BUKEAU OF AGRICULTUEAL ECONOMICS. 143 



growers of the Shenandoah Vallej'', the peach growers of New Jersey, 

 the corn growers of Illinois, the wheat growers of Kansas, and the 

 cotton growers of South Carolina, determining and pointing out the 

 important causes for the present wide variation in costs, and showing, 

 as a result of cost analysis, what combinations of the factors of pro- 

 duction give the best results. 



STATES LEND AID IN COST STUDIES. 



Every State, in which cost work is carried on, is cooperating finan- 

 cially in so far as their State funds will permit. This indicates in a 

 measure the importance placed upon these studies by institutions that 

 are continuously looked to for sound advice. During the past year 

 numerous requests have come from these State institutions that the 

 cost work with their State be enlarged to cover types of farming not 

 yet studied. The material gathered cooperatively by this division 

 through farm records and accounts furnishes the background for 

 university instruction in farm organization and management and in 

 agricultural economics. 



DIVISION OF CROP AND LIVESTOCK ESTIMATES. 



W. F. Callander, ijt C7iar.7e. 



Crop Reporting Board, W. A. Schoenfeld, Assistant Chief of Bureau, Chairman ; 

 Research in Statistical Methods, J. A. Becker; Field Service, C. E. Gage; 

 Tabulating and Computing Section, F. J. Blair. 



INTENTIONS-TO-PLANT REPORTS BEGUN. 



A new nation-wide inquiry was first made in April of this year 

 covering all important crops to ascertain the acreage that farmers 

 intended to plant to various crops, and from the thousands of reports 

 received a statement was published which attracted a great deal of 

 attention. In some quarters it was felt that the report was too late to 

 permit farmers to change their plans with respect to crops of which 

 the acreage gave indication of being too high or too low. This will 

 be corrected another year. A second special inquiry was made as 

 of August 1 to learn the intentions with respect to the planting of 

 winter wheat and rye for the fall of 1923. This report was published 

 August 15. It has been decided to incorporate intentions to plant 

 reports into the regular system of crop reports, one to be issued in 

 March covering s]3ring-planted crops and one in August covering 

 fall-sown crops. 



A NEW SERVICE IN LIVESTOCK REPORTING. 



With the material increase in the funds which was made available 

 for the work of the division at the beginning of the last fiscal year, 

 it has been possible to expand the scope of the work of the division 

 so far as it relates to livestock. In developing plans to take care of 

 the new livestock reports it was decided to handle the reports of 

 swine direct from the Washington office, utilizing the rural carriers, 

 and to depend entirely upon the field servi^d for information con- 

 cerning cattle and sheep. 



