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scrub bulls from a registered herd unloaded on the government. The owner of these bulls was naturally willing to sell them at a lower price than would any of his competitors who had stock of the quality necessary to maintain and develop the herd. Here some device for a local purchasing committee of experience, judgment, and integrity must be substituted for open competitive bidding on the basis of written specifications, when the price is the standard governing acceptance.

Ways must be found to shorten the period between the advertising for bids and the actual letting of the contract, especially in the purchase of commodities with a fluctuating market price. The allegation was frequently made that local dealers in the vicinity would not compete because of the delays and uncertainties involved. Under such circumstances the chances are that those who do bid set a price high enough to insure themselves against loss from market changes. Here the remedy apparently lies in materially raising the limit under which the superintendent can act without first referring his recommendation to the Washington office, and without going through all the formalities incident to a major government contract for future delivery. Such a change would result not only in more prompt deliveries, something worth a good deal in itself, but also it is believed in more competitors and a better price.

Automobiles. The purchase of automobiles and automobile supplies should receive special attention. The tendency has been to purchase the car of the lowest initial cost, generally a touring car or a roadster of one of the cheapest makes. Not enough attention has been given to the type of service which will be required of the car and what its upkeep will be. Doctors, field nurses, matrons, and superintendents ought to go out in any kind of weather. They should have closed cars, equipped, where the temperature gets low, with heaters. The cars should be maintained in first-class condition. It is the exceptional person who will, left almost entirely to his own direction as these field persons must be, work himself to the limit in extreme weather in an open car with tattered curtains, bad tires, uncertain brakes, and a doubtful engine, especially where the country is mountainous. It is far simpler and more human to find some work in the hospital, the office, or the home that really demands attention in bad weather, despite the fact that in such