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Show ACCURACY IS AIM IN CROP REPORTS Department of Agriculture Gathers Gath-ers Information on American Ameri-can Food Production. STRICT SECRECY MAINTAINED Forecasts Reflect Efforts of Farmers for Maximum Yields and Have Immediate Im-mediate and Marked Effect on Various Markets. Dependence of a large part of the world upon American farm production has focused public attention upon the crop reports' of the United Staten department de-partment of agrlculture reports which the United Statea government pon-aors pon-aors and protects from Illegal use to the ultimate degree. Just now the crop reports are reflecting re-flecting the efforts of American farmers farm-ers for maximum production. When small crops are reported the news nerves to prepare the country and enable en-able necessary adjustments. Strict Secrecy Rules. The crop reports, too, have an Immediate Im-mediate and marked effect upon the markets. Their great Importance In this Held has made necessary thorough safeguards against premature publication publica-tion and unauthorized use. Every avenue through which Information might be filtered from the locked rooms where the reports are finally prepared Is closed and remains closod until trie werond, when, ns shown In the picture, the elgnal for relense la Riven. On "crop reporting day" at an hoar Set months In udvance, newspaper nnd press association representative gather gath-er In the main building of the department depart-ment of agriculture. Each has near at hand a telephone already connected with his oih'-e and at the other end of the line Is a man equipped with a blank crop reporting form. Shortly before the moment set copies of the completed crop reports are placed on a table, face down, and each newspaper news-paper man gets his hand on one. At the signal, given by a high ofllclal of the department, the newspaper men get to their telephones and In a very few minutes more the coveted Information Infor-mation la being read In every large market In the United States and the next day, at the latest. It is avnllable In every community of the United States and In the larger markets of foreign countries. Big Organization Works, The "release" of the crop reports follows work In which tens of thousands thou-sands and sometimes hundreds of thousands thou-sands of persons all over the country have participated. Distributed over the country are 42 salaried field agents, one In each state or group of small slates. The bureau ulso employs ten crop specialists, one each for cotton, rice and tobacco, who travel through the regions In which their special crops are grown. In addition there are approximately 175,-000 175,-000 voluntary crop reporters. Including Includ-ing county and township reporters and producers, buyers and handlers of grain and live stock. Tabulation of Crop Information. The returns from each class of reporters re-porters are tabulated and averaged separately as a check against the others. To prevent a total for any of the so-called speculative crops, such as corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye and cotton, cot-ton, from becoming known to any person per-son prior to the time fixed In advance, even the tabulators and computers who make up the totals do not know the states to which they pertain. The final telegraphic reports and comments of the field agents relating to the speculative spec-ulative crops are kept locked In the Office of the secretary of agriculture until crop reporting day, when they are turned over to the crop reporting bonrd and the entire board Is Im-mi'dlately Im-mi'dlately locked In until the minute that the report Is Issued, guards being stationed at the doors and all telephones tele-phones disconnected. Each member of the crop reporting board prepares his own Individual nnd Independent estimate for each crop and state. These are compared, discrepancies dis-crepancies are discussed and explained ex-plained and a final figure Is ndopted by the board. Data Complete. The crop reporting board has he-fore he-fore It more complete, detailed and accurate data than any other crop estimating agency In the world. Members Mem-bers of the bonrd and all other department depart-ment employees concerned with crop estimates are prohibited by law under severe penalties from speculating In any product "of the soil," from giving out advance Information and from knowingly compiling or Issuing false stntlstlcs. |