Part II.] FEDERAL OFFICE OF MARKETS. 109 



THE FEDERAL OFFICE OF MARKETS AND RURAL 

 ORGANIZATION. 



J. C. GILBERT, OFFICE OF MARKETS AND RURAL ORGANIZATION, 

 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



To provide for a study of effective and economical methods 

 for distributing and marketing farm products, Congress during 

 the spring of 1913 appropriated funds by means of which the 

 Office of Markets of the Department of Agriculture was estab- 

 lished and operated. 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 mar- 

 keting 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, there- 

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

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

 dishonesty on the part of producers, carriers, dealers or buyers. 

 It has nothing whatever to do with the problems of production. 



The work of the Office of Markets and Rural Organization 

 has several distinct branches: marketing and distributing of 

 farm products; rural organization and investigation; investiga- 

 tions and demonstrations of cotton standards and cotton test- 

 ing; the enforcement of the United States cotton-futures act; 

 the enforcement of the United States grain standards act; and 

 the enforcement of the United States warehouse act. 



For convenience in attacking the problems, and in order that 

 there may be a minimum of waste and misdirected energy, sev- 

 eral of these divisions are further subdivided into specific proj- 

 ects. Those under marketing and distributing farm products 

 are as follows: — 



