ANNUAL REPORT, 1939 7 



A second finding of note is the relationship between volume of deliveries and 

 seasonal variation. The relative seasonal variation between November and June 

 was highest for small dairies. As the daily deliveries per dairy became larger, 

 the relative seasonal variation decreased. The relationship between volume of 

 production and seasonal variation is especially important to a program aiming 

 at stability in a market supplied by 710 producers whose average shipments 

 were 103 pounds per day. 



The third noteworthy development was in the study of average farm prices 

 by areas. The milkshed naturally divides itself into 14 areas within which dealers 

 might reasonably compete for supplies or producers compete for markets. On 

 an actual price basis, the average for each area tended to show some logical 

 relationship to location. Three of the areas enjoying relatively high average 

 prices were adjacent to the market; the fourth area of this group and the area 

 with the highest average price were farthest from market. On a common fat 

 content of 3.7, however, the area having the highest average price was adjacent 

 to the market. With this one exception, the areas in which the higher average 

 prices prevailed were at a distance from the market, whereas the areas with the 

 lower average prices tended to be near it. In 8 of the 14 areas, however, the 

 average price was wathin a range of one-fourth cent per quart. The relatively 

 uniform price in these middle areas suggests a proportional distribution of the 

 same dealers or dealers with similar operations among those areas. 



The tendency for higher prices to prevail in the areas more distant from the 

 market is probably due to the absence of competition from fiat-plan dealers. 

 The bulk of the flat-plan dealers pick up their supplies close to the market. Since 

 they pay the Class I price for all milk but can handle only a small portion of the 

 supply available, there is probably much unrest among the remaining producers 

 with a strong inclination to shift dealers. Rather than bother with these shifting 

 producers, the larger dealers move into areas too distant for the small flat-plan 

 dealer to haul from profitably. The result of such practice is to throw the bulk 

 of the producers in the nearby areas not using the flat-plan outlet over to use-plan 

 dealers with low Class I utilization. The effect of such procedure would be and 

 probably has been to create an area of constant threat to market stability. This, 

 too, is in contrast to the prevailing notion that the potential sources of cheap 

 milk are "up-country." In the light of these conclusions, a reappraisal of the 

 market organization is in order. 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY 

 Walter S. Eisenmenger in Charge 



Tobacco Projects. (Walter S. Eisenmenger and Karol J. Kucinski.) 



Brown Root-Rot of Tobacco. The crop preceding tobacco frequently exerts a 

 decided influence on the yield and quality of tobacco. It seems probable that the 

 so-called brown root -rot of tobacco may be the result of residual effects associated 

 with the plants grown on the field the previous year. Plants with high lignin, 

 grown on the field previously, give rise to a general soil flora different from the 

 decomposing flora when the lignin is not there in such abundance. Although the 

 lignin is probably not a cause of the trouble, its presence invites a foreign micro- 

 population, thus changing the soil environment for the tobacco roots. 



The plan for determining the influence of the preceding crop on tobacco was 

 continued as in previous years, using the same crops, twenty-three in all, including 

 cereal and forage crops, vegetables, flowers, and even weeds. 



In general, the various crops ranked about as in other years in their effect on 



