REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 23 



In some cases there were purchasers from the farmer who were 

 middlemen. It was found that cotton growers received 93 per cent 

 of the price paid by cotton manufacturers for the raw cotton; 84.1 

 per cent of the price of broom corn paid by the broom manufacturers; 

 80 per cent of the price of calves and 91 per cent of the price of cattle 

 paid by packers; 93 per cent of the price of hogs and 74.2 per cent of 

 the price of lambs paid by packers; 87 per cent of the price of 

 tobacco paid by the hogshead and 92.2 per cent when bought by the 

 pound by manufacturers; 72.9 per cent in the case of wheat bought by 

 millers; and 91.7 per cent in the case of wool bought by manu- 

 facturers. 



FREIGHT CHARGES. 



To the foregoing percentages that represent the share of the far- 

 mer in the consumer's price should be added the percentage standing 

 for the freight charge in determining the share of the consumer's 

 price that goes to the middlemen. With approximate accuracy it 

 has been determmed that when the farmer received 50 per cent of the 

 consumer's price, the freight charge on butter is about 0.5 of 1 per 

 cent of the consumer's price; eggs, 0.6 of 1 per cent; apples, 6.8 per 

 cent; beans, 2.4 per cent; potatoes, 7.4 per cent; grain of all sorts, 

 3.8 per cent; hay, 7.9 per cent; cattle and hogs, 1.2 per cent; live 

 poultry, 2.2 per cent; wool, 0.3 of 1 per cent. The foregoing allow- 

 ances for freight are to be increased by one-half when the farmer 

 receives about three-fourths of the consumer's price. 



COFFEE PRICES. 



The import statistics of the Department of Commerce and Labor 

 afford some striking comparisons between original value and con- 

 sumer's price. In the fiscal year 1910 four-fifths of the coffee 

 imported into the United States came from BrazU; 17 per cent from 

 other countries in South and Central America and from Mexico, so 

 that 97.2 per cent of the imports were from Mexico, Central and South 

 America. About 0.1 of 1 per cent of the coffee imports are from Aden 

 and are the nominal Mocha coffee, and 1.3 per cent of the imports are 

 from Ihe P^ast Indies and are the Java coffee. 



In 1910 the coffee imported from American countries, which was 

 97.2 per cent of all coffee imports, had an import value of 7.8 cents 

 per pound. To this should be added the ocean freight rate. From 

 Rio Janeiro the rate is 0.28 of 1 cent, or about one-fourth of a cent 

 per pound. For nearly all of this American coffee the consumers 

 paid prices ranging from 20 to 35 cents per pound. In other words, 

 the import value, plus the ocean freight charge, is only from 23 to 

 40 per cent of the principal range of prices paid for the coffee at 

 retaU, 



