MARKET METHODS AND PROBLEMS 559 



rately ascertained. Wastes and excessive profits must be discovered 

 before they can be eliminated. For this reason the Office of Markets 

 and Rural Organization is conducting investigations of the business 

 practices of co-operative and non-co-operative marketing, distribut- 

 ing, purchasing, and rural business organizations, and other agencies 

 engaged in the marketing, distributing, and storing of farm products, 

 paying especial attention to office organization, accounting systems, 

 methods of auditing, office appliances and equipment, and plans of 

 financing. Systems of accounts are being devised for various types 

 of organizations and other agencies; one for co-operative grain eleva- 

 tors has been completed, tried out successfully in actual operation, 

 and now is available for use. Over 200 elevators have made arrange- 

 ments to instal this system this year. Other systems have been 

 devised for fruit exchanges, produce associations, live-stock shipping 

 associations, and poultry circles. After a thorough test of their 

 practicability the accounting systems devised by the Office are made 

 available for all, and when practicable active assistance is rendered 

 in their installation. Systems of accounts also are being outlined for 

 firms doing a commission business in agricultural products, with the 

 view of devising something which may be adopted ultimately as a 

 uniform system by the trade. 



Marketing surveys are also being undertaken, in order to secure 

 accurate and comprehensive data concerning market methods and 

 costs and to ascertain the practicability of a market news service. 

 This part of the work includes surveys of the consumption of specific 

 products in definite localities, as well as a determination of the market 

 produced within certain shipping areas. An important part of the 

 investigation is a study of the relation of prices to receipts in impor- 

 tant distributing centers, with a view to determining the point at 

 which the market becomes glutted, the prices falling so low as to 

 render shipments unprofitable. 



Investigations of present methods of gathering, handling, grading, 

 packing, and shipping farm products to determine their relative 

 efficiency are being carried on. Their purpose is to secure the edu- 

 cation of the producer and shipper as to best methods and as to the 

 value and necessity of fixed market standards and strict grading. 



In the case of perishable products every handling is conducive to 

 additional deterioration, and every change of ownership or possession 

 means, as a rule, added costs. It is planned to trace products from 

 the time they are received in the city until they are in the hands of 



