Instructions to Census Enumerators in 1900

Larry and I were talking one day about how the info included on Federal censuses changed over the years, not to mention the off-year Minnesota census changes.  (Federal=every 10 years on the 0s; Minnesota=odd years: 1849-50; 1853; 1855; 1857; 1865; 1875; 1885; 1905, partly to see how many able bodied men were available, just in case).
It's an interesting exercise to see what "mattered" every 10 years as America grew.  The country of origin question was pretty important--we were pretty diverse before 1900: 

Paul & Mary Hesch, 1875

55 years later, in 1930, it's still important but there were other things to enumerate, too:

Anton & Elizabeth Hesch family, 1930

 While we talked, Larry found a website with all the instructions to enumerators over all the census years.   In 1900, there were 246 instructions.  Here're just a few of them--

139. If the person was born outside the United States, enter in column 13 the country (not city or district) in which he was born. By country is meant usually a region whose people have direct relation with other countries. Thus, do not write Prussia or Saxony, but Germany. To this rule, however, note the following exceptions:

140. Write Ireland, England, Scotland, or Wales rather than Great Britain. Write Hungary or Bohemia rather than Austria for persons born in Hungary or Bohemia, respectively. Write Finland rather than Russia for persons born in Finland.

141. Note, also, that the language spoken is not always a safe guide to the birthplace. this is especially true of Germans, for over one-third of the Austrians and nearly three-fourths of the Swiss speak German. In case a person speaks German, therefore, inquire carefully whether the birthplace was Germany, Austria, or Switzerland.

142. In case the persons speaks Polish, as Poland is not now a country, inquire whether the birthplace was what is now known as German Poland or Austrian Poland, and enter the answer accordingly as Poland (Ger.), Poland (Aust..), or Poland (Russ.).

Hmm...I wonder, did they follow these rules in 1900 for Paul, born in Bohemia?...Nope.