 



Bureau of Animal Industry 1,142.414 



Biological Survey 97, 322 



Bureau of Chemistry 2G3, 513 



Bureau of Entomology 201,093 



States Relations Service 614. 511 



Forest Service—- 278. 220 



Library 405 



Bureau of Plant Industry 472, 145 



Division of Publications 12.243,498 



Bureau of Public lioads 56,340 



Bureau of Soils 19,310 



Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates 5, 036, 325 



Total 20, 761, 708 



Further efforts were made during the year to simplify the handling 

 of the great volume of correspondence received by the distribution 

 section. Form letters were perfected which cut this work down to a 

 minimum* although it was necessary to employ temporary help dur- 

 ing the rush period, when as many as 4,500 requests per day were 

 received. 



Some idea of the amount of work involved in the distribution sec- 

 tion can be gained from the total number of publications distributed 

 and from the fact that 643,369 communications were received and 

 handled during the fiscal year. Without question the distribution 

 work is one of the important methods of contact between the public 

 and the department. The importance of the work, however, is not 

 generally recognized. There has been too much of a tendency to con- 



