assisted by Mr. J. G. Cross. Since the beginning of the war this bureau has been called upon to an increasing extent for assistance in the solution of traffic problems. Appeals for assistance in securing better transportation service come not only from producers and distributors of agricultural products but from manufacturers of agricultural machinery, and the commodities used in agricultural production, and others. Besides the assistance given to the public the other bureaus in the department have received help in connection with their work. The correspondence arising in connection with these matters has been so heavy that practically the entire time of one of our transportation assistants has been required to handle it.

As in previous years, a great deal of attention was necessary to keep on a satisfactory basis our arrangements with the carriers, who cooperated most willingly in furnishing the reports which are used in connection with the market news service. Five hundred and ninety-two common carriers made reports to the bureau in the year covered by this report. These carriers control 248,722 miles of railroad or boat lines, which, for practical purposes, constitutes the entire mileage of the United States. To insure the prompt, accurate, and satisfactory transmission of these reports involves a large amount of travel on the part of our transportation staff.

Transportation men were detailed to certain producing sections to assist in moving heavy crops of fruits and vegetables at time of harvest. These men worked in close cooperation with shippers and carriers to bring about the best possible utilization of transportation equipment. Work of this sort is of practical and direct value to producers and carriers and of indirect value to the entire country.

DIVISION OF WAREHOUSING.

The Division of Warehousing was formed so that problems related to this important phase of marketing might be properly correlated. At present the work which would naturally fall under this division includes that done in connection with the enforcement of the United States warehouse Act and the issuance of the cold-storagereports.

During the past year a project entitled cotton warehousing investigations was also maintained and, therefore, will be included in this report although it has been discontinued on account of decreased funds..

ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNITED STATES WAREHOUSE ACT.

During the fiscal year covered by this report, this work was directed by Messrs. D. S. Murph, Chester Morrill, and R. L. Nixon. Cotton. At the close of the fiscal year licenses had been issued to 24 warehousemen. Two of these licenses, however, have expired, so that 22 cotton warehouses are now operated under the United States warehouse Act. Twelve persons have been licensed to classify cotton and five persons have been licensed to weigh cotton under the act. During the year applications were received from 106 cotton warehousemen. Prior to this 34 applications had been received, making a total of 140. As indicated, 24 of these applicants have been licensed; other applications have been approved and licenses will be issued when bonds are received. Increasing interest in the licensing:

of cotton warehouses has been shown, and, it is thought, is due to the following facts:

The Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank is actively encouraging warehousemen to become licensed and bonded under the United States warehouse Act and a cooperative agreement has been entered into with the Georgia State Bureau of Markets, whereby the State bureau furnishes a free grading service to all licensed warehousemen who desire it. The governor of the Federal reserve bank at Dallas has recently taken an active interest in the act and is circularizing member banks in his district in advocacy of the Federal system of warehouses. Very substantial reductions in the rates of fire insurance on licensed warehouses have been granted by the various rating bureaus in the South. In a majority of Southern States this reduction amounts to 25 per cent from the scheduled rates; in other Southern States the reduction ranges from 25 per cent on certain classes of warehouses to 10 per cent on others. Ten per cent is the minimum concession. The Federal Farm Loan Board has approved forms of receipts to be used under the regulations and steps have been taken to secure like approval from the Federal Reserve Board.

The bureau has cooperated as far as possible in view of limited funds and personnel with the officials of the American Cotton Association, and many of them are encouraging the construction and licensing of warehouses. An agreement was entered into with this association, the State warehouse commissioner of South Carolina, and the State extension service of South Carolina looking to the organization of farmers' associations and among other things, the acquirement of adequate cotton warehousing facilities in that State.

In the last annual report, reference was made to cooperation between this bureau and the State of North Carolina in the operation of its State warehouse law. Experience proved the necessity of certain amendments to this law, which, it is thought will be made in the near future, and doubtless will result in the licensing and bonding under the United States warehouse Act of all warehouses operated under the State system. State officials in Alabama asked for the assignment of representatives of the bureau to that State for the purpose of discussing the warehouse act with warehousemen and producers and answering their inquiries, and although the pressure of work did not permit full compliance with this request, numerous applications for licenses were received and the State officials were of the opinion that more would be received if their requests could be met.

