674 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



cording to method of arrival, ownership, species, and species combi- 

 nations. 



(e) Detailed information as to classes of purchasers, sales, and 

 disposition of receipts classified as to species. 



The questions of general interest to the livestock producer, ship- 

 per, dealer, and the livestock public in general are marketing costs 

 and returns. It was with these questions in mind that the livestock 

 studies for the year 1921 were made, stressing at all times that, in 

 order to get reliable information, actual facts and conditions should 

 be ascertained, so far as they were disclosed by the written records. 

 It was decided that as complete a study as possible should be made. 

 Therefore the studies embody the consolidation of all accounts of 

 sales rendered the shippers for the sale of livestock at the markets 

 studied. 



In addition" to the foregoing, the division of audits and accounts 

 undertook considerable statistical investigation and analytical work 

 in order to aid the arbitrators in the disposition and settlement of 

 the commission rate cases at the following markets : 



Chicago, 111. St. Paul, Minn. 



Kansas City, Mo. Fort Worth, Tex. 



Omaha, Nebr. Denver, Colo. 



The purposes of these studies were : 



(1) To furnish information and data for the arbitrators in de- 

 termining the reasonableness of the existing commission rate 

 schedules. 



(2) To discover and point out anj' outstanding inequities in the 

 old schedules. 



(3) To furnish data from which new and more equitable commis- 

 sion rate schedules could be developed. 



With the above objects in view, the field work necessary to a study 

 of this kind was started in 1922. The duplicate copies of original 

 account sales on file in the offices of the livestock-commission concerns 

 at the markets studied furnished the basis for the work. Data for 

 each of the above markets were prepared for the years 1912, 1916, 

 and 1922, using the months of January, April, June, and October 

 of each year. 



In order to determine the effect of any proposed increase or de- 

 crease in commission rates, it was deemed advisable to make an analy- 

 sis of the actual operating results of several typical livestock-com- 

 mission agencies with a view to determining the approximate profit 

 or loss realized on each species of livestock. To obtain this result 

 it was necessary to allocate the total commission collected according 

 to species and prorate all commission-house expense which could not 

 be charged directly to any one species of livestock. Arriving at the 

 total profit or loss for species, the per car profit or loss for each 

 class of livestock was then determined. 



The material thus prepared has been particularly of value in 

 connection with the commission-rate arbitration proceedings and has 

 been made use of in various ways in addition to those already men- 

 tioned. It is felt that information of this nature is very helpful 

 in the determination of the reasonableness of rates and charges at 

 any given market. 



