12 BULLETIN 709, U. S. DEPAETMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



ing the holdings of the current month with the hoklings of the maxi- 

 mum month, they are compared with the holdings of the preceding 

 month, and the same comparison is made for the previous year. 

 The comparison of the holdings of the current with the same month 

 in the previous jeav is made for each section, while the comparison 

 with the preceding month is made for the whole United States only. 

 In comparing the holdings of any two months, the holdings of all 

 firms not reporting for both months are eliminated from the com- 

 parisons. The reports of all commodities except fish show these com- 

 parisons and sectional divisions. The fish holdings are segregated 

 into three sections only. The Atlantic section includes the New Eng- 

 land, Middle, and South Atlantic States; the Western section in- 

 cludes Western North and Western South; all other States are in- 

 cluded in the Central section. This seems to be the most logical 

 grouping for reporting the storage of fish. It covers the three most 

 important producing sections of the Atlantic coast, Pacific coast, and 

 the Great Lakes. It does not differentiate between the Great Lake 

 section and the Gulf of Mexico section, but as few fish are stored in 

 the South Central States, this subdivision is considered unnecessary. 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE INFORMATION. 



A brief summary of the storage reports is furnished to the press 

 through the Office of Information of the Department of Agriculture 

 as soon as the returns are tabulated. Before it is released it is sent 

 over the leased wires of the Bureau of Markets to its branch offices 

 which are established in numerous cities throughout the United 

 States. It is published in these offices at the same time that it is fur- 

 nished to the press and press representatives in Washington. The 

 value that the trade attaches to these reports is shown by the great 

 demand for them and the prominence with which they are featured 

 in the trade publications. Any person or firm not located in Wash- 

 ington or the cities in which branch offices are located may, upon 

 application, receive the summaries or any part of them by telegraph, 

 charges collect. Every effort is made to have these data reach all the 

 interested parties at the same time. 



As soon as possible after the information is compiled, the detailed 

 reports arc mimeographed and mailed. A copy of every report on all 

 commodities is sent to each storage house on the mailing list. In 

 addition to these firms, copies of any or all of the reports are sent to 

 any person or firm requesting them. 



When the first reports showing the holdings of apples in cold stor- 

 age were issued, they were sent to a list, compiled from all available 

 sources, of apple growers and dealers, and all of them were advised 

 that the reports would be mailed to them regularly upon request. 



