134 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DKI'AHTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



tional copies, and that is by purcliase from the Superintendent of 

 Documents, under the law of January 12, 1895. Durin*; the year that 

 oflicial sold 147,327 documents of this Department and received there- 

 for S1S,39S.1S, the avera<j:e price per copy bein<z; 12^ cents, being an 

 increase of S2,005.08 over the sales durinp: the previous year. Within 

 five years the number of copies sold has increased over 205 per cent, 

 while the amount received has increased more than 240 per cent. It 

 is evident, therefore, that there is an increasing willingness on the part 

 of the people to purchase the publications after their free distribution 

 is no longer possible. A very good illustration is found in the sale of 

 47,148 copies of a Farmers' Bulletin on "Economical Use of Meat in 

 the Home" after 900,000 copies had been distributed free. 



farmers' bulletins. 



Farmers' Bulletins continue to be in great favor with the people. 

 The number of copies secured with the appropriation of $125,000 

 was 9,337,500, the average cost per copy being 1^ cents, as against 

 7,755,000 during the preceding year. The decision to reduce the size 

 has made it possible to procure more copies. Forty-five new Farmers' 

 Bulletins were issued during the year, of which 2,915,000 copies were 

 printed, while the reprints of older bulletins still in demand aggre- 

 gated 6,422,500 copies. The congressional distribution amounted to 

 6,449,589 copies. 



The demand for these bulletins from educational institutions is 

 increasing and is far in excess of the Department's ability to supply. 

 On account of the elementary character of the bulletins they are con- 

 sidered suitable for text-books in schools of all grades, and such use of 

 the information acquired by the Department should be encouraged. 

 The inevitable result would be a tendency to increase interest in agri- 

 culture m the minds of the young, which would influence them to 

 remain on the farm. With the present appropriation, however, it is 

 not possible to fully comply with requests received from this source. 

 It is a subject \A4th which Senators, Representatives, and Delegates in 

 Congress are familiar, and it will no doubt receive their serious con- 

 sideration in connection with the appropriation for printing for the 

 next fiscal year. 



SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS. 



Our scientists are constantly making new discoveries, wliich are 

 given to the world in carefully prepared bulletins, for the printing of 

 which $83,116.70 was expended, the number of copies of such publi- 

 cations aggregating 350,000. These bulletins were distributed to 

 selected lists of instructors and to libraries both in this country and 

 abroad, and constitute a permanent record of the achievements of the 

 Department in scientific research. Instructions for applying and 



