558 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



177- WORK OF THE OFFICE OF MARKETS AND RURAL 



ORGANIZATION 1 

 BY CHARLES J. BRAND 



It is believed that effective and economical methods for distribut- 

 ing and marketing farm products should go hand in hand with scien- 

 tific methods of production, as it profits little to improve the quality 

 and increase the quantity of our crops if we cannot learn when, where, 

 and how they may be sold to advantage. To provide for a study of 

 the problems involved, Congress during the spring of 1913 appro- 

 priated funds for the establishment and operation of the Office of 

 Markets of the Department of Agriculture. The Office of Rural 

 Organization was established by Congress a year later, in order to 

 determine the possibilities and encourage the use of organized co- 

 operative effort in improving rural conditions. These two offices 

 were combined on July i, 1914, and the combined unit is known as the 

 Office of Markets and Rural Organization. 



The authority conferred by Congress in appropriating funds for 

 the maintenance of this Office provides "for acquiring and diffusing 

 among the people of the United States useful information on subjects 

 connected with the marketing and distributing of farm and non- 

 manufactured food products and the purchasing of farm supplies," 

 and the study of co-operation among farmers in the United States. 

 So far as marketing work is concerned, the activities of the Office, 

 therefore, are limited to the collection and distribution of information. 

 For example, it has no authority to prosecute cases of alleged dis- 

 honesty on the part of producers, carriers, dealers, or buyers. It has 

 nothing whatever to do with the problems of production. 



It has been found that co-operative marketing has been carried 

 on in the United States to a much greater extent than was supposed. 

 It has been estimated that over a billion dollars' worth of agricultural 

 products are sold each year by co-operative marketing organizations. 

 The investigations undertaken include a study of successful buying 

 and selling organizations in this and foreign countries to discover their 

 strong and weak points and the reason for the failure of organizations 

 which have been unsuccessful. 



To be successful in eliminating wastes the cost of each step in the 

 marketing and distributing of agricultural products must be accu- 



1 Adapted from an announcement of the Office of Markets and Rural Organi- 

 zation. 



