1917] RURAL ECONOMICS. 493 



" The proportion of crop acres in potatoes decreases with distance from the 

 railroad. After a distance from the railroad of four or more miles has been 

 reached, potatoes show a low return. . . . Cooperative buying and selling has 

 proved very successful in this region." 



Factors affecting methods of farm management in the North Island, J. 

 Bbown {Jour. Agr. [New Zeal.]. 13 (1916). No. 1, pp. 1-16, pi. 1, figs. 2).— The 

 author summarizes his observations regarding farm management in this com- 

 munity as follows : 



" Good pasture is the mainstay of the North Island farmer. Most good pas- 

 tures may be further improved in nutritive value by periodic applications of 

 crushed limestone. Inferior pasture everywhere should be renewed by liming, 

 cropping, manuring, and re-grassing after a second application of crushed lime- 

 stone. . . . On light land tliese successive stages of improvement should auto- 

 matically bring about a rotational system, including growth of oats, inexpensive 

 forage crops, and pastures of longer or shorter duration, according to circum- 

 stances. If lucern can be grown, the maximum of profits can not be realized 

 without it. Beyond a vei-y narrow limit, profits recede as cultivation extends 

 and pasture areas are reduced." 



[Agricultural laws of North Dakota] (In Compilation of Laics of the State 

 of North Dakota Governing Railroads [etc.]. Bismarck: Bd. R. R. Comrs., 

 1915, pp. 93-109). — Among the laws included in this compilation are those re- 

 lating to cooperative associations, grain warehouses, and commission merchants. 



The Federal Farm Loan Act ( U. S. Treas. Dept., Fed. Farm Loan Bd. Circ. 

 4 (1916), pp. 29). — This circular contains the complete text of the act. 



Digest of the Federal Farm Loan Act (New York: Guaranty Trust Co., 1916, 

 pp. 16). — This digest endeavors to give a comprehensive idea of this act by 

 pointing out its salient features. 



[Agricultural credit in British India and Netherland East Indies], J, 

 DouiE and H. C. Axting (Trans. S, Internat. Cong. Trop. Agr. 1914, vol. 1, pp. 

 95-124).— The authors describe the types of credit institutions, the problems in 

 connection with their establishment and development, the methods of manage- 

 ment, and some of the results obtained. 



[Annual reports of the marketing commissioners], J. F. Smith, W. E. 

 McTaggart, and R. C. Abbott (Brit. Columbia Dept. Agr. Ann. Rpt., 10 (1915), 

 pp. R54-R73, R126, R127, pis. 6).— These reports relate to the work of the mar- 

 keting commissioners in western Canada and describe their activities in assist- 

 ing in the marketing of fruit and vegetables, the standardization of packages, 

 and the reorganzation of city markets. The reports also indicate the size of 

 packages preferred by the trade and the size of boxes and crates used in mar- 

 keting fruits and vegetables. 



Relation between primary market prices and qualities of cotton, F. Taylok 

 (U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 457 (1916), pp. i3).— This report is the result of a survey 

 made in 73 towns located in 9 cotton-growing States, including the examination 

 of 38,000 representative samples, to determine whether, in the same market, 

 cotton was purchased on averages, all grades bringing the same price. 



The report indicates that from such evidence as was gathered either higher 

 grades are being priced too low or that the lower grades are bringing prices 

 above their value, or that a combination of the two is true. The average 

 price paid for cotton of |-in. staple was as high as for 1-in. staple. It also 

 appears that in the eastern belt higher prices are being paid, due to the proxim- 

 ity to the cotton mills, absence of most of the middlemen, and to the facts that 

 primary marketing conditions are superior, storage houses are more generally 

 available, money rates are comparatively lower, and competition probably exists 

 to a greater degree than in the West. 



