BUREAU OF MARKETS. 559 



Information contained in reports of the Consular Service and 

 other Government agencies and in publications from all countries 

 has been compiled and classified, an average of To publications and 

 100 consular reports having been reviewed and indexed weekl3\ 

 Statistics concerning the production, consumption, exports, imports, 

 supply, and prices of agricultural products of all countries have been 

 comj^iled and converted into terms of American units. 



Until the discontinuance of this work at the end of August, daily 

 and weekly reports of the exports and imports of important agri- 

 cultural products at New York were compiled from ships' manifests 

 filed in the Xew York customhouse. These data are considered very 

 valuable both by the trade and trade publications, and their publi- 

 cation should be resumed when funds become available. 



From July to December, inclusive, a circular entitled Reports on 

 Foreign Markets for Agricultural Products was published weekly, 

 but on the publication of The Market Reporter on January 3, 1920, 

 this circular was discontinued, and much of the information on for- 

 eign conditions formerly published therein has been included in the 

 foreign section of the new publication. 



COOPERATIVE MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCTS. 



During the first part of the fiscal year work relating to coopera- 

 tive marketing was supervised by Mr. C. W. Thompson, assisted by 

 Mr. O. B. Jesness. Since Mr. Thompson's death, in February, 1920, 

 Mr. Jesness has directed this work. Investigations of cooperative 

 organization problems were made and assistance was given to pro- 

 ducers in their solution. This work was conducted in 40 States and 

 included producers of grain, live stock, dairy products, fruits, vegeta- 

 bles, wool, cotton, tobacco, nuts, honey, and other products. 



In addition to the assistance given to cooperative purchasing and 

 marketing associations, advisory aid was given in connection with 

 the formulation of plans for a national federation of live stock ship- 

 ping associations, a similar State association, and a State federation 

 of farmers' elevators. 



Conferences were held with secretaries of State farmers' grain 

 dealers' associations, and as a result a suggested set of by-laws for 

 cooperative grain elevator companies was prepared. 



An investigation of the cooj^erative marketing of grain was made 

 in western Canada for the purpose of obtaining information of value 

 to farmers of the United States in formulating plans for cooperative 

 grain marketing in this country. 



Information ( oncerning the cooperatiA^e movement among farmers 

 in the United States was gathered to supplement that already on file 

 and suggestions regarding cooperative legislation were given upon 

 request in a nuuilter of instances. The suggested law, which was 

 prepared by the bureau and puldished in 1917. has served as a miide 

 in the enactment of cooperative legislation in at least four States 

 up to the present time. 



TRANSPORTATION OF FARM PRODUCTS. 



The transportation work of the bureau has been directed by Mr. 

 G. C. White ever since its institution. During the past year he was 



