MAEKETS AND EUKAL OEGANIZATION. 371 



The plan generally pursued was to station one market assistant in 

 each city, who made a study of such items as the sources of supply, 

 quantity and condition of arrivals, and the wholesale prices pre- 

 vailing. After acquainting himself with general conditions, specific 

 typical cars of fruits or vegetables were selected for detailed study. 

 Careful tabulations were made of all ascertainable charges and costs 

 accruing on these cars, including freight, refrigeration, selling 

 charges, and transportation within the city. A record was made of 

 the entire wholesale distribution of each. The product was then 

 followed into the hands of the jobber and retailer, respectively, a 

 record being made in each case of such items as the prices paid and 

 received, the expense incurred for haulage and delivery, and losses 

 through spoilage. In this way 91 cars were traced in part to the 

 consumer. The largest proportion of any one car actually traced to 

 the final purchaser was about 72 per cent. Frequently so many 

 retailers participated in the distribution, and the product moved so 

 quickly that it was practicable to obtain final prices on less than 5 

 per cent of the contents of the car. 



Results. — The results of this work have been used in part in the 

 preparation of several publications dealing with the marketing of 

 specific products or with specific phases of the marketing problem. 

 Department Bulletins Nos. 266: Outlets and Methods of Sale for 

 Shippers of Fruits and Vegetables, and 267 : Methods of Wholesale 

 Distribution of Fruits and Vegetables on Large Markets, are the 

 direct results of this work. Comprehensive reports covering the 

 conditions found at each market have been prepared and placed on 

 file as guides in the selection of suitable fields for further and more 

 detailed investigations. Experience has been gained which has been 

 valuable in outlining the further development of this work. 



STUDY OF SOUTHERN MARKETS. 



In January and February, 1915, eight members of the force de- 

 voted a few weeks to an investigation of marketing conditions in 

 nearly all of the larger cities in the Southern States east of Texas 

 with especial reference to the possibility of their development as 

 markets for products of diversified agriculture in the South. Re- 

 ports were compiled and placed on file for use in outlining further 

 work, although the investigations were not so detailed as to justify 

 specific publications upon these markets. 



ORIGIN AND COMMERCIAL MOVEMENT OF SPECIFIC CROPS. 



Crops selected. — As a preliminary to experimental work to deter- 

 mine the usefulness, cost, and practicability of a market news service 

 for perishable products, it was decided to locate in so far as possible 

 all the areas of surplus production of specific perishable crops from 

 which car-lot quantities moved to market. In deciding upon the crops 

 to be studied, an effort was made to select those which would move in 

 succession throughout the spring, summer, and fall months and 

 which were produced in large quantity within certain well-defined 

 areas. It was thought desirable that these areas of intense pro- 

 duction be scattered as widely as possible over the United States. 



