BUREAU OF MARKETS. 443 



50 pounds to about 150 pounds per ton of cotton seed. The mattress, 

 batting, and felt makers, as well as other manufacturers who have 

 used linlers in the past, have abandoned this product to a large ex- 

 tent, on account of its present high prices and low quality. Thus 

 practically the entire production of linters is being used for munition 

 purposes. 



MARKETING LIVE STOCK, MEATS, AND ANIMAL BY-PRODUCTS. 



While all of the lines of work reported last year have been either 

 completed or continued, general investigational Avork has necessarily 

 been subordinated to the development of the market reporting serv- 

 ices on live stock and live-stock products, which are described else- 

 where. Both the investigational work and the reporting service are 

 under the direction of Mr. L. D. Hall. 



CONTINUED INVESTIGATIONS. 



Work regarding cooperative live-stock shipping associations has 

 progressed, particularly in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee. 

 The study of centralized live-stock markets has continued and a 

 number of packers' concentration points, feeding and finishing sta- 

 tions, and transfer points near centralized markets have been located. 

 The study has included the tracing of actual shipments to central- 

 ized markets of cattle and hogs, including cost of driving and haul- 

 ing to shipi^ing points, methods and cost of bedding and loading cars, 

 methods and costs of handling and feeding at market points, loss, 

 damage, and shrinkage in transit. Further studies have been made 

 of municipal abattoirs and of cooperative meat-packing companies. 



The work relating to wholesale slaughtering and distribution of 

 meats has been continued along the lines previously reported and 

 has been extended to include the great meat-packing centers of the 

 Middle West. Attention has been given to the study of market 

 classifications and quotations of w^holesale meats and meat food prod- 

 ucts. Slaughter tests were made on certain lots of live stock, fol- 

 loAved by studies of the distribution of the meat products and by- 

 products resulting therefrom. 



Field investigations and demonstrations in general and local meth- 

 ods of marketing live stock have been conducted in Arkansas, 

 Louisiana, South Carolina, Vermont, southwestern Virginia, and the 

 San Juan Basin of Colorado. Prevailing methods and costs of mar- 

 keting, relative efficiency of different methods, marketing facilities, 

 and feasil)le remedies for existing marketing evils are included in 

 the studies. Farmers' Bulletin 809, Marketing Live Stock in the 

 South, has been published. 



MARKETING WOOL. 



The services of a specialist in marketing wool were secured near 

 the end of the fiscal year, and preliminary investigations relative to 

 the marketing of wool in the United States were undertaken, the 

 principal feature of this work being the compilation of available 

 data and of trade directories. The development of a current market 

 information service, which also was inaugurated, is reported under 

 Service. 



