Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

statements are prepared by the Bureau of Plant Industry, which is charged with the administration of the Act in question.

Cotton.

The Bureau of Markets is the active agency of the Secretary of Agriculture for the enforcement of the Cotton Futures Act, designed to regulate cotton trading, which among other things provides as follows:

* *

SEC. 6. That * * the differences above or below the contract price which the receiver shall pay for cotton of grades above or below the basis grade in the settlement of a contract of sale for the future delivery of cotton shall be determined by the actual commercial differences in value thereof upon the sixth business day prior to the day fixed, * for the delivery of cotton on the contract, established by the sale of spot cotton in the market where the future transaction involved occurs and is consummated if such market be a bona fide spot market; and in the event there be no bona fide spot market at or in the place in which such future transaction occurs, the said differences above or below the contract price which the receiver shall pay for cotton above or below the basis grade shall be determined by the average actual commercial differences in value thereof, upon the sixth business day prior to the day fixed, * * for the delivery of cotton on the contract, in the spot markets of not less than five places designated for the purpose from time to time by the Secretary of Agriculture,

*

* * *

Ten spot markets1 have been designated by the Secretary, under the provision above quoted, for the determination of the average commercial differences in price between Middling and other grades of cotton, which under the terms of the Act furnish the settling basis for the standard grades of cotton tenderable on contracts of sale for future delivery made at future markets located at other than spot market cities. As a matter of fact this applies to the New York future market alone. The settling basis for futures at the only other future market, New Orleans, is determined, under the provisions of the Act, on the basis of prices received for actual sales of spot cotton at that one market, New Orleans being also a spot market city.

Daily, at the closing hour of the New York future market, the current prices for spot sales of the standard grades of cotton are telegraphed by the secretary or other officer of the cotton exchange in each designated spot market to the Bureau of Markets at Washington.2 These telegraphic advices show also the number of bales of cotton sold at each market. The figures are tabulated for the purpose

1 Norfolk, Augusta, Savannah, Montgomery, New Orleans, Memphis, Little Rock, Dallas, Houston, and Galveston.

"The exchanges at the designated spot markets also wire the same information to the New York cotton exchange, which likewise tabulates the results, mailing a report to the Bureau of Markets each day to be checked against the figures compiled in Washington from identically the same sources.

31832-23-11

of determining the average differences in price between Middling and other grades of cotton at the spot markets designated under the law. These average differences, by the terms of the Act, afford the legal basis for the settlement of contracts for future delivery in cases where the cotton to be delivered is of a grade above or below the basis grade specified in the contract.

A tabulation of cotton prices and sales is published each week in the Market Reporter, showing for each of the 10 designated spot markets, the price of the basis grade of Middling spot cotton at the close of the market on the Friday of the preceding week and the commercial differences in price between Middling and other grades of American upland cotton, together with the total number of bales sold during the week. The commercial differences are stated in terms of cents per hundred pounds above or below ("on" or "off") the price of Middling spot cotton.

The same table, or portions of it which are of local interest, also appears in weekly mimeographed bulletins issued at five field offices,1 the figures being wired from Washington to the field offices on Saturday of each week. These bulletins have a combined circulation of about 7,500, chiefly among cotton growers, cotton dealers, cotton-seed oil mills, county agents of the Department, manufacturers, merchants, and the press. They regularly contain other information regarding cotton market conditions, including the closing future quotations at the New York and New Orleans markets, spot quotations at certain interior markets, and cotton-seed prices at various Southern points. This information is secured by the field offices directly from cotton exchanges, chambers of commerce, cotton factors, etc.

The Washington Office is also advised daily of the closing prices of future cotton on both the New York and New Orleans exchanges. These particulars are tabulated daily in order that the relation between the prices of spot and future cotton may be closely observed by the Bureau.

Cold Storage.

The Bureau of Markets publishes statements showing the quantity of certain food products held in cold storage on the first day of each month. About 1,300 public and private cold-storage warehouses and packing house plants are covered by these statements, which are based upon schedules returned by the warehouses soon after the first of the month. The schedule is designed to show for each item the stock on hand as last reported, subsequent receipts and deliveries, and the stock presently on hand. The statements are published during the

1 Memphis, Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, and New Orleans.

latter part of the month in the Market Reporter, and in mimeographed reports issued by thirteen field offices.1

The items included are apples, butter, eggs, and the several market classes of cheese, poultry, and meats.2

Separate schedules are returned for fish, as of the 15th day of the month. Statistics of fish holdings are published only in mimeographed reports issued by the Washington Office. These reports have a circulation of approximately 500, among dealers in fish, fish storages, and others interested.

Based upon the schedules used in obtaining cold-storage holdings, a number of summary tables are published in the Market Reporter each month showing the "movement" of certain products at storage places during the previous month. One table, for example, gives the quantities of meats of various kinds frozen. Other tables show the quantity of lard produced, and the quantity of beef, dry salt pork, and pickled pork placed in cure.

Foreign Markets.

The statistical work of the Bureau of Markets relating to foreign markets is of three classes, as follows:

1. The compilation of export and import figures collected by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, for administrative use, publication, and interpretation as to their significance with relation to agricultural production.

