No. 123.1 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER. 47 



Publicity and Information. 



This Department should at all times be in a position to give 

 definite information to the public on matters relating to agri- 

 culture, because it now has many resources for acquiring infor- 

 mation which it could readily make available. The Depart- 

 ment should act as a clearing house for agricultural information 

 at this end of the State, for not only is it in touch with State- 

 wide affairs but national and interstate news and material come 

 to it. It has become quite popular iii this country for State 

 departments of agriculture to publish monthly papers, and re- 

 sults from these have been very satisfactory. In this State, 

 where so many county farm bureaus are now publishing such 

 papers, there might be a duplication of effort. The county 

 publications tend to cover the same field and are often sent to 

 the same people from different counties. It would certainly be 

 in the interest of economy if the Department could, in con- 

 junction with the farm bureaus, publish one paper which could 

 be circulated to all. Further, to get matters before the public 

 quickly, as is necessary in many cases, important news should 

 at once be made public through the daily press. Other States, 

 also, wish to know about us, and through both of these medi- 

 ums information could be quickly presented to them. 



The public desires and is welcome to call at the office for all 

 kinds of agricultural information. During the year, thousands 

 of persons avail themselves of this opportunity. It has been a 

 severe tax upon the present office force to meet this demand 

 adequately in addition to their regular work, and it is rather 

 surprising under these conditions that few complaints have been 

 made. A bureau of information and publicity concentrating on 

 this work would give better service, and this bureau could also 

 take charge of the Department's publications. 



Our State Farms. 

 There are something over twenty farms in the State operated 

 by and in connection with the various State institutions. There 

 seems to have been an idea prevalent among State officials that 

 an institution could not be established unless it had a farm in 

 connection with it, no matter what the surrounding conditions 



