The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1913-01-16
MARKET SYSTEM PRO-
POSED FOR FARMERS

Systems Of marketing farm product:
and the demand for them at trade cen
ters are the Subjects OF a special re,
port 10 congress by the secretary OF
agriculture, recently published. The
report was made by special direction
Of congess in order that information
might be at hand concerning the estab'
/ lishment OF a division of markets II
the Department of Agriculture. The
secretary specifies various items OF
services that could be performed by
such an Office, with recommendations
that they be adopted. if it is created
The report covers 99l pages and is
crowded with information with regard
| to the subjects treated.
The report treats Of the movement
of farm products from the farm to con-
sumer through a great variety of chan
nels. The simplest distribution is the
direct one Of delivery by farmer tc
consumer, and next after this is the
delivery by individual farmers or asso.
Citations of farmers to individual con.
sumers or associations of consumers.
In these direct forms Of distribution,
the middleman is eliminated, although
Of course intermediate services are
performed either by producers or by
consumers, or by both parties.
The secretary of agriculture has
much TO say concerning associative
marketing by farmers, and the eco
nomic advantages are stated in detail.
"A survey of the systems of market
ing farm products clearly discovers
what the farmers can pest do to their
advantage. They must associate them
selves together for the purpose of as
sembling their individual contributions
of prouucts, of shipping in carload lots,
Of obtaining market news at places to
which it is practical to send their pro-
ducts, to sell in a considerable number
of markets, if not in many markets,
and to secure the various other eco
nomic gains Of associative selling"
To carry out this suggestion, it is
recommended that if congress estab
fishes q division of markets, a corps of
travelling field agents be maintained
to assist farmers TO form associations
for marketing their products.
1t is also recommended that esti-
mates of the prospective supply of
fruits and vegetables, and perhaps
other products not now represented in
the quantitative estimates of the De-
partment 8 crop reporting service, be
made a short time before harvest, so
that the farmer may "have in mind a
fairly definite idea of the volume of
the crop throughout the country in or
der that ne may occupy place in the
market that is fair to himself or, as
the case may be, place in the market
that is fair to the consumer"
General market news service is not
recommended. If such service were
derived from telegraphic reports, the
expense would be enormous. One
farmers marketing association spends
S25, 900 year in telegraphing alone
aud fruit growers organization
spends SIS, 900 for this service.
1t is proposed that a corps of travel
ing field agents and large corps of
local agents and correspondents be es-
tablished for the following items of
service: To help producers organize
for associative marketing; to examine
and remove local difficulties in the way
of such marketing; to help producers
to find markets; to report the current
descriptive condition of crops. in addi-
ton to the work already done by the
Departments crop reporting service :;
to estimate the probable production of
crops short time before harvest; to
report the beginning and ending of the
shipping season; TO report the crop
movement from producing points
through "gateways" to principal mar
kets.