REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 15 



the consumer's price received by the producer and the proportion 

 received by various marketing agencies. Studies with reference to 

 the cost of marketing live stock, grain, milk, and potatoes are now 

 under way, and it is highly desirable that they be extended, as rapidly 

 ■as possible, to include other staple agricultural commodities. 



COOPERATIVE MARKETING. 



The question of cooperation now occupies a prominent place in the 

 public mind. High distributing costs have stimulated and increased 

 the demand for greater efficiency in marketing. Producers every- 

 where are outspoken in their dissatisfaction with present marketing 

 costs, which appear to exact an unduly large share of the price paid 

 by the consumer. In their effort to reduce marketing expenses, pro- 

 ducers a,re turning in many cases toward cooperative marketing. 

 The distribution of farm products through cooperative organizations 

 undoubtedly affords an opportunity for farmers to make more effec- 

 tive use of market information, to properly grade and market their 

 products in commercial quantities, to find larger outlets, and to 

 reduce costs and increase efficiency by shortening the channel between 

 producers and consumers. In addition to more or less localized 

 efforts, organizations of growers of wheat, cotton, and live stock 

 iiave recently projected movements for the development of coopera- 

 tive marketing on a broad scale. 



The department recognizes fully the importance of the coop- 

 erative movement and its potentialities for good in the general 

 marketing scheme, conducts investigations relating to its status and 

 progress, and gives assistance to specific groups of producers who 

 request help in the organization and operation of cooperative enter- 

 prises. This work should be extended and developed. 



FOREIGN-MARKET INFORMATION. 



Comparatively little systematic attention has been given to the de- 

 velopment of foreign markets for farm products, or to obtaining and 

 making available prompt, comprehensive, and dependable informa- 

 tion with reference to the production, supply, and prices of, and de- 

 mand for, agricultural commodities in the different parts of the 

 world. While the Bureau of Markets has developed, to the extent 

 permitted by available funds, a very efficient market-reporting serv- 

 ice for the United States, no similar machinery for collecting and 

 disseminating foreign-market information has been provided. The 

 foreign markets division of the bureau is endeavoring to keep in 

 close touch with conditions abroad, but it has neither the personnel 

 nor the facilities for meeting the demands made upon it. It is highly 

 essential that definite provision be made for the building up of this 



