402 AGRICULTURAL APPROPRIATION BILL, 1924. 



MARKETINT, LIVE STOrK, MEATS. AXD WOOL. 



"Marketing live stock, meats, and wool" is our next project. 

 There is in this project also a small increase. The marketing work 

 in live stock has progressed very rapidly during the past two years. 

 It has been a tremendous task to arrive at the grading of live stock 

 and live-stock products, especially the meats. This work started 

 with the meat end of it — what constitutes the higher qualities of 

 meats — antl from tliat end has worked back to the kind of animal 

 that produces that meat. We are now getting the manuscript in 

 final form to put out these first statements on the grades of live stock 

 and live-stock products. 



The same thing is true with wool. We have for the last three 

 years done a great deal of preliminary work on wool grading. We 

 are now having public hearings in connection with our tentative wool 

 grades. We had two public hearings on this last week. At the hear- 

 ing in Philadelphia on Thursday of last week the fact was brought 

 out that we must do some additional research work, as there was a 

 very strong demand there for the grades to show, at least, the English 

 Bradford count system. Inasmuch as 60 per cent of the wools that 

 are used in this country are imported, they felt that it would be 

 very greatly to the advantage of the American wool industry if the 

 same grades could be adopted for at least the mill end of the busi- 

 ness in this country. 



Mr. Anderson. What is this Bradford count sj'stem '. What is it 

 the basis of ? 



Mr. Texxy. Theoretically, it is based on the number of hanks of 

 yarn that can be spun from a pound of wool. That idea, however, 

 has been largely lost, and 80's will actually not spin 80 hanks of yarn, 

 but the wool originally classed as 80's is still called 80's. , The system 

 runs from about .32 's up to 90's, the coarser yarn being 32's and the 

 very fine yarns bein^ about 90's. We recognize that the English 

 system probably would not do for the producing sections, but we are 

 in hopes that they will at least try the arrangement. The suggestion 

 was made by the mill trade that we can bracket certain of the groups 

 into fines, quarter-blooils, half-bloods, three-eighths, and so fortii. 

 so that we can have a comparison between the orrades suited to the 

 needs of the mill, which are very complicated and which very closely 

 resemble those of the English system, and the grades that the pro- 

 ducers know now. 



That is going to require some little additional work before we 

 are ready to put out our tentative grades of wool. 



I Mjiglit say in connection with our live-stock work, we are really 

 hoping that the grades of live stock can be so specific that buying and 

 selling may be done through specifications as well as through pei'sonal 

 inspection. A number of cooperative associations in the eastern 

 half of the I'nitcMl States that buy large nunii)ers of feeders every 

 year, even during the Inst year, bought their feeders on specifications, 

 and thev have been entirely satisfied with the practice, and. of coui"se. 

 it saved the travef e.\j)enses ami salary of a man going out into the 

 western ranges and selecting the feeders for finisiung work in the east. 



We are al.so doing a great deal of work in the field of retailing 

 meats, some in cooperation with other agencies and some of it inde- 

 pi'iuh-ntiy. 



