4 BULLETIN 667, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGBICULTUBE. 



Notwithstanding these duplications, the general and prevalent 

 error is one of incompleteness or deficiency. The system of mail 

 reports was not put in operation until after the movement of many 

 crops had begun. It was therefore necessary to request agents to 

 go back over their books and supplement our figures, that we might 

 show the whole year's movement. From many stations it was im- 

 practicable to secure complete reports. If only a small number of 

 agents overlook or misunderstand instructions the result is a loss of 

 many cars from the report. 



Another cause of shortage is the fact that less than car-lot ship- 

 ments have been almost wholly ignored. This shortage, while gen- 

 eral, is most pronounced in the case of those commodities which are 

 usually shipped in small bulk and for local use, such as berries and 

 green vegetables. This is illustrated by a comparison of the northern 

 and southern strawberry crops. Most southern berries leave the 

 producing point in carloads, while the majority of those grown in the 

 North go into near-by markets in smaller shipments. 1 



However, in the statistical tables devoted to the trucking crops 

 of the Norfolk (Va.) section, the car-lot shipments reported by the 

 carriers have been increased by the total equivalent carloads esti- 

 mated to have been forwarded in less than car-lot shipments and by 

 boat. This is true also of the shipments reported from the Eastern 

 Shore of Maryland and Virginia. These are two important sections 

 from which reports of the less than car-lot movement were available. 

 On the other hand, the statistics on Minnesota potato shipments 

 appear somewhat smaller than normally because one important car- 

 rier furnished reports for the year ended June 30, 1917, instead of 

 for the calendar year 19 1G. 



With but few exceptions the stations listed are those at which 

 there aie agents authorized to do way-billing. During 1916 these 

 agents were not requested to give the name of the station at which 

 the commodities were loaded, but only the name of the billing 

 station. In some instances, however, the name of the loading station 

 was furnished instead of the billing station. In most of these cases 

 an effort was made to determine the stations at which the shipments 

 were billed. In general, it was assumed that the first agency station 

 in the direction the shipment was moving would be the one which 

 billed the car. It is realized, however, that this is not always the 

 rule, and that therefore some carloads may have been credited to 

 the wrong billing station. 



In general, the shipping season given for each county includes the 

 earliest and latest dates of car loading from any station in the county. 



i See Sherman, W. A., Walker, H. F., and Schleussner, O. W., Strawberry Supply and Distribution in 

 1914. Bulletin 237, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



