16 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



branch of the department's ■work, in order that it may be in position- 

 to render efTective service to prochiccrs, farm or<]^anizations, and 

 others. Since ^lay, 1918, an as^ricultiiral trade commissioner has 

 been stationed in the United Kingdom to study the markets for agri- 

 cultural products in Europe and to make timely reports for the in- 

 formation of American producers and exporters. The work of this 

 commissioner has conclusively demonstrated the desirability of sta- 

 tioning additional commissioners at strategic points in the various 

 markets of the world. Plans already have been developed for the 

 establishment of an office in Buenos Aires to aid in promoting our 

 trade Avith South America in pure-bred live stock. 



The establishment of a world market-reporting service will not 

 interfere in any way with the activities of the International Insti- 

 tute of Agriculture at Rome, but, on the contrary, will effectively 

 supplement them. The reports issued by the institute are based 

 largely on the official estimates of the various adhering Governments, 

 but many of them are incomplete or are received too late to be of 

 immediate practical service to producers and others in this country. 

 They are, nevertheless, highly useful for historical and comparative 

 purposes. The work of the institute was greatl}^ interfered with 

 during the war, but, following the meeting of the general assembly 

 in Rome on November 3, it is anticipated that it will resume active 

 operations. After the death of Mr. David Lubin, the delegate of 

 the United States, this country was without representation at the 

 institute for nearly two j^ears. This was due to the fact that the 

 amount allowed for salary and expenses, $3,600 per annum, made it 

 impossible to secure a man with the right soit of training and expe- 

 rience who would be willing to undertake the work permanently. At 

 the suggestion of this department, the Secretary of State has recom- 

 mended that the salary of the delegate be increased to $7,500 per 

 annum, and that provision be made for the paj^ment of his traveling 

 and miscellaneous expenses and for the employmf nt of a secretary. 



COMBINE MARKETING AND CROP-ESTIMATING W^ORK. 



I have recommended in the estimates to the Congress that author- 

 ity be given to consolidate the Bureau of Crop Estimates and the 

 Bureau of Markets. I have been influenced to take this course by a 

 .number of important considerations. The first is that each of the 

 bureaus, in accomplishing the important work with which it is 

 charged, needs the additional strength that could be brought to it by 

 some portion of the machinery of the other. In the second place, the 

 legal duties of the two overlap in some directions, and there is a 

 natural and inevitable tendency for each bureau to duplicate a por- 

 tion of the other's work. This tendency would be eliminated by the 

 proposed consolidation, and confusion in the public mind as to the 



