190 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



miles apart from Cape Henry to Hatteras, have rendered prompt 

 and valuable assistance in this work. 



The Block Island line has worked excellently during the entire 

 year and has been maintained with slight expense. 



The arrangements with the different commercial telegraph com- 

 panies for handling the daily weather reports throughout the world 

 have been very satisfactory. The average time of transmission to 

 the central office from all points is about one hour. 



The work of auditing the telegraj^h and telephone accounts of the 

 Bui'onu is well up to date. The government receipts from all lines 

 for commercial messages handled during the year were $1,710.G6. 



The requests for additional weather reports by telegraph from the 

 various observing stations were unusually numerous, exceeding those 

 for any single year in the previous history of the Bureau. While pub- 

 lic requirements in this respect have been met as far as possible by a 

 reorganization of the Bureau's system of "circuit" reports, the de- 

 mands were more than could be satisfied with the present fund avail- 

 able for telegraphic expenses. 



PUBLICATIONS DIVISION. 



The Publications Division has continued to print and to supply to 

 stations the necessary blank forms, maps, and cards, and has con- 

 tinued the issue of the regular publications of the Bureau, such as the 

 daily weather map, the Montlil}^ Weather Review, the Bulletin of 

 the Mount Weather Observatory (quarterly), the National Weather 

 Bulletin (weekly and monthly), and the Snow and Ice Bulletin 

 (during the winter season). As heretofore, the Government Print- 

 ing Office has done all the binding required b}'^ the Bureau, and has 

 also printed a few reports that could be more economically handled 

 there. 



The material change that was made in the character of the Monthly 

 Weather Eeview during the year added so largely to its mechanical 

 work that it became necessary to install a larger folding machine 

 and an equipment of type-setting machiner}'. This permits a more 

 rapid output of the printing office and has improved the t3'pograph- 

 ical appearance of the work. 



DIVISION OF SUPPLIES. 



In conformity with an executive order effective July 1, 1909, all 

 supplies for the Bureau not covered by special department contracts 

 for articles of a technical nature were purchased, so far as listed, 

 under the contracts prepared by the general supply committee. As 

 this inaugurated a system of unifying and standardizing the miscel- 

 laneous supplies used in common by all of the Executive Departments, 

 and involved the setting aside of individual preferences, some fric- 

 tion developed during the first year of its practical application, 

 though in this Bureau to a less degree than might reasonably have 

 been expected. In some instances out-of-town contractors declined to 

 fill small orders; in others the articles under contract were inferior in 

 quality or unsuitable to the purpose for which they were desired; 

 and as no samples were furnished by the committee, it was impossi- 

 ble to determine whether or not such articles were up to their ac- 

 cepted samples. List prices with three or four discounts were also a 