Grain.-Regulations for grain warehouses were promulgated and brought before the public in the late fall of 1919. Applications for licenses have been received for 174 grain warehouses. Ninety-seven persons have applied for licenses to inspect grain under the act and 122 persons have made applications to weigh grain under the act. At the end of the fiscal year, 9 licenses had been issued and 50 applications had been approved, and licenses will be issued to those applicants as soon as the necessary bonds are received. In this connection, it must be borne in mind that an inspector of this bureau must personally examine the warehouse and the business methods and accounts, as well as inquire into the finances and reputation, of each warehouseman who files an application, before a license can be issued.

In California the State superintendent of weights and measures has expressed his desire to cooperate with this bureau in its work in his State. He has made changes in the State form of weigher's certificate and warehouse receipts to eliminate a conflict which previously existed with the requirements for forms of this kind used under the United States warehouse Act and has agreed to cooperate with this bureau in the use of warehouse inspectors.

In Idaho the officers of the largest farmers' cooperative grain elevator organization in the State have undertaken to have their warehouses licensed under the warehouse act and to take active steps to procure legislation in that State which will make the operation of the warehouse act more effective.

Influential persons in North Dakota and Arizona have thoroughly investigated the operation of the act and have agreed to cooperate in the work.

Wool.-Public hearings on the tentative regulations for wool warehouses were held throughout the country during the month of February, 1920. On June 18, 1920, final regulations for wool warehouses were promulgated. The necessary application and inspection forms have been completed and inspections will be made as applications are received. On account of the critical situation in the wool market many inquiries in regard to the act were being received at the close of the fiscal year.

Tobacco.-Regulations for tobacco warehouses have not been completed on account of the resignation of the man in charge of this part of the work and the unavoidable delay in filling his position. At the end of the fiscal year, however, the tentative regulations for tobacco warehouses were nearing completion and public hearings were contemplated.

COTTON WAREHOUSING INVESTIGATIONS.

After publication of the last annual report it was found necessary to make additional tests to determine the extent of damage to baled cotton from exposure to the weather. It is hoped that the results of these and the tests which were mentioned in the last annual report as having been concluded will be ready for publication at an early date.

The standard cotton warehouse designs have been brought to the attention of interested persons in an effort to promote the building of warehouses in accordance with the most advanced ideas regarding construction, fire protection, etc. Models of the various types of standard warehouses have been prepared for educational purposes. It is believed that this work, which was supervised by Mr. R. L. Nixon, will result in savings in insurance costs and in better warehouse service.

COLD STORAGE INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTS.

As Mr. I. C. Franklin was detailed to the War Department during the emergency period, investigations of cold-storage problems have necessarily been held in abeyance. Mr. Franklin has now returned to the bureau and the investigations will be resumed.

The cold-storage reports issued by the Bureau of Markets cover certain food commodities handled by cold-storage warehouses and

packing plants, including boxed and barreled apples, creamery and packing-stock butter, 7 varieties of cheese, case and frozen eggs, 5 classes of frozen poultry, 9 varieties of frozen and cured meats, lard, 23 varieties of frozen fish, and 2 varieties of cured fish. They furnish information showing the stocks on hand for the 1st day of each month, except for the reports on fish, which show the holdings of the 15th of the month. The excellent cooperation received from cold-storages and packing plants makes it possible to compile very complete and accurate reports.

During the year the reports were amplified to show the receipts and deliveries each month and the quantities of cured meats and lard manufactured monthly.

The discontinuance of the practice of obtaining information by telegraph from storages in the Pacific Coast States on account of insufficient funds makes it impossible to issue the reports until the 15th of the month, whereas formerly they were published on the 10th. The value of the reports is considerably enhanced when publication is made at the earlier date.

