492 



EXPERIMENT STATION" EECORD. 



Nos. If, pp. 116-1S2; 5, pp. 65-92). — A study of the history and sources of rural 

 credit, and the extent of rural indebtedness in the United States, is here pre- 

 sented, based on data noted elsewhere (E. S. R., 28, pp. 190, 593). 



Cost of distributing food products, C. L. King {Mich. Farmer, IJfO {1913), 

 No. 19, pp. 572, 573). — This article discusses methods and cost of distributing 

 food products from the farmer to the consumer, with special reference to the 

 hands through which they pass, but excluding transportation facilities. The 

 following table gives the ^n-ices received by farmers for certain types of produce 

 shipped into Philadelphia from the outlying counties in 1912, as determined by 

 the author in a special report to the mayor of Philadelphia. It also gives the 

 prices paid by each set of middlemen and the consumer, and the percentages 

 added to the cost thereby : 



Prices received J)y the producer and each middleman and the percentage increase 

 of each price over the preceding price. 



It is gathered from this table that the advance of price paid by the consumer 

 over the price received by the producer ranges from 67 to 266 per cent, the aver- 

 age being 136 per cent. 



A successful method of miarketing vegetable products, L. O. Ck)KBETT 

 {U. S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook 1912, pp. 353-3€2).— This article makes a brief 

 review of existing practices of marketing perishable crops, showing that the 

 general method is one of independent action with small shipments and a wide 

 variation in types and sizes of packages. 



A careful analysis of the present system indicates that only from 33 to 36 

 per cent of the price which the consumer pays for perishable products reaches 

 the producer. About 26 per cent of the cost to the consumer is required for 

 transportation and from 5 to 10 per cent for commission. Dealers' profits 

 range from 50 to 100 per cent, each, and it is noted that some of the perishable 

 products carry as much as 8 distinct charges before reaching the consumer. 



To eliminate a number of these charges a system of cooperative marketing 

 is suggested. This, the author contends, would enable the producer to stand- 

 ardize the pack or package and guarantee the grade, reduce the cost of trans- 



