116 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



With a printing fund of $116,888, the different publications printed 

 in 1897 were 424, and the editions aggregated 6,541,210 copies; in 

 1912, with an appropriation of $470,000, the different publications 

 were 2,110, aggregating 34,678,557 copies. 



The work of the Division of Publications reflects, and must always 

 represent, the activity of the other offices of the department. All the 

 information acquired in the several bureaus by the means at their 

 command finds its expression necessarily in the form of publications 

 which pass through this office. Every enlargement of the scope of 

 the work covered by any other office, especially the adoption of 

 entirely new lines of work, involves an addition to the work of the 

 Division of Publications. 



The appropriations for the fiscal year 1897 disbursed by this 

 division for salaries, supplies, etc., amounted to $44,367, while the 

 appropriations for the fiscal year 1912, available for the same pur- 

 pose, were $209,960, an increase of nearly 375 per cent. 



In 1897 the number of emploj-ees in the division was 61, and in 

 1912 the number aggregated 197, an increase of nearly 225 per cent. 



NUMBER OF COPIES DISTRIBUTED. 



During the 16-year period over 225,000,000 copies of publications 

 have been distributed to those engaged or interested in farming. 

 Of this number slightly more than 88,000,000 copies were farmers' 

 bulletins. 



Although the series of farmers' bulletins was begim in 1889, only 

 about 5,000,000 copies had been issued by 1897, and those distributed 

 during that year amounted to less than 2,000,000 copies, while during 

 the year 1912 over 10,000,000 copies were distributed. Previous to 

 the period under discussion only 41 different farmers' bulletins had 

 been prepared, and at this date there are 506 separate pamphlets 

 discussing nearly every phase of modern farm operations. 



No other Government issues as many publications as does the 

 United States, and no executive department of this Government 

 issues as many publications as does the Department of Agriculture 

 in performing its function of acquiring and disseminating useful 

 information in regard to agriculture. But the rapid increase in the 

 population of the country and the great popularity acquired by the 

 documents of this department have so augmented the demand that 

 the department has not in recent years had an appropriation that 

 permitted the printing of a sufficient number of copies to meet the 

 demand. 



Congress, however, has provided a solution of the problem by 

 authorizing the superintendent of public documents to reprint and 

 sell at a nominal price such documents as may be required. The 

 enormous increase in the sales by that official of this department's 



