60 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



conditions of perishable products in Boston. Included in this 

 investigation is one of a more specific nature, comprising a 

 study of the wholesale jobbing costs of handling fruits and 

 vegetables in the Boston market, the objects of which are to 

 determine the range of fixed and variable costs incurred in con- 

 ducting a wholesale, jobbing commission, or combined wholesale 

 or jobbing business, in the Boston produce market. 



The work outlined above is preliminary to a thorough study 

 of marketing costs which should be conducted by our State in 

 order that we may have at hand adequate facts on which to 

 base the future progress of our marketing work. 



Co-operative Relations. 



Progress has been made during the past year in the extension 

 of our joint relationships with agencies in public work similar 

 to our own. In this respect the United States Department of 

 Agriculture through its Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates 

 has figured prominently and has thus assisted in the promotion of 

 at least three specific projects, ■ — namely, studies of the cost of 

 distribution, reporting Massachusetts crop conditions, and fur- 

 nishing market information with respect to prices and amounts 

 received on goods shipped into Boston from out-of-State sources, 

 as well as current prices upon the local live-stock market at 

 Brighton. The Boston Chamber of Commerce has made avail- 

 able price figures on hay and grain which are distributed to our 

 farmers. 



The splendid co-operation of the press in Springfield, Worces- 

 ter, Northampton, Greenfield, New Bedford and Lowell, together 

 with the Associated Press of Boston, has greatly extended the 

 scope of our market news activity. 



Figures of the quantities of foods stored within the Common- 

 wealth are secured jointly with the Department of Health, while 

 a legislative resolve brought about a joint investigation with the 

 Department of Labor and Industries and Division of Standards 

 relative to the weights of fruit and produce, etc., contained in 

 a standard Winchester bushel. 



Co-operative relations are maintained with the Department 

 of Economics at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, with 



