THIRD

BIENNIAL REPORT

OF

FLORIDA STATE

MARKETING

BUREAU

Report of HON. W. A. McRAE, Commissioner
of Agriculture, to Hon. Cary A. Hardee,
Governor of Florida.

Report of L. M. RHODES, Commissioner
Florida State Marketing Bureau, to Hon.
W. A. McRae, Commissioner of Agriculture.

THE BUREAU STAFF
L. M. RHODES, Commissioner
Moses Folsom, Secretary Joe Somers, Multigrapher
Neill Rhodes, Market Agent Paul Koerber, Asst. Multigrapher
H. A. Maloney, Market Agent Marion E. Keane, Stenographer

i'mii > I tH HH tmwfiiinntmII M I t mt >t W^*I ,.t. ..H . ...t.I..it. t...ti.IIItI.t.. .Nit H t I itt t Hi HIHmI I lt i ti.>i t.l.l. ff I}}..mIi I IH i ItHiitn IItt n

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

COMMISSIONER

STATE MARKETING BUREAU

COMMISSIONER

Organization Chart, Showing Different Functions of the State Marketing Bureau

MARKETING NEWS
Marketing
Bulletin
Exchange
Lists
Publicity
Radio
Statistical Report
Report Daily Cars
Express Movements

CO-OPERATIVE
Organization Work
Lecturing
Literature
Advisory Letters

STANDARDIZATION
Grades for Commodities
Containers
Inspection

SALES AND
CONSIGNMENT
Direct Sales
Finding Buyers
Contracting
Collections
Reliability of Dealers

THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT

OF

Florida State Marketing

Bureau

REPORT OF HON. W. A. McRAE
Commissioner of Agriculture

To HON. CARY A. HARDEE, Governor of Florida:
I beg to submit for your consideration the Third Bien-
nial Report of the State Marketing Bureau:
The distribution of farm products is regarded by many
statisticians, economists and statesmen, as the most im-
portant problem confronting the country. Undoubtedly it
is one of the greatest questions before Florida. Roger
W. Babson, speaking to a meeting of business men at the
Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, February 3rd, said,
with a great deal of emphasis: "Florida's greatest problem
is distribution." The progressive colleges and governments
of the world recognize the far reaching importance of bet-
ter distribution and marketing. Our Federal government
and nearly forty states in the Union have enacted laws
looking toward better and more economic systems of mar-
keting. Market bureaus have been established in more than
three-fourths of the States. Since the greatest thinkers,
scholars and writers of the world are agreed that marketing
conditions and systems should be improved, I will not elab-
orate on that phase of the question, but will briefly outline
some facts about the work and achievements of the Florida
State Marketing Bureau.

4 THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT

When the Legislature of 1917, created the Marketing
Bureau, I thought then, and I think now, that it was one
of the most important departments of the State, and I
expected a great work to be done by the Bureau, and I say
unhesitatingly that under the untiring, faithful and efficient
leadership of Commissioner L. M. Rhodes, the Bureau has
grown, developed and rendered services far beyond my ex-
pectations. When we consider the numerous difficulties,
prejudices, suspicions and perplexities, under which a new
marketing department must operate, and the limited office
force and funds available, also the intricate and complex
problems involved in marketing Florida products, as well
as the various duties required of the Bureau, its achieve-
ments have been most gratifying. I have gone into the files
and records of the Bureau and have kept in close touch with
it during its entire operations, and can testify that the
Commissioner's report is conservative and accurate. I am
convinced that the entire volume of business transacted
by the Bureau since July 1st, 1917, has been more than
$40,000,000.
I find that sales have been made through the For Sale,
Want and Exchange Bulletin as far north as New England
and as far west as the Pacific Coast. In fact, some of the
more than $5,000,000 worth of produce and articles adver-
tised in this publication are sold in nearly all the States.
This bulletin goes free to a mailing list of nearly 15,000
Florida farmers and the list is rapidly increasing. It is
available for them to advertise products for exchange, sale
or for things wanted. Hundreds of letters of appreciation
and commendation in the files of the Bureau show how much
this Bulletin is appreciated by the farmers and business
men. Many of them think it is worth far more than the
total amount appropriated for the Bureau.
The selling and buying service of the Bureau has cov-
ered practically everything produced in the State. Hundreds
of thousands of deals have been put through, market con-
nections have been made, business relations established,
buyers and sellers brought together and many difficult sales
have been consummated. This service has been given on

