io8 



United States Duty on Animals. 



of the department, was exhausted within six months, but, to put 

 the suitability of the forms and system recommended to the test 

 of further practical experience, an interval of a year was allowed 

 to elapse before the issue of the second edition. In 1898, before 

 the department was two years old, its books were in full use on 

 one hundred farms, and on a much greater number they were 

 used as supplementary to the previously-kept books. 



2. By inspection of farms' books with a view to checking their 

 accuracy. 



3. By keeping the farm books at the offices of the department 

 in Berlin, on the basis of a weekly report from the farmer. 



4. By giving information concerning rates and taxes. 



5. By acting as arbitrators in matters of dispute on farms. 



6. By giving courses of instruction in agricultural book- 

 keeping at suitable centres. 



7. By giving advice, either verbal or written, and assistance 

 on all matter relating to the above. 



Recently the book-keeping department has undertaken to 

 obtain expert advice for farmers in cases where their farms are 

 yielding unsatisfactory profits. This it does by arranging for an 

 inspection of the farm, once or oftener as necessary, by some 

 well-known and skilled agriculturist, who endeavours to point 

 out the causes of the failure and to suggest improvements. In 

 the selection of an adviser great care is taken to obtain one who 

 has had ample experience of, and may be regarded as a specialist 

 in, the kind of farming on which he is asked to advise. 



All officers of the department are, of course, bound to the 

 strictest secrecy regarding any information they may obtain 

 about the farms on which they give assistance. 



Duty on Animals Imported into the United States. 



The Board have received through the Foreign Office a copy 

 of an Act passed by the United States Legislature in March 

 last, which modifies the law regarding the duty on animals 



