12 BT7LLETIX 
ing the holdings of the current month with the holdings 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 year 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 shew these com- 
parisons and sectional divisions. The fish holdings are segregated 
into three sections only. The Atlantic section includes the Xew Eng- 
land, Middle, and South Atlantic States; the "Western section in- 
cludes "Western Xorth 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 L^nited 
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 are 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. 