STATE MARKETING BUREAU 5

all amounts from a parcel post package! to a train or boat
load. In many ways the Bureau has rendered an invalu-
able service.
Putting Florida Production Before the World
Counting all the different ways the Bureau has adver-
tised Florida, it would be hard to tell the number of people
that have been reached, or the value of the publicity that
has been given. More than 50,000 booklets showing the
growth, developments, resources, production, etc., of Florida
have gone out annually. The same data. has been published
in the press all over the country. The demand for this
literature has come from all over the civilized world, and
has been furnished by letters, circulars, pamphlets, bulle-
tins and through the newspapers.
There is scarcely a day in the year that the Bureau does
not make reports as to the reliability, rating and reputation
of produce dealers and commission houses. One of the
greatest features of the Bureau is market reporting. The
Bureau gathers market information from Washington and
the great consuming centers, and distributes this news by
telegraph and telephone, through the press and by letters,
and sometimes it is furnished to radio stations. This keeps
the shippers of the State in touch with conditions and makes
market information available, to those who are interested.
The Bureau adjusts and collects accounts for Florida
shippers. Checks go out of the office daily representing
collections or adjustments made, and the total amount of
collections made in the last six years would far exceed the
total sum of money appropriated for the Bureau since it
was established.
One of the objects of the Marketing Bureau is to en-
courage and promote co-operation among farmers. This
requires a great deal of writing and speaking. The Market
Commissioner is thoroughly equipped for this work. He
is one of the closest students, deepest thinkers, impressive
writers and convincing speakers, not only in Florida, but
the entire country, on this subject. He has addressed some
500 public meetings since he was appointed in 1917, and

6 THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT

has furnished much literature and written many articles on
sane and systematic co-operative effort.
The Bureau is maintained by a fund which is paid by
the farmers. Of course, the manufacturer pays it, but it
is added to the cost price of fertilizer, and if the farmer did
not buy the fertilizer, the manufacturer would not pay the
tax.
The Bureau's appropriation is not a tax on the general
public. The farmer is entitled to this service, and there are
thousands in the State who avail themselves of it and ap-
preciate it.
There are eight distinct.major branches of service con-
ducted by the Bureau, a diagram of which is shown on
another page, any one of which is worth more to the State
than the entire cost of the Bureau, besides hundreds of
minor duties and services are performed by the seven people
working in the Bureau, which space forbids me to mention.
The motto of the Bureau is "Service." The employees
do not watch the clock; they often work all night in order
to finish a task on schedule. This very essential, and in fact
indispensable department, deserves the co-operation, assist-
ance and good will of the entire State. I am gratified to
say that after looking through the files, talking with farm-
ers and business men in practically every county in Florida,
that I believe 99 per cent of the people of the State appre-
ciate the magnificent services rendered by this department
and want to see it fully developed, amply financed and loy-
ally supported.
Respectfully submitted,
W. A. McRAE,
Commissioner of Agriculture.

STATE MARKETING BUREAU 7

REPORT OF L. M. RHODES
Commissioner
Florida State Marketing Bureau
To HON. W. A. McRAE, Commissioner of Agriculture of
Florida:
I beg to submit for your consideration the Third Biennial
Report of the State Marketing Bureau:
Since the first family began to grow into a community,
marketing the products of the soil has affected the life and
requirements of all mankind, and the volume of products
necessary to feed and clothe the ever increasing population
of the world has grown from a small quantity to 720,000,-
000 tons of food annually, or 36,000,000 carloads each year.
If all this food product was loaded on freight cars, it would
require every mile of railroad track in the United States
for them to stand on, and if all the material used to manu-
facture clothing alone, was loaded on one continuous freight
train it would be long enough to reach around the earth.
The greater part of this enormous quantity of necessary
products is sold and bought before being consumed. When
we consider this colossal volume of business including the
domestic trade of the countries of the world in other arti-
cles of merchandise, and then remember that the nations
of the earth carry on an export and import trade amounting
to more than 100 billion dollars per annum, realizing that
many of these articles are bought and sold a dozen or more
times between the producer and consumer, and that the
price at point of origin and at destination gets wider and
wider apart, until there is often a very wide margin between
the original seller and ultimate consumer, we can get some
idea of the gigantic marketing problem that confronts us.
In fact, the distribution of farm products has many per-
plexing, intricate, varied and difficult angles.
The Florida State Marketing Bureau has endeavored to
help solve some of the problems and eliminate some of the
difficulties in getting Florida products to market by per-
forming the following duties:

