462 ANNUAL EEPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



immediately available to the seed trade and thus assist in an economic 

 and efficient distribution of seeds. 



It will be mailed to seed growers, shippers, dealers, county agents, 

 and others who can utilize this information to advantage. 



COLD STORAGE HOLDINGS, 



Cold storage holdings of apples only were issued by this bureau 

 during the winters of 1914 and 1915. At the beginning of the fiscal 

 year 1917 Mr. I. C. Franklin was added to the force engaged in stor- 

 age work. In cooperation with the various investigative staffs in- 

 volved, these activities have been developed rapidly. 



MONTHLY REPORTS SHOWING COLD STORAGE HOLDINGS. 



Monthly reports on cold storage holdings are now issued on IS 

 commodities as follows : Boxed apples, barreled apples, storage eggs, 

 frozen eggs, cheese, butter, frozen beef, cured beef, frozen pork, dry 

 salt pork, sweet pickled pork, lard, lamb and mutton, broilers, 

 roasters, fowls, turkeys, and miscellaneous poultry. 



Reports of the cold-storage holdings of butter and eggs were be- 

 gun August 1, 1916 ; cheese, September 1, 1916 ; and lard and meats, 

 December 1, 1916. Meats are reported by the following six classes: 

 Frozen beef, cured beef, frozen pork, dry-salt pork, sweet-pickled 

 pork, and frozen lamb and mutton. Eeports of the lioldings of frozen 

 eggs in cans and of frozen poultry were begun May 1, 1917. Poultry 

 is reported by the following five classes: Broilers, roasters, fowls, 

 turkeys, and miscellaneous poultry. All reports are issued monthly, 

 with the excei^tion of the butter and egg reports during the season 

 when the greatest quantity of these two commodities is moving into 

 storage. The reports are based on holdings as reported to the bureau 

 by all the important cold-storage houses throughout the country, in- 

 cluding the holdings of the large meat packers. 



The number of houses reporting on a given commodity varies to 

 some extent from month to month, but there has been from the begin- 

 ning a steady increase in the total number of houses reporting. 



At the present time 1,276 firms are submitting voluntary reports 

 showing their holdings of these commodities. Of these, 764 may be 

 classified as general cold-storage houses and 512 as packing houses. 

 The mailing list of persons to whom these reports are sent numbers 

 about 12,000. Approximately 129,000 individual reports are sent 

 out each month. The reports have been well received by the press, 

 the public, and the cold-storage trade. They constitute the first com- 

 prehensive public information of this kind in this countiy. 



REGULATORY. 



The Bureau of Markets is now charged with the administration 

 and enforcement of four Federal statutes — the United States cotton 

 futures act, the United States grain standards act, the United States 

 warehouse act. and the United States standard container act. The 

 last three of these laws were enacted during the fiscal year 1917, and 

 the requisite provision and machinery for their administration have 

 been developed during this period. In every case previous studies 



