BUREAU OF STATISTICS. 649 



lowers them in seasons of scant production; whether the annual 

 carry-over influences the prices of the marketings of the production 

 of the following year. 



FRUITS AND NUTS. 



In the interest of the citrus fruit growers, this division entered into 

 a thorough examination of the surplus production of citrus fruits and 

 their products in foreign countries, and of the destination of the 

 exports. Upon the completion of this work, similar investigation 

 was directed to other fruits and to nuts — an undertaking that is 

 yet to be completed. Accessory to the foregoing was an inquiry 

 concerning the freight rates for the transportation of citrus fruits in 

 Europe. Connected with this undertaking is a compilation of the 

 exports and imports of fruit and nuts in the foreign trade of the 

 United States, with specification of countries to and from which 

 consigned. 



OTHER SUBJECTS OF INVESTIGATION. 



Other subjects of work have been pursued by this division when 

 time has permitted, and among these are a compilation of the prices 

 of farm products as far back in time as sources of information can 

 be found; the production, foreign trade, and consumption of farm 

 products from the earliest available date to the present; the revision 

 of the more important and permanent bulletins prepared in this 

 division and their extension to present time. The resources of this 

 division have been so largely employed during the year in official 

 services for providing information to Senators and Representatives 

 in Congress that other special investigations have been somewhat 

 delayed. 



WORK OF THE DIVISION OF RESEARCH AND REFERENCE. 



The division heretofore named the Editorial Division and Library 

 has, for formal reasons, been changed in designation to the Division 

 of Research and Reference. Its functions, however, have remained 

 practically the same, and consist of: (1) Reading and revising all 

 manuscript prepared in the bureau for printing; (2) compiling, 

 reducing to equivalents in United States units and coordinating, for 

 pubUcation in the Yearbook, the official statistics of foreign govern- 

 ments on the area and production of certain crops; (3) the preparation 

 of reports, for ])ublication in the Crop Reporter and in monthly cir- 

 culars, respecting agricultural conditions in foreign countries, special 

 attention being paid to the increase or decrease of areas under the 

 principal crops, tlieir condition of growth and healthfulncss at regular 

 intervals, yields when harvested, foreign trade, etc. ; (4) the assembling 

 of statistical and other data and the composition of text for bulletins 

 and circulars; (5) the compilation of statistics from records of the 

 Treasury Department relative to the domestic production of tobacco 

 and the consumption of hops by domestic brewers; (6) the prepara- 

 tion of answers to requests received by the bureau from other depart- 

 ments, other bureaus of the department, statesmen, economists, 

 statisticians, educators, commercial exchanges, and business men, 

 for statistics relating to agricultural, commercial, economic, and 

 other subjects; (7) translations from foreign languages for the use 



