88 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



answers to such inquiries as may be necessary to enable him to return 

 the foregoing statistics; and said blanlts with such entries shall be re- 

 turned to the county auditor on or before the fifteenth day of April, who 

 shall tabulate the same by townships, and forward the returns thereof 

 to the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture not later than the 

 tenth day of May. The Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture shall 

 provide and cause to be delivered to the county auditor before the first 

 week in January the blanks to be used by the assessors and county 

 auditor for the proper return of the information required in this section." 

 Approved March 25, A. D., 1909. 



It will bo noticed no provision was made for the publication and 

 distribution of the statistics gathered under the provisions of this 

 act, other than in the annual Iowa Year Book of Agriculture, 

 thereby, curtailing their usefulness to a great extent on account of 

 their being only a limited number of the Year Books printed. 

 This in my judgment is a grievous error which should be rectified 

 by the next General Assembly. The printing distributon of at least 

 ten to twenty-five thousand bulletins should be authorized imme- 

 diately following the compilations of the statistics. 



Some trouble was experienced by the department over delays by 

 County Auditors in not properly making out their reports and 

 sending tliem in. Occasionally an assessor was found who did not 

 thoroughly understand that it was as nntch a part of his duties 

 to gather the information to enable him to properly fill out his 

 blanks ;is it was to list aiul make his assessments. A more strict 

 c(iin|)liaiic(' with the law in this repect should be demaiuled ; if the 

 law is not explicit it should be amended so as to leave no room 

 for the assessors not interpretating it clearly or correctly. 



Again, more care should be exercised upon the part of the as- 

 sessor in filling out his blanks to avoid many seemingly rediculous 

 statements. On the whole, however, the reports were received on 

 time and in first class condition. A few auditors complained be- 

 cause no provision had been made for additional compensation or 

 clerical help for compiling the reports. In this respect they were 

 in the same predicament as the Department as no provision by the 

 legislature Avas made for the extra clerk hire necessary to promptly 

 and quickly compile the reports received from the various counties. 

 For this reason much delay has been occasioned in compiling the 

 reports and getting them ready for publication in the Year Book. 



For convenience in printing the statistcs gathered under the pro- 

 visions of this law are presented in four tables. 



