REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 129 



sale of the publications of the Department of Agriculture during 

 the last six years shows how increasingly interested the people have 

 become in the department's work, for in 1906 only 47,745 copies of 

 our publications, costing the receivers $5,388.28, were sold, while in 

 1911 the same official disposed of 183,577 copies, at a cost to the 

 purchasers of $18,657.17. Under the operations of the law the 

 Superintendent of Documents is permitted to reprint and sell pub- 

 lications as long as there is a demand for them, paying for the re- 

 printing out of the receipts from previous sales. During the year 

 he reprinted 633 publications of the department, the editions aggre- 

 gating 170,325 copies. Thus only 13,252 of the number sold by the 

 Superintendent of Documents were furnished by the department. 



In previous years the records of the Office of Superintendent of 

 Documents indicated that the purchases were generally from among 

 the scientific and technical publications of the department, but current 

 records show that while there has been a healthy increase in the 

 number of scientific and technical department bulletins distributed 

 through his office the great increase shown by his report was in the 

 more popular and smaller publications, which give in a practical 

 way the results of the scientific investigations. This proves that the 

 rural population in greater numbers is seeking the aid of the depart- 

 ment and is willing to pay for the documents needed when the 

 department's supply will not permit of gratuitous distribution. 



PUBLICATIONS FOR RESTRICTED AREAS. 



The department's correspondence relating to its publications shows 

 an increasing demand for information relating to particular locali- 

 ties or sections of the country, which it is often difficult to supply in 

 printed form and which requires a disproportionate amount of labor 

 to present in an individual letter. 



During the last two years there has been an increasing demand for 

 information in regard to the agricultural possibilities of the different 

 States. Information of this kind can be found in the soil surveys; 

 but these, owing to the colored maps, are expensive, and, more- 

 over, are not available for general distribution, as the editions for 

 departmental use are limited to 1,000 copies. The appropriation for 

 Farmers' Bulletins provides for publications adapted to different 

 sections, and many of those more recently issued have been prepared 

 with a view to the needs of restricted areas. A Farmers' Bulletin 

 for each State, presented in popular style, is therefore contemplated. 



LARGER EDITIONS OF 100-PAGE PUBLICATIONS. 



Under the provisions of the printing bill now pending in Congress 

 it would be possible for the department to print as many as 2,500 

 copies of bulletins exceeding 100 octavo pages, which at present and 



2316.5"— AGE 1911 9 