PRESERVATION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN TRANSIT AND STORAGE.

Work on the preservation of fruits and vegetables in transit and storage during the fiscal year covered by this report was supervised by Mr. C. W. Mann. Although excellent progress was made, it was necessary practically to discontinue several important lines of investigation and demonstration on account of curtailment of funds.

Investigations of handling apples and pears in the course of harvesting, packing, and transporting, and the determination of the stage of maturity at which they should be picked, were begun; also investigations to determine the factors responsible for the decay and deterioration in shipments of these fruits from the Pacific Northwest. A study of the methods of precooling and refrigerating California oranges was undertaken in cooperation with the California Fruit Growers' Exchange. The results of the precooling investigations should be of very great value to the citrus industry, both in California and Florida, as well as to the deciduous fruit industry in various parts of the country. In other investigations it was found that brown rot in peaches could be materially reduced by more effective refrigeration. It was also found that injuries resulting from improper methods of harvesting and handling in the field and in storage were responsible for much of the early decay of sweet potatoes. Better methods have been extensively demonstrated to growers and shippers in producing sections.

In cooperation with the United States Railroad Administration a survey was made of railroad icing stations in the eastern Central States, which brought forth information as to the economy and efficiency of ice storages and icing equipment, methods of operation and other factors. Information has been furnished shippers regarding the proper methods of lining, loading, and heating cars used for the shipment of potatoes, apples, and other products during the winter months.

Experiments with reference to the handling and storage of California table grapes confirmed the results of the tests made during the previous season, and showed that spruce sawdust is a suitable and commercially satisfactory packing material. More than 80 cars of Emperor grapes packed in spruce were shipped in the fall of 1919. For several years demonstrations have been made in the Pacific Northwest to point out proper methods of constructing and operating apple storage houses. With the rapidly increasing production of apples in this region there has been an acute shortage of refrigerator cars to move the crop from producing sections, and there has been an insistent demand for information concerning the proper design, insulation, and ventilation of both common storage and cold storage warehouses. During the present season assistance has been given growers and shippers in providing additional common storage houses for 1,220 carloads of apples and cold storage houses of 800 carloads capacity. Effective work was done by assisting sweet potato growers to build more than 500 new storage houses having an average capacity of about 2,500 bushels. The combined capacity of efficient storage houses for sweet potatoes built during the last three years in accordance with recommendations of the department, amounts to approximately 5,000,000 bushels. Data were secured regarding the temperature and humidity which should be maintained in storage houses for the most effective curing and storage of sweet potatoes.

Additional data have been secured concerning the freezing points of fruits and vegetables. The effect of low temperature on sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables was studied to determine the proper methods of handling products injured by chilling or freezing in order that they may be utilized as food. Through this work it has been possible to obtain fundamental information regarding suitable temperatures for the cold storage of fruits and vegetables. It was demonstrated that by holding California table grapes at 28° to 30° F. instead of 32° (the ordinary temperature used in commercial storage), the storage period may be lengthened by at least 30 days, thereby materially extending the marketing season. Experiments are being carried on to determine the safe minimum storage temperature for apples, lettuce, celery, and other fruits and vegetables.

Investigations concerning the preservation of fruits and vegetables by freezing storage were continued. The factors affecting the keeping of these products and the influence of temperatures ranging from 20° F. to -5° F. on the quality and condition of frozen berries, plums, cherries, beans, sweet corn, and other fruits and vegetables were studied. A more extensive utilization of freezing storage seems entirely practicable and desirable in many of the larger market centers where surplus stocks of highly perishable fruits and vegetables are available.

COMPLETION OF THE WORK OF THE DOMESTIC WOOL SECTION OF THE WAR INDUSTRIES BOARD.

For the completion of the work of the Wool Division of the War Industries Board the sum of $35,000 was appropriated for the fiscal year 1920. This work was directed by Mr. Wells A. Sherman.