18 ANNUAL KEPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



ored to secure close cooperation between carriers and producers, 

 shippers and distributors in the more efficient utilization of railroad 

 equipment used in transporting food products. 



MARKET NEWS SERVICES EXTENDED. 



The passage of the Food Production Act made possible a marked 

 expansion of the machinery of the Bureau of Markets. An appro- 

 priation of $2,522,000 was provided for this purpose. The news serv- 

 ices for fruits and vegetables and for live stock and meats were still 

 further developed and were extended to include hay, grain, and seeds, 

 and dairy and poultry products. Three general reporting services, 

 one daily and two weekly, are conducted for perishables at 25 sta- 

 tions, as well as a local service for truck crops in certain cities. 



Branch offices are now maintained at twelve important market 

 centers for the purpose of collecting and distributing current infor- 

 mation relative to supplies of live stock and meats, demands, prices, 

 and other market conditions. Two daily and one monthly report for 

 live stock and meats are issued. Data on wholesale meat trade con- 

 ditions are secured daily from several of the largest eastern meat 

 consuming and distributing centers, and a summary is immediately 

 forwarded to the central live-stock markets in the West. Bulletins 

 also are issued at the various branch offices before the day's trading 

 in live stock begins, and this information is distributed throughout 

 the United States. More than 60 stockyard companies report their 

 current live-stocl^ receipts and shipments, and a summary of the 

 figures is issued after the first of each month. 



Biweekly reports are made on hay and grain for certain sections, 

 A semiweekly statement of bean prices, demand, and movement is 

 made, and plans have been completed for issuing one each month on 

 farm and garden seeds. Reports of daily car-lot shipments and 

 jobbing prices of fruits and vegetables, as well as weekly summaries 

 of car-lot shipments and a weekly market review, are made. Data 

 on the carload movements of fruits and vegetables and of live stock, 

 embracing returns from approximately 1,000 officials, are telegraphed 

 daily by more than 400 different railroads. 



A cooperative experimental reporting service was begun early in 

 the year in the large wholesale farmers' market at Providence, R. L, 

 on fruits and vegetables grown in the neighborhood. This service 

 is conducted in cooperation with local truck-gardeners' associations 



