These reports represent one phase of the work of the first Census of Distribution, taken in 1930, and cover the operations of assemblers and distributors of agricultural commodities for the year 1929 or the crop year most closely corresponding thereto.

The census of distribution was taken on the establishment basis; that is, the census covered all types of assemblers and dealers where such persons and firms had established places of business. It did not cover storage or warehouse concerns, the transportation business, or strictly service businesses.

The purpose of the series of reports is to present a unified picture of the distribution of the major agricultural products, such as will be of the greatest value to persons, firms, and organizations concerned with any phase of the industry. This includes producers, buyers, dealers, manufacturers, and consumers, and also to students of the economics of agriculture in its relation to the broader problems of our national economic life.

(1933)

Distribution No. A-205

This report on the assembling of agricultural commodities by retailers (that is, in places outside of cities of 10,000 population and over)  is one of the series of reports on the distribution of agricultural commodities issued by the Bureau of the Census.

“Agricultural commodities” as the term is here used refers to farm products, including farm-made butter, farm dressed or cured meats, and in short any of the products of the farm or products made therefrom on the farm.  The term “retailers” in this report refers to retail stores in the small city and rural area, that is, in all places outside of cities of 10,000 population and over.  It thus includes stores located in the smaller cities, in towns and villages, and country crossroads stores.  Thus the “assembling of agricultural commodities by retailers” refers to that part of the total business of these retailers which consists in the purchase (for their own account or on a commission basis) and handling of one or more farm products for shipment and/or sale to some other distributor or to some processor or manufacturer either locally or on another market."

(1932)

Distribution No. A-201

This report on the assembling of butterfat by cream stations and concentrators is one of a series of reports on the distribution of agricultural commodities. The statistics were collected in 1930 as a part of the Census of Distribution, in connection with the Fifteenth Decennial Census, and the data presented are for the year 1929. The report presents the data on this business by States and counties.

The term "creamery" as used in this report refers to a concern engaged in the manufacture of butter. Such creamery companies may operate one or more butter-manufacturing plants, and these manufacturing plants are referred to in this report as "plants."

A cream station is a place where cream (either sour or sweet) is received from producers on the butterfat basis and is forwarded to some creamery butterplant for manufacturing into butter.

(1934)

Distribution No. A-206

This report on cooperatives as a factor in distribution is one of a series of reports issued by the Bureau of the Census.  It is based principally on data secured by the first Census of Distribution taken in 1930 as part of the Fifteenth Decennial Census.

(1933)

Distribution No. A-202

This report on the distribution of butter, cheese, evaporated and condensed milk, and ice cream, is one of a series of reports on the distribution of agricultural commodities issued by the Bureau of the Census.

In addition to the products mentioned in the title, this report also includes some data on other dairy products, such as powdered milk, ice cream mix, milk drinks, cottage cheese, and the like.

This report, comprising tables, maps, and descriptive material, presents data on and discussion of: Farm production and sales of dairy products; factory production; the relation between growth in production of dairy products and population; and activities of various classes of buyers and other dealers engaged in the handling of dairy products, both at points of production and in the principal markets.

(1934)

Distribution No. A-203

This report on the Distribution of Grain is one of a series of reports on the distribution of agricultural commodities issued by the Bureau of the Census.

The chief purpose of this report is to present the data on the assembling and distribution of grain, secured by the Census of Distribution. However, in order that these data may be better interpreted and analyzed in relation to the problems of the grain situation in their entirety, certain additional data also from official sources are included. Naturally it is not possible within the scope of such a report as this to cover clearly and in detail each phase of the very important business, or rather group of businesses, engaged in the process of assembling, storing, transporting, selling, and milling grain, and in storing, transporting, and distributing the mill products—foodstuffs and feedstuffs, and the many other products made therefrom.

(1933)

Distribution No. A-204

This report on the distribution of livestock is one of the series of reports on the distribution of agricultural commodities issued by the Bureau of the Census.

Livestock, as the term is used in this report, refers essentially to meat animals, and hence the data do not cover assemblers and dealers primarily engaged in the poultry business nor in the handling of horses and mules. Some persons and concerns who are engaged principally in the assembling and distribution of meat animals also handle some poultry and/or horses and/or mules. The data on such establishments are included in this report, but are so presented as to segregate the different phases of their business in so far as the schedules make possible.

This report comprising tables, maps, and descriptive material presents data on and discussion of: Regions of livestock production; the relation between number of meat animals and population; the activity of the various classes of buyers and/or shippers engaged in the purchasing or forwarding of livestock to other markets; the location of the principal stockyards with data on the number of animals received at each of them during the year 1929; the direct receipts of livestock by packers; number of meat animals slaughtered by packers; slaughter of meat animals by retailers and wholesalers; and the location of the principal and subordinate livestock markets, together with the detailed data on types and kinds of dealers on each of the principal markets.