462 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



may be adapted to the needs of small cooperative stores and prac- 

 tically all purchasing organizations, such as buying clubs and farm- 

 ers' exchanges. Installation of the system has been made in 10 

 organizations and their experimental operation is proving satis- 

 factory. 



During the last season a large number of community canneries 

 were opened in many sections of the country, and there has been a 

 growing demand for a system of records to register the transactions 

 incident to the trading of conunodities between patrons, the amounts 

 expended for labor and supplies, and the charges made for service. 

 A system for recording these transactions has been devised and is 

 now being used experimentally. 



In view of the changes brought about through the adoption of 

 the new grain standards, it was found necessary to make certain 

 revisions in the system of accounts for grain elevators. The new 

 forms will meet present requirements more adequately than the old 

 and their adoption by most of the users of the system is expected. 



On request studies have been made of the methods of operation 

 of sirup-packing plants and a tentative outline of a system of accoimt- 

 ing for such agencies has been prepared and installed in a plant at 

 Kirbyville, Tex., for experimental use. An accounting system has 

 been devised for use by sweet-potato curing plants. 



Special efforts have been made to render assistance in installing 

 in country creameries the system of accounts devised for their use. 

 A large number of organizations have adopted this system. Repre- 

 sentatives of the bureau have visited many of the farmers' creameries 

 in the States of Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, North 

 Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, 

 and Tennessee, in order to assist in the installation and operation 

 of the system. 



FOREIGN MARKETING INVESTIGATIONS. 



The foreign marketing investigations, under the direction of Mr. 

 Clarence W. Moomaw, were planned primarily for normal conditions 

 when our foreign trade in agricultural products was handled through 

 regular trade channels, and much of the work recently done has been 

 conducted in preparation for extending aid to producers and shippers 

 at the conclusion of the war when normal conditions are restored. 



Late in the fiscal year 1917 a special investigator was sent to study 

 the possibilities of marketing American fruits in the Far East. These 

 investigations were carried on in China, Japan, eastern Siberia, and 

 the Philippines. Information on this subject was made available to 

 Pacific coast shippers for their guidance during the fruit season of 

 1917-18. 



In conformity with an arrangement with the Food Administration, 

 Dr. J. W. T. Duvel, crop technologist in charge of the grain standard- 

 ization investigations of the Bureau "of Markets, was sent to Australia 

 to investigate the supply and condition of grain in that country, 

 where large amounts have accumulated on account of the impossi- 

 bility of transporting it to Europe. The principal grain centers of 

 that country were visited and definite arrangements were made for 

 the selection and inspection of grain intended for shipment to the 

 United States. 



A special investigator was sent to Australia and New Zealand to 

 study the possibilities of marketing American fruit in that region, 



