450 ANNUAL EEPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Tennessee. — Five cooperative associations have been formed and 

 15 demonstrations given with a vieAv to improving the proper methods 

 of ma riveting various farm products. 



Utah. — Preliminary study of marketing conditions has been made 

 in the State as a basis for specific investigations. 



Vermont. — Tlie dairy industry lias been assisted in improving the 

 quality, pack, and shipping methods of dairy products. Producers 

 of eggs and poultry have received assistance in finding proper mar- 

 keting fields. Five cooperative creamery associations, one coopera- 

 tive dairy association, and one active cattle producers' association 

 have been organized. 



Virginia. — Investigations have been made in the marketing of 

 apples and the marketing of peanuts, the results of which will be 

 given to the public. A preliminary study of wheat marketing in the 

 State has been made. Assistance has been rendered to cooperative 

 marketing associations in grading and packing products for market. 



Washington. — An investigation of the handling of grain has been 

 begim. A State marketing bureau has been formed recently and the 

 former State agent in marketing of this bureau was chosen as its 

 director. 



RURAL ORGANIZATION INVESTIGATIONS. 



The rural organization investigations are divided into two groups, 

 both being under the direction of Mr. C. W. Thompson. 



RURAL CREDIT, INSURANCE, AND COMMUNICATION. 



RURAL CREDIT. 



A comparative digest of existing State laws relating to credit 

 unions has been made and a model State law has been drafted, in 

 cooperation with the Office of the Solicitor, providing for the incor- 

 poration and supervision of cooperative credit associations or credit 

 miions. 



Further information has been secured with regard to the coopera- 

 tive credit associations already organized among farmers. Especial 

 attention has been given to a study of the plan in operation in North 

 Carolina, where the farmers receive direct encouragement and assist- 

 ance in the organization of credit- unions from a State official, and 

 to the formation of similar associations among Jewish farmers, under 

 the patronage of a national Jewish organization. This study has 

 been made particularly with a view to determining what methods 

 might best be adopted for the promotion of this type of cooperation 

 among farmers in localities where cooperative credit associations 

 have not yet been formed. 



The investigation reported last year to determine the extent to 

 which farmers in the Southern States obtain credit from merchants, 

 either under the advancing system or otherwise, has been completed. 

 The returns show, among other things, a close cause and effect rela- 

 tion between the advancing system and one-crop cotton farming. 

 In some sections where cotton is the dominant crop, 80 per cent of 

 the farmers are reported as operating under the advancing system, as 

 -^.ompared with 20 to 25 per cent in other sections Avhere little or no 



