416 AGRICULTURAL APPROPRIATION BILL, 1924. 



of surplus. In otlier words, hero is an area — and I will take potatoes 

 as an example — that only produres a])out one-fourth of its potatoes 

 and has to import all the rest: the price of potatoes in that area is 

 very much higher than it is in another area which ships out potatoes 

 and that naturally raises the average State price. We have been 

 thinking for some time of trying to work up a system of price reporting 

 which would give us the price in surplus areas in addition to State 

 averages. You see, now there is one average for a State which also 

 includes the prices in areas which import. Whether we cnn work 

 out something or not I do not know, but that is what causes the 

 prices to seem too high when you take an averat^e for a State. 



Mr. Anderson. How do you weight these prices when you come 

 to get an average for the whole country? 



^lr. { ALLAXDER. We weight by production. The prices for eacli 

 State are weighted by districts for .some crops and by counties for 

 others; we use nine districts in each State for weighting purposes, 

 and we weight the price for the State according to the importance of 

 those nine districts, and then we weight the price for the United 

 States b}' relative importance of eacn State. Of course, greater 

 accuracy could be secured — but it would involve a great deal more 

 work — if we weighted each State by counties for all crops. Most of 

 the prices for the principal crops are weighted by county. 



Mr. Anderson. Do those weighted figures continue the same every 

 year '. 



Mr. Callander. No: they are adjusted from year to year. 



Mr. Anderson. To the production ( 



Mr. Callander. Yes, sir. Returning to our live-stock work, as 

 I just stated, we are going to issue on about the l(3th of December 

 the first estimate as to the number of cattle and sheep on feed in the 

 Corn Belt, and in the case of sheep the number, also, on feed in the 

 Greeley and Scotts Blufl area in the West. Our men are working on 

 that now. 



PA.STURE AND FEED CONDITIONS ON THE RANOK. 



We are making monthly reports on pasture and feed conditions 

 in all the range States; also on the conditicm of live stock and live- 

 stock prices on the range. Those reports are coming out once a 

 month. We began in September — ana we are about half through — 

 to compile a complete record for three years back, from railroad data, 

 of the ninnber of head of cattle shipped out of each station and 

 shijiped into each station in all States from Ohi(» west. A nund)er 

 ttf railroads have been kind enough to furnish the data free of cost 

 but for some we have paid the actual clerical expense required in 

 ct)nipiling the information. We feel we must have the.'^e data as a 

 l)asis before we can make intelligent live-stock estimates, because 

 we are planning, as soon as we cam get these data worked up. com- 

 piled, and thrown into counties nnd regions, to estimate live-stock 

 supplies and ft)]('cast the probable nuuket movements of stock 

 fr(»m different areas. 



Mr. Ander.son. Do you expect to get these railroad data every 

 year^ 



Mr. Callander. Yes; we hope to be able to make such an arrange- 

 ment with tlie railroads, in fnct, a nund)er of them have alreadv 

 agreeti to furnish it to us monthlv hereafter. We have that matter 



