50 BULLETIN 1317, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
are also included in the general item of Salaries and Wages and 
other delivery expense is included in the general item of Other 
Expense. 
The separation of delivery wages from other wages and the sepa- 
ration of other delivery expense from other expense is fairly clear 
in many instances, particularly among larger concerns. Among 
smaller concerns, the distinction is usually not so clear; but a de- 
termination of the probable expense of delivering is of so much 
importance to the trade that a careful estimate was made in all 
instances where records did not show the distinction, and the re- 
sults were found to check fairly well with the returns from concerns 
where the distinction could be and was clearly maintained. 
METHOD OF GROUPING STORES AND WEIGHTING RESULTS 
The data have been summarized and analyzed in detail under 
several different methods of grouping. The more important of these 
groupings are (1) by size of stores, indicated by annual sales; (2) by 
classes of service performed, as delivery and nondelivery; (3) by 
character of trade, as straight meat markets and combination stores ; 
(4) by types of organizations, as individual stores and chain-stores 
systems; and (5) by sections of the country. 
The larger stores were found to have much better accounting 
records than the smaller ones, and the percentage of stores from 
which accounting data have been collected is much larger among 
those with large annual sales than among those with smaller sales. 
In consequence, a simple average either by number of stores or by 
total sales of the stores from which data are collected would not 
be fairly representative, and a system of weighting of the results has 
been worked out. By the complete canvass, the comparative num- 
bers of smaller and larger stores were determined and the approxi- 
mate comparative quantities of meats sold in larger stores and in 
smaller stores. It was found that, at the high prices prevailing in 
1919 and 1920, of the total quantity of meats sold by individual 
retail shops approximately 20 per cent was sold by shops with an- 
nual sales of $25,000 or less, approximately 40 per cent by shops 
with annual sales between $25,001 and $50,000, approximately 20 
per cent by shops with sales between $50,001 and $100,000, and ap- 
proximately 20 per cent by shops with sales over $100,000'. Accord- 
ingly, these percentages furnish a basis for weighting the results for 
individual markets by size of stores. 
As between delivery and nondelivery service, the practice was 
found to vary considerably. In the South, delivery service is com- 
paratively more prevalent than in the North, and no sufficiently com- 
plete accounting records for carry stores were found in the Southern 
cities canvassed. Small residence-district shops deliver more freely 
than larger concerns located in business sections. The residence-dis- 
trict shops usually compete in part at least on the basis of service 
rendered, and those in business districts usually compete almost en- 
tirely on the basis of prices. In general, the number of delivery 
stores and the total volume of sales of stores of this class seem to be 
roughly twice those of the carry stores, and a ratio of 2 to 1 was 
adopted in weighting the results. 