8 THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT

For Sale, Want and Exchange Bulletin
The Bureau publishes semi-monthly a For Sale, Want
and Exchange Bulletin; over 6,000 people advertise in the
Bulletin during the year; we send out 330,000 bulletins an-
nually; there are 23 issues, averaging 10 pages each; there
are 14,300 names on the mailing list and the number is in-
creasing daily. The value of articles advertised average
approximately $24,000 a page, or $240,000 an issue, or
$5,520,000 per annum. The best estimate we can get indi-
cates that 75 per cent of the articles advertised change
hands, or in all, more than $4,000,000 worth of products of
all kinds are bought, sold or exchanged through this publi-
cation. As much of this advertising is farm products at
so much per pound, gallon or crate, causing continued trad-
ing and building up new business relations, this estimate is
probably far too low. If the farmers paid a commission of
only 5 per cent on the business done through the bulletin
annually, it would cost them $200,000 and if they paid for
this advertising at a reasonable rate, it would cost them
more than the entire appropriation for the Market Bureau.
Selling and Buying Service
The sales and purchases of products directly and indi-
rectly arranged, influenced, or touched in some way by the
Bureau will amount to approximately $12,000,000 per an-
num. We do not claim to know how much this service is
worth, but a charge of one per cent would amount to $120,-
000 a year, or more than four times the cost of the Bureau.
Many of the sales made by the Bureau have been hard bar-
gains, when the market was poor, demand weak, and often
the quality of the products bad, grade low and no sales could
be secured through any other channel.
The Bureau has found sales for more than 50 different
varieties of products in carlots, of more than 100 different
varieties in less than carloads, and has secured prices, given
quotations and arranged purchases for farmers, and others,
on more than 170 different kinds of articles and supplies.
There are hundreds of shippers selling Florida products
regularly to connections made for them by the Bureau.

STATE MARKETING BUREAU 9

There is no way of accurately estimating the value and
number of these sales, but the volume is great.
Farm products cannot be manufactured according to
definite specifications, neither can production be regulated
in accordance with a probable demand, to the same extent
as factory products. Quantity and quality are largely de-
pendent on weather conditions. Many of our Florida prod-
ucts are perishable and must be moved in a short time.
They are subject to hazards of transportation and market,
unknown to machine made products, such as over-heating,
freezing, delay and deterioration.
There are no easy hours for the men who market perish-
ables. We doubt if there is a produce house or dealer in
America who has sold $100,000 worth of farm products that
has not been criticised by the seller or buyer for making un-
satisfactory deals. It is to be expected, it is part of the
game, and we must take it when it comes. We cannot ex-
pect to be among those so fortunate as to escape the attacks
of interested parties or the assaults made by those blinded
by ignorance or prejudice. It comes to all who accept official
positions. In marketing, we have to deal with the most
sensitive part of human nature, the one affecting finances,
and we have to operate between the two extremes in the
margins of marketing, the seller wanting and expecting the
highest price, and the buyer wanting to buy at the lowest
price. There is no more; difficult task in all the realm of
American Commerce and Trade than selling farm products
at a price that will justify the producer in continuing to
produce, at the same time, get them to the receiver so that
he can handle at a profit. And yet, that is the task before
us. We have not entirely escaped criticism, but our files
will show that for every letter criticizing or complaining,
we have hundreds commending and praising our services.
One of the duties required by the marketing law is that
the Market Bureau promote cooperation among farmers
and every possible assistance along these lines has been
rendered. Literature, setting forth the correct principles
of co-operation has been sent at each request. The Com-
missioner, too, has made over 100 speeches annually to

farmers' meetings, commercial clubs, Chambers of Com-
merce, etc., discussing the fundamental principles of better
marketing. The demand for this service has been so con-
stant that if he had responded to every call he would have
been away from the office practically every day of the year.

Reports as to Shipments Out of the State
The law also requires that reports must be compiled as
to the amount of products shipped out of the State. These
reports have been sent out in pamphlet form directly to
more than 50,000 persons and in letters to a very large num-
ber. This information has gone to all parts of the country,
and some of our reports have been published in full in the
Congressional Record.
Advertising
Information about Florida has been sent out to, and
letters of inquiry answered from, all the States and 25 or
more foreign countries, from India to Argentina, and from
Australia to Scotland. Some 2,000 articles annually have
been published in the papers in regard to Florida soil, prod-
ucts, markets, etc. The value of this official advertising
given the State through this medium would be hard to
estimate.
Information as to Reliability of Produce Dealers
The Bureau has furnished information as to the rating,
reliability, financial standing, and reputation of produce
dealers and commission men, and thereby protected many
farmers against fly-by-nights and questionable buyers.
Market Reporting
Market reports have been sent out by telegraph and
telephone, through the daily press, and by letters advising
as to the movement of crops, prices, etc. This service has
been available to the farmers of the entire State. Many
communities have associations or organizations so that one
man receives market reports for the community and in that
way one telegram, letter or telephone message will often
advise hundreds of people, and direct the movement of

THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT

' 10

STATE MARKETING BUREAU 11

dozens of carloads. Reports from large market centers are
received daily and sent to all parts of the State.
The Commissioner of The Florida State Marketing Bu-
reau made a trip to Washington and started a movement
to have market news sent to the nine Southeastern States,
including Florida, over leased wire. So much demand was
created for this service that bills have been introduced in
both Houses of Congress and our Florida delegation and
other Southern members are working zealously to secure
the necessary appropriation.

Collections
The Market Bureau is often called upon by shippers to
adjust accounts and arbitrate controversies between ship-
pers and receivers, and our annual collections of such ac-
counts will amount to $50,000 a year, or twice the amount
of money appropriated for the maintenance of the Bureau.

How the Bureau is Maintained
The Bureau is maintained by a fund derived from the
sale of fertilizer stamps. Indirectly the farmers pay this
fertilizer tax and they have been paying it since 1901. The
Bureau was established in 1917 and. during the six years
of its service, we think a fair investigation would show that
it has been worth at least a million dollars a year in cash to
the State, to say nothing of its educational and advertising
value. With the progress and success of the last two years,
we have encountered many difficulties and may have made
some mistakes, but with conditions as they were and the
facilities available, we have done our best. We have tried
to perform every duty with justice and fairness to every-
one, and we appreciate your constant and loyal support and
co-operation through all our efforts. We have not accom-
plished all that we wanted to, but as builders, there must
be time for patient planning, careful development and grad-
ual growth before the harvest field yellows with the ripened
results. Marketing is the last and perhaps most important
half of agriculture. The Market Bureau is doing its utmost
to help perfect and evolutionize this phase of farm life.

12 THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT

FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Expenditures of State Marketing Bureau

July 1st, 1921, to December 31st, 1921
(Last Biennial Report brought down to March
Old law repealed and new law approved May
All funds allowed under old law dropped May
New appropriation available May 6th, 1921.)
Brought forward from appropriation
available May 6 to July 1, 1921 ......$ 1,783.35
Appropriation, July 1, 1921 to De-
cem ber 31, 1921 ...................................... 12,500.00

Actual amount allotted for above
p erio d ........................................................
S a la ries ..........................................................
Traveling expense (including travel-
ing expense of Commissioner,
Market Agents, Auto* upkeep and
supp lies) ................................................ ............
Stationery and office expense (includ-
ing office furniture, typewriters,
ink, stationery, extra labor in-
serting bulletin, ice, water, pencils,
e tc .) .........................................................................
Telephone and telegraph ...........................
Postage, (for office use and bulletin)...
Addressograph (and supplies for
sa m e ) ........................................................... .....
R e n t ...................................................................
Multigraph (and supplies for same)...

6,549.96

$14,283.35

2,690.73

328.03
590.20
200.94

1,007.81
531.00
2,851.61

Expenditures July 1, to December 31,
1921 ....................................................................... $ 14,750.28
Overdrawn and carried to 1922 appro-
priation ................................................ 466.93

*Exchange purchase price ......$1,200.00
Auto upkeep ...................................... 524.68

$1,724.68

$14,283.35

5th,
6th,
6th,

1921.
1921.
1921.

STATE MARKETING BUREAU 13

FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Expenditures of State Marketing Bureau

January 1st, 1922, to December 31st, 1922

Appropriation, January 1st, 1922 to
December 31st, 1922 .......................... $25,000.00
Less overdrawn account of 1921 ......... 466.93

Balance of 1922 appropriation ...............
S ala ries ............................................................. ..........
Traveling expense (including travel-
ing expense of Commissioner,
Market Agents, Auto upkeep and
supplies) ................................................ ............
Stationery and office expense (includ-
ing office furniture, typewriters,
ink, stationery, extra labor in-
serting bulletins, ice, water, pen-
cils, etc.) ............................................. ............
Telephone and telegraph ...........................
Postage (for office and bulletin) .........
Addressograph (and supplies for
sam e) ......................................................... ...........
R en t ..................................................................... ............
Multigraph (and supplies for same)...

13,961.50

$24,533.07

1,961.11

1,294.58
2,010.48
693.59

275.76
1,221.00
3,650.99

$25,069.01
Less December 1922 bills paid in Jan-
uary 1923 ............................................................ 535.94

$24,533.07