2 BULLETIN 387, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
closer cooperation was maintained with State highway departments, 
and wherever practicable the information was collected directly by 
collaborators named by the respective State highway departments 
and acting under specific instructions from this office. This policy 
was not practicable in connection with earlier bulletins owing to the 
fact that many of the States then had no organized highway 
departments. 
For convenient reference and to avoid delay in publication, the 
information obtained from the Southern States is published in this 
bulletin. Bulletins on this subject covering the Middle Atlantic 
States and the New England States have been issued, and the 
Middle Western and Western States will be dealt with in a subse- 
quent publication. 
WORKING PLAN AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION. 
The method of procedure followed in obtaining the information 
contained in this bulletin was as follows : 
A series of card inquiry forms, designated A, B, C, and D, covering, 
respectively, mileage, taxation and revenues, administrative organi- 
zation, and bond issues, was prepared and submitted to the various 
State highway departments for suggestion and approval. After 
changes were made to meet conditions peculiar to individual States, 
supplies of the card forms, with necessary stationery, were sent to 
each State collaborator, and correspondence then was conducted by 
the collaborators under Government frank with the respective county 
and township officials. 
In many instances it was impossible for the collaborators to obtain 
replies from all local officials, and accordingly letters and forms were 
sent directly from this office to such local officials. In the course of 
the investigation it was found necessary to enlist the aid of local 
and State road associations, chambers of commerce, automobile 
clubs, postmasters, and private individuals in order to obtain ade- 
quate information. On account of the absence of detailed records 
in many of the towns and counties utmost accuracy is impossible, and 
because of the large amount of correspondence necessary to conduct 
the investigation, considerable delay in the issuance of the bulletins 
has been unavoidable. The data on mileage and revenues should, 
therefore, be considered as approximate only. 
A summary sheet for each of the forms A, B, C, and D was pre- 
pared for each State at the outset of the investigation, and as the 
card forms were received from local officials or from the State col- 
laborators the information was entered on the summary sheets under 
appropriate headings. These summaries, when completed, were 
forwarded to the respective State collaborators or to the heads of the 
State highway departments, who thereupon prepared a text explana- 
tory of the statistical tables and of the administrative system in effect 
