Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-11-05

That farmers tnr0u8nOoe the c0un.
try are being wonderfully benefited
through the help Of I'm
Market News Gle Sans Department
of Agriculture 10 quite
service. common knowledge, but
some Of the latest and most up-to-dats
methods that the department 10 using
are not such common knowledge.
One of the most interesting Of the
new services which the Office OF mar
kets and rural organisations has
adopted is that Of the market news
service going to individual farmers and
farmers organizations throughout the
country who ship perishable goods. The
aim Of the market news service/is to
furnish information in regard to as
many of the factors affecting market
ing as practicable to all persons and
organizations interested in the perish
able products reported. The machinery
of the office of markets for collecting
and distributing this information con-
sists of staff of representatives In
the principal producing areas: another
staff in several of the chief market
centers and a central Office staff In
Washington. One important feature In
the operation of the news service is
the assistance rendered by division SUI
perintendents of railroads, who tele-
graph to Washington Information in
regard to the shipments Of perishables
originating on their divisions and COW
cred by the news service.
The Washington office serves as a
clearing house for all the Information
telegraphed in by the various field rep
resentatives. At the central Office these
data are arranged so that they will be
most useful. and are then telegraphed
out for final distribution through the
members of the field staff.
In connection with this service. it is
interesting to note that it was estab-
.lished just a year ago the past April,
with the opening of the strawberry
harvest in southern Louisiana, and it
to prove it successful. At that time
Louisiana was practically the only
area then shipping berries to northern
and northeastern markets. and compli-
cations were therefore at a minimum.
The first work consisted largely of
keeping the producers informed in re-
gard to the demand and prices from
day to day in the principal markets
and as to the amount Of their own
products at such points and on the
way northward. Information on ship
ments was also given to market CEN
ters. The results of the work salts
fed the growers, and at the close of
their season they asked for a continu-
anCe OF the service IN the future. Inc
government market specialists next
took up the market information work
for berries in other producing sections
farther north and later dealt similarly
with tomatoes, cantaloupes and
peaches.
AS a result Of their successful ex-
periences in the experimental work
with four perishables, the specialists
of the department believed that a gen.
eral market news service was prac-
ticable. and early this year made ar
engagements for extending the service
of the previous year to include more
than half dozen additional perish
ables This enlarged service has been
in operation since early spring. deal
ing with crop after crop as the active
shipping season was reached in the
the Texas producing areas were add
ed in April, South Carolina asparagus
was then given a limited service.
early in the summer, and pears and
prunes from northwestern producing
regions were added later. The other
additional crops covered or to be COW
cred this year include grapes. apples
and white potatoes. Though some de-
velopments in the details of procedure
have been made with growing expert
ence, the service is now practically in
the form in which it originated and
gives promise that 1t can, without
radical change, meet the future needs
that will come with growth in scope.