6 



ported them directl}'- as official government information to the 

 producers. It has brought about a marked benefit in that 

 regard, but it has handled car lots only. That service is being 

 extended through a recent appropriation, so that it will cover 

 an increased number of cities, in which will be included Cleve- 

 land, Detroit and a number of cities which come in the second 

 class and which heretofore have not been covered. 



Now, there is one sort of market news service that has been 

 extended into this section on a larger scale this past summer. 

 It deals with local products, — the products of the market gar- 

 deners who are within short distances of the city markets; and 

 it deals chiefly with less than car-lot volumes of business, or 

 less than car-lot shipments. There has been an extension of 

 that work in this part of the country into the cities of Provi- 

 dence, Boston, Springfield, Bridgeport and Albany. Some of 

 the growers who are present this morning acknowledge and have 

 expressed their interest in and appreciation of this service. 

 They have recognized the value which has come from it. 



The}'' have recognized, further, that the government is ex- 

 tending such service and giving the most valuable help only to 

 the sections where there is a tangible organization with which 

 they can work. There was the Market Gardeners Association 

 in Providence, the same type of organization in Boston, another 

 in Springfield and in Bridgeport, with which the government 

 found immediate and ready co-operation. This enabled them 

 to make their work and service more effective, because they 

 were certain that they could secure the results where there were 

 a number of men banded and grouped together who were suf- 

 ficiently interested themselves to study the problems that were 

 before them. 



I have taken this as a single illustration of the value of co- 

 operation of local organizations as it is viewed by the govern- 

 ment in Washington, because the notable illustration and in- 

 stance is in the fact that that service has not yet been extended 

 to any city where there is no local market gardeners' or pro- 

 ducers' association. That is rather suggestive to some of you 

 men who may come from the cities where you have not yet 

 banded yourselves together in a working organization. 



There are a number of benefits which the producers report 



