194 ANNUAL IJKl'OHTS OF DEPAirriMENT OF ACRICULTURE. 



computed or actual production, together with the estimates of former 

 years, is prepared and sent immediately to exchanges, newspapers, 

 and individuals. 



Shortly after the issuance of the report it is published in the Crop 

 Reporter, an eight-page publication of the Bureau of Statistics under 

 the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture. 



LISTS OF CORRESPONDENTS. 



Besides adding the highly important field service to the crop- 

 reporting system, the Bureau of Statistics has built up 15 separate 

 special lists of correspondents, none of which existed 16 years ago, 

 who are called upon from time to time for information regarding 

 various crops, farm animals, and many subjects relating to agri- 

 culture. 



One of the prominent lists is composed of about 50,000 farmers 

 who are depended upon for various special reports. There is another 

 list of special correspondents on whom dependence is placed for 

 price reports, another for veterinary reports, another for reports 

 relating to live stock on the farm ; still another list of correspondents 

 has the specialty of reporting on live stock at market centers. There 

 is a large list of correspondents in mills and elevators. A special 

 list of correspondents is used to collect certain information for each 

 of the crops of tobacco, potatoes, cranberries, broom corn, hops, pea- 

 nuts, beans, and apples. 



If the number of correspondents in these special lists is added to 

 the number of the regular crop correspondents, the total is about 

 135,000. 



VARIOUS SPECIAL REPORTS. 



In addition to the regular monthl}^ crop reports, information has 

 been collected and published each month during recent years regard- 

 ing prices paid to farmers for their leading products, and many 

 special inquiries have been made and their results published, a few of 

 which may be mentioned : Stocks of potatoes in the hands of growers 

 and dealers at specified dates; monthly marketings by farmers of 

 certain leading products; wages of farm labor; values of land and 

 average size of fields upon which corn and wheat are grown; the 

 cost of producing corn, wheat, and oats ; causes of damage to leading 

 crops and the relative extent of each cause. The list could be much 

 extended. Results of some of the special investigations are published 

 in bulletins or circulars as well as in the Crop Reporter. 



THE CROP REPORTER. 



The Crop Reporter was first published in May, 1899. It has been 

 published monthly since that date and has doubled in size — from 4 

 to 8 pages. Besides being the medium of the publication of the 



