324 DEPARTMENTAL EEPORTS. 



HOW PUBLICATIONS ARE DISTRIBUTED. 



There is an occMsioiial tendency to disregard the order of tlie Sec- 

 retary relating to the distribntion of pnl)lications. Under the said 

 order all mailing of documents was intrusted to the Division of Pub- 

 lications, including that of publications sent out npon the order of 

 the chief of the Bureau, Division, or Office from which the same 

 emanated. The intention was to concentrate all the actual mailing- 

 work in the Division of Publications, where an adequate force is 

 maintained for the purpose. Nevertheless, certain Divisions continue 

 occasionally to do mailing in violation of the order mentioned. Fear- 

 ing that the method of distribution may not be fully understood, it is 

 deemed advisable to exi^lain the same. 



When the manuscript of a bulletin is submitted for publication, it 

 should be accomi^anied by a card showing tlie plan of distribution. 

 The only part of this scheme in which the Bureau, Division, or Office 

 is interested is the number of copies needed for its mailing list, includ- 

 ing copies to be sent abroad. This office fills in the otlier blanks, 

 including those necessary for libraries, legations, etc., wliich, by the 

 Secretary's order, receive all publications issued by the Department. 

 The author is always supplied with 100 copies, and 100 copies are 

 furnished to the Bureau, Division, or Office for use in corresjiondence 

 or distribution to visitors. A small reserve is kept for suppljnng 

 miscellaneous applicants, and when copies ai*e desired for such pur- 

 pose an order should be nmde on the Division of Publications, using 

 the blank prepared therefor. For use in correspondence, as already 

 stated, where it is convenient to nuirk a i)aragraph or page in a bul- 

 letin and send with the letter, a limited supply may be furnished the 

 Bui-eau, Division, or Office of issue, but the indiscriminate mailing of 

 such allotment of publications in response to miscellaneous requests 

 should not occur. All such requests should be referred to this office. 



THE DOCUMENT SECTION. 



The work of <-aring for and distributing tlie publications of the 

 Department of ^Xgriculture devolves upon the document section and 

 entails an amount of clerical, semiclerical, and manual work unsus- 

 pectcMl l)y those not familiar with its details. 



During the fiscal year ended .hmo ;)0, 11)02, Farmers' Bulletins to 

 the number of 6,199,426 were received from the Public Printer, and 

 5,530,010 were distributed, 4,289,126 of which were forwarded at the 

 request of Senators, Representatives, and Delegates. Of miscella- 

 neous i^ublications, other than Farmers' Bulletins, o, 138,828 copies 

 were received from the Public l*rinter and 2,714,661 different docu- 

 ments Avere mailed from the document section. In addition to the 

 9,244,671 franks necessary for mailing these documents, the book- 

 keeping, the keeping of card-index lists, the i^reparing of 31,000 reg- 

 istry cards, the making of 138,833 ordei's, and the preparing and 

 sending out of 97,382 notification blanks make a heavy demand uj^on 

 the clerical force provided for this work. 



As all the Depai-tuient's mail in relation to the distribution of its 

 documents receives attention in the document section, the correspond- 

 ence work devolving upon the assistant in charge consumes no little 

 part of his time, as will be readily understood when it is known that 

 16,729 letters were w^-itten during the year. 



