532 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



that the present marketing system is a product of evolution; that 

 improvements must be made gradually by changes in method and 

 procedure and by eliminating specific recognized evils; that it is 

 impossible to set up instantly a perfectly efficient and automatically 

 operated new marketing machine; and that it is also impossible to 

 cure all economic ills by legislation. The public must appreciate also 

 that marketing is quite as much a problem for the attention and 

 consideration of the consumer as for the producer. 



Ever since its institution, the Bureau of Markets has realized that 

 certain objects must be accomplished before any generally noticeable 

 marketing improvements could be made. Standards for farm prod- 

 ucts and the containers in which they are packed must be established ; 

 prompt, accurate, and disinterested domestic and foreign market 

 information must be made available to all parties concerned in the 

 process of distribution ; impartial inspection must be maintained ; the 

 problems inherent in the organization and operation of farmers' 

 cooperative organizations must be solved; the business practices of 

 the various marketing agencies must be improved ; accurate and com- 

 plete data concerning the cost of marketing must be available; and 

 efficiency in handling, storing, and shipping farm products must be 

 increased. In all these directions measurable progress has been 

 made and in the following pages of this report will be found a fairly 

 complete statement of the ground covered during the fiscal year just 

 closed. 



During the year especial attention was given to questions bearing 

 on the effective distribution of the information collected by the 

 bureau, the publication of The Market Reporter, studies regarding 

 the cost of marketing, the compilation of statistics on marketing, the 

 development of a service to deal with foreign marketing, and the 

 standardization of additional commodities. 



Distribution of market information. — The question of distributing 

 in an effective way the information collected by the Bureau of 

 Markets has for many years been a difficult one. The market neAVS 

 services have been developed to a point where they very effectively 

 meet the requirements of the agencies concerned in marketing or dis- 

 tributing the commodities dealt with, but until recently it has not 

 been practicable to summarize the information issued thrbugh these 

 various services and make it available in comprehensive form. The 

 publication of The Market Reporter, discussed below, was a move in 

 this direction, but the problem has not yet been completely solved. 



It is felt that the market information of the bureau should be put 

 into the hands of the farmer in simple, convenient form with the 

 least possible delay. He has no time or inclination during a large 

 part of the year to read extended summaries or long detailed tables, 

 much less to analyze, interpret, and combine them, or to consider 

 them in conjunction with other significant information, and yet it 

 is vital that he should have information of this kind and be in a 

 position to act upon it. This problem is being attacked as energeti- 

 cally as possible, and consideration is now being given to the develop- 

 ment of a special service for weekly farm papers through which 

 market information in suitable form should be placed in the hands 

 of four to six million subscribers. 



Plans are being made to increase our collection of motion pictures, 

 to add to our lantern-slide lectures and exhibits, and to work out 



