20 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



handbooks on special subjects. While prepared for the country 

 as a whole, a large percentage of them apply to Massachusetts 

 conditions almost as well as though they had been written for 

 the State. Through the courtesy of the Massachusetts Agricul- 

 tural College and the Massachusetts delegation in Congress, the 

 Massachusetts Department of Agriculture can, in addition to its 

 own publications, furnish its correspondents with both college 

 and Federal publications. 



The available bulletins, circulars and leaflets of the Massa- 

 chusetts Department of Agriculture, of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College and of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture are listed in Publication 106 of this Department, 

 and are sent on request to any citizen of the State. This 

 publication is also sent on request to any resident of Massa- 

 chusetts. Requests for publications are filled the day they are 

 received, and a postal card is sent at the same time, informing 

 the person making the request that the publication has been 

 sent, or, in case for any reason the publication is temporarily 

 unavailable, that fact is stated on the card. 



The Library. 



During the many years of the existence of the State Board of 

 Agriculture there seems to have been at different times attempts 

 to establish a library independent of the State Library, that 

 should contain the State and Federal publications on agriculture, 

 standard manuals, handbooks and textbooks bearing on agri- 

 culture and allied subjects. When the Department of Agricul- 

 ture was established as a part of the executive government of 

 the State, it was speedily found that because of lack of room for 

 storage these books could not be properly shelved. Two or 

 more years ago all of these books, other than a few hundred 

 that were needed for frequent reference by the officers of the 

 Department, were temporarily stored with the State Library. 

 But books thus stored were not catalogued, and while they 

 were accessible they were not arranged so as to be at all 

 readily used. 



In June last the Commissioner of Agriculture formally placed 

 the charge of the library of the Department of Agriculture with 

 the Division of Information. After informal conferences with 

 the State Librarian the Commissioner of Agriculture formally 

 wrote him : — 



