364 ANlSrUAL REPOETS OF DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



balance of $100,000 available for the continuation of the work, in 

 addition to the amounts provided therefor in annual appropriations. 



The appropriation act for the fiscal year 1916 transferred from 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry to the Office of Markets and Rural 

 Organization the appropriation for the work on cotton standards. 

 In order to coordinate the related lines of work as soon as possible, 

 they were placed under one supervision by direction of the Secretary, 

 effective April 1, 1915. 



Owing to these accessions and to the development of the work of 

 the office as originally planned, it has been necessary to make many 

 additions to the staff of the office, both scientific and clerical. The 

 rate of increase in its personnel was 164 per cent, the staff number- 

 ing 83 members on July 1, 1914, and 219 on July 1, 1915. 



In December, 1914, the office was moved into new quarters in a 

 new building, making it possible to harmonize the physical loca- 

 tion of the staff with its logical organization, with a consequent in- 

 crease in efficiency of administration and decrease in waste motion. 

 More adequate equipment was installed at this time and at subse- 

 quent dates. 



During the course of the year the Office of Markets and Eural 

 Organization published T bulletins of the Department Series, 2 

 Farmers' Bulletins, 3 articles in the Department Yearbook, 4 Service 

 and Regulatory Announcements, 2 Circulars of the Office of the 

 Secretary, and 1 Document of the House of Representatives, con- 

 taining in all 383 pages. In addition to this, a bulletin was issued 

 in cooperation with the Bureau of Crop Estimates, and many mis- 

 cellaneous articles were printed in the Agricultural Outlook and else- 

 where. Other manuscripts have been submitted for publication but 

 have not yet been issued. 



A great deal of preliminary work has been done in establishing the 

 new projects of the office. Two of these — Marketing Live Stock, 

 Meats, and Animal By-products and Marketing Business Prac- 

 tice — were approved by the Secretary during the month of April, 

 1915; another project, Marketing Dairy Products, was approved 

 on June 18, 1915 ; several others were submitted for approval late in 

 the fiscal year but were not passed upon until after its close. 



As thisis the first report for a full fiscal year of most of the proj- 

 ects of this office, it is given in considerable detail, that it may serve 

 as a basic report in future years. 



MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTING FARM PRODUCTS. 



Fourteen projects are grouped under this general heading. They 

 include the original projects of this office with several additions. 



COOPERATIVE PURCHASING AND MARKETING. 



During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915, the work on this 

 subject has been a continuation of work started in the previous year. 

 The survey of farmers' organizations has produced additional in- 

 formation. The names of over 1,000 old associations and newly 

 formed ones have been added to the list, which now includes over 

 11,000 entries. Information as to their formation and system of 

 operation has been secured. It has been found that of this large 



