REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN. 289 



past year, the selection being made by Mr. W. T. Swingle on the 

 occasion of his visit to Japan in connection with his work for the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry. The most important item in the collec- 

 tion was a complete set of the Botanical Magazine of Tokyo, which, 

 as far as is known, is the only complete set owned in the United States. 

 The large number of Japanese agricultural experiment station reports 

 also acquired, combined with those received in the past year or two in 

 exchange for the Experiment Station Record and the Journal of 

 Agricultural Research, have very materially increased the library's 

 collections of the agricultural experimental work of foreign countries. 



With the growth of the department it is necessary to purchase an 

 increasing number of duplicates, especially dictionaries, atlases, and 

 directories. The amount spent for duplicates last year was $2,471.61, 

 as compared with $1,902.26 the previous year. 



In spite of the difficulty of obtaining exchanges from foreign 

 countries during the war, the total number of gifts and exchanges re- 

 ceived was only slightly less than the number received in the previous 

 year, due largely to the fact that an arrangement was made during 

 the past year whereby certain American and foreign periodicals and 

 lists noting material on subjects of interest to the department are now 

 regularly examined by members of the staff of the main library and 

 the branch libraries for material to be obtained by gift and exchange. 



PERIODICAL DIVISION. 



Lydia K. Wilkins, Chief. 



The total number of different periodicals (exclusive of annuals and 

 serials of infrequent issue) received currently during the year was 

 2,280, of which 834 were received by purchase and 1,446 by gift. 

 The number of new periodicals added during the year was 334, 

 whereas 391 of those on last year's list arc no longer received either 

 because they have ceased publication permanently or temporarily, 

 or because the subscriptions for them have been discontinued. There 

 was a net decrease for the year of 57. In order to facilitate the 

 circulation of some of the periodicals, it was necessary to purchase 

 164 duplicates, making the total number of periodicals purchased 

 998. Of the periodicals received by gift and exchange, over 571 

 duplicates were received, making the total number of periodicals 

 handled currently during the year 3,015. 



The abnormally large number of periodicals, namely, 391, which 

 were received in the fiscal year 1915, but not during the present 

 year, is due principally to the war. A large majority of these are 

 foreign and are only temporarily suspended. Many of them also 

 are no doubt still being published, but on account of the interrupted 

 mail and freight service can not be forwarded. There has been 

 great delay in the delivery of all foreign periodicals and many files 

 have been broken, but it is hoped that they may be completed when 

 normal conditions exist. 



The distribution of the current periodicals by classes is shown in 

 the accompanying table. In addition to the above current periodi- 

 cals appearing not less than four times a year, the library received 

 5,106 serials of less frequent issue, such as annuals, annual reports, 

 proceedings, and transactions published by institutions and societies. 



The circulation of the current periodicals has increased to such an 

 extent that many of them are injured by much handling. The need 



