REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 133 



By the terms of General Order No. 138, dated January 15, 1910, 

 the Secretary of Agriculture placed the disbursing and accounting 

 work of the Forest Service under the immediate supervision and 

 direction of the Chief of the Division of Accounts and Disbursements, 

 who also received authority to make, subject to the approval of the 

 Secretary, such changes in the methods of accounting and disbursing 

 in the Forest Service as might be deemed necessary from time to 

 time. By the same order the fiscal agents of the Forest Service, 

 both in Washington and at the district centers in Missoula, Mont., 

 Denver, Colo., Albuquerque, N. Mex., Ogden, Utah, San Francisco, 

 Cal., Portland, Oreg., and Madison, Wis., were made subject to the 

 instructions of the Chief of the Division of Accounts in all matters 

 pertaining to accounts and disbursements. The Agricultural Appro- 

 priation Act of May 26, 1910 (36 Stat., 416), supplemented the Sec- 

 retary's action by transferring these fiscal agents from the Forest 

 Service to the statutory roll of the Division of Accounts and Dis- 

 bursements, thus completing the change which places the Forest 

 Service on an equal footing with the other Bureaus in regard to fiscal 

 matters and brings its accounting and disbursing work imder the 

 immediate supervision and direction of the Chief of the Division of 

 Accoimts and Disbursements, who is by statute the administrative 

 officer of the fiscal affairs of the Department of Agriculture. 



DIVISION OF PUBLICATIONS. 



The publication work of the Department exceeded that of any pre- 

 vious year, comprising 1,982 different bulletins, circulars, and reports, 

 of which 25,160,469 copies were printed for distribution to farmers 

 in every section of the United States. This was an increase of 46J 

 per cent in the number of publications issued, and 41 per cent in the 

 number of copies distributed, and this result was accomplished with- 

 out any increase in the appropriation or in the force engaged in the 

 execution of the work. 



The publications give the results of investigations by scientists of 

 the Department in their various lines of work. The popular bulle- 

 tins and circulars give in plain language detailed information in 

 regard to every phase of agriculture. The aim has been to meet the 

 popular demand for information on any particular subject bj^ pub- 

 lisliing a bulletin or circular, in other words, to give the people, 

 particularly the farmers, the information they desire and which they 

 have a right to expect from the Department, which was founded 

 and is supported for their benefit. Unfortunately the funds for 

 printing are not sufficient to procure enough publications to fully 

 supply the demand. Congress has, however, wisely provided a way 

 by which applicants may always obtain publications after the Depart- 

 ment's supply is exhausted and no funds are available to secure addi- 