2. The compilation of data relating to international trade in agricultural products, taken largely from publications of foreign countries.

3. The compilation of data concerning production, prices, and demand in foreign countries, taken largely from foreign sources.

These compilations are published in the Market Reporter and furnished to correspondents. Following are typical examples: Exports of wheat and wheat flour to Japan from the United States for each fiscal year since 1913, in terms of bushels of wheat and barrels of wheat flour. Imports of dairy products and dairy products substitutes for a particular month of the current year, showing the number of pounds of each product imported from each country, the totals for the year to date, and comparable figures for the previous year.

International trade in dairy products, giving net imports and net exports of each country.

1 Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis, Fond du Lac, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, and St. Paul. The branch office reports are published on the basis of telegraphic advices from the Washington Office.

2 The statistics of the cold-storage movement of certain dairy and poultry products outlined in previous pages are not duplicated by the monthly cold-storage reports here discussed. The former are made up from telephonic information received day by day at field offices in but a few large cities, while the reports here discussed are tabulations of data received monthly from all sections of the country.

International trade in wool giving net imports and net exports, also grades and classes of wool produced or traded in each country.

Production, consumption, and probable demand and supply of breadstuffs for all principal producing and consuming countries.

Prices paid in foreign countries, ocean freight rates and other factors that have a bearing on American prices.

OFFICE OF FARM MANAGEMENT.1

66

to

The Office of Farm Management was established as a separate unit under authority of the appropriation Act of March 4, 1915, superseding a former unit of the same name existing in the Bureau of Plant Industry since 1906. General authority was given to the Office investigate and encourage the adoption of improved methods of farm management and farm practice." Other appropriation acts have provided for surveys of the "methods of clearing and utilizing logged-off lands," 2 and surveys to ascertain "the cost of production of the principal staple agricultural products."

The Office of Farm Management is concerned with the business side of farming. The technical problems relating to the production and distribution of crops and live stock are assigned to the other offices and bureaus of the Department. It is the peculiar function of this Office to devise, for the benefit of farm operators as a class, ways and means for the more effective utilization of land, labor, and equipment, in order to reduce costs and to increase farm profits generally. Naturally this is research work.

The studies pursued by the Office have to do chiefly with the following subjects: Farm organization; Cost of production; Farm finance; Farm labor; Agricultural history and geography; Land utilization; Farm life; and Farm equipment.

3

The statistical work of the Office of Farm Management is of relatively small importance, being wholly incidental to the various research activities undertaken. The statistical product of the Office is limited to the interpretative statistics included in its textual bulletins on particular subjects, frequently if not usually derived from secondary sources.

Farm Organization Surveys.

Farm organization surveys are intended to determine the proper size of farms under various conditions, the best practices regarding the employment of capital and equipment, the most advantageous selection of crop and live-stock enterprises, the proper rotation of

1 See note on page 24.

2 Discontinued since June 30, 1917.

Research work in this field has temporarily been discontinued.

crops, the most efficient employment of labor, etc. Such surveys usually consist of an actual analysis of farm operations in restricted agricultural districts. The period of observation varies considerably. It may be one year only, or a period of five years-and in some cases the data may be obtained by an initial observation and a resurvey made after a lapse of one or more years. The principal points touched upon are the size of the business, the type of farming, the character of land tenure, the yield of crops, the returns from live stock, efficiency in the use of labor, and intensity of operation.

Field investigators assemble, on schedule forms, data for a representative number of farms in the selected district, either by examination of the accounts kept by the farmers or by personal interviews, or both. In each case, the completed schedule shows the names and addresses of operator and landlord, the size, location and topography of the farm, the usage of the acreage, and similar general information; and it contains a full record of farm operations during the last completed farm year, including (a) the acreage, yield, and sales of the various crops, the quantity of each crop devoted to family use, and the quantities held for sale; (b) the opening and closing livestock inventories, showing numbers and values, and the numbers and values of animals bought and sold; (c) the sales of butter, eggs, cheese, wool, hides, and other live-stock products, and the quantities of such products used by the family; (d) miscellaneous income; (e) opening and closing inventories of feed and supplies, showing both quantity and value; (f) expenses of operation, under approximately forty classifications;1 and (g) outlays for buildings and machinery, including opening and closing inventory, and sales. Notes of a general character are included, giving collateral information necessary to bring out the points covered by the survey. The tabulation of the schedules is performed in the Washington Office.

1

1

The results of these studies are incorporated in bulletins issued from time to time by the Department, a separate bulletin being issued for each sectional survey completed. As is indicated by their titles 2 these bulletins are detailed textual discussions of agricultural conditions in the particular areas which they cover. Such statistical tabulations as are included vary widely in form and content, being drawn either from the schedules described above or from secondary sources.

Cost of Production Studies.

These studies are designed to ascertain the costs of producing wheat, cotton, sugar beets, potatoes, hay, fruits, and live stock, to

1 Divided between operator's record and landlord's record.

"The following are representative titles: An Economic Study of Farming in Sumter County, Ga.; Farm Management Practice of Chester County, Pa.; and A Five-Year Farm Management Survey in Palmer Township, Washington County, Ohio, 1912-16.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »