58 DEPART:MEXT of agriculture. [Pub. Doc. 



Roadside selling, a newer project, is still on the increase, but 

 with the continuance of the general practice of asking prices 

 equivalent to the retail store prices the downfall of the roadside 

 market is predicted. There are some, however, who are build- 

 ing up a permanent trade by selling quality products at attrac- 

 tive prices. Stands thus operated may look forward to a bright 

 and prosperous future, because they are being appreciated by 

 the buying public which frequents the automobile highways. 



Investigations of Cost of Distribution. 



We have been enabled to begin laying the groundwork for 

 cost of distribution studies in Massachusetts through the assist- 

 ance given by the Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, which has fur- 

 nished office help to work with the investigators whom the 

 Division has been able to put in the field. These studies are 

 fundamental to a clear conception of the charges and costs 

 entering into the marketing and distributing of our products as 

 well as to their allied problems. It is hoped that this pre- 

 liminary work which is now being carried on by experienced 

 investigators will lay a foundation for future work. 



In an undertaking of this kind little more than the analysis 

 of the situation and the establishment of the necessary contacts, 

 together with the outlining of a program of action, can be hoped 

 for in the time which we have been able to devote to it. How- 

 ever, the present progress of this work indicates that not only 

 will a foundation for future work be organized, but much of a 

 real nature will be accomplished before July 1, 1922, the date 

 marking the close of our present co-operative arrangements. 

 During this period we are to receive the assistance of an ex- 

 perienced clerk furnished by the United States Bureau of 

 Markets and Crop Estimates, who will assist the investigators 

 in their respective projects. 



Our activities in this work have been confined to the two 

 major agricultural crops of Massachusetts, — onions and apples. 

 On July 1 a project was undertaken, the purpose of which 

 was to acquire facts relative to the costs entering into the dis- 

 tribution of Connecticut valley onions. The objects of this 



