VOLtME VI, l\UMBER 2 March 29, 1932 THE Iron Age of March 17 states: "The world finan­cial panic has subsided but business has thus far shown few tangible evidences of betterment. Among heartening domestic developments are an upturn in the reserve balances of member banks of the Federal Reserve system and a decline in rediscounts. These changes, while small in amount, arc significant because they represent a reversal of trend. "The pace of business improvement, if it actually gets under way, will be conditioned _ by various uncer­tainties. These include the reaction of the world to the Kreuger suicide, the outcome of the Lausanne Con­ference, the turn of events in agriculture, and the progress of Great Britain in coping with its monetary and trade problems. The rise of pound sterling, encour­aging as it is, has not altered the fundamental economic factors impeding British recovery. "In Europe and this countrv alike, relief from finan­cial tension has opened the door for constructive action, but actual gains in business activity may be slow." In the same issue !March 17), this publication makes the following observation: "It is now two weeks since Mr. Ford made the noteworthy announcement to the public concerning his new plans for production and the effect that their carrying out might have in aiding busi­ness recovery and the stimulation of production. "We hope that there will not he loo long a delay be­tween the announcement and the receipt of tangible evidence that these plans are at least under way. Public sentiment al the present time is such that both promises and prophecies are quickly discounted if there is a long wait for signs of performance. "Motor cars on the large scale that Mr. Ford intends to make them in 1932, cannot be made without first placing orders for materials with which to build them. As yet the steel industry has no particular evidence of such orders. "Some weeks, at best, must elapse between the firing of the starting gun, in the form of material orders. and the availability of the new models. Mr. Ford owes it to his competitors, as well as to the public, to cut this elapsed lime to a minimum. Othen1·ise his announcement may serve the opposite purpose intended and delay, rather than expedite, recovery. For many prospectiYe buyers of low-priced cars are undoubted I~· waiting to see what the new Ford looks like." Standard Statistics offers this ray of hope 111 connec­tion with the failure of the usual spring upturn in business to make its appearance: "Inasmuch as we have arrived at the latter half of March with no indica­tions of a general revival of business activity, the prospect of such a revival, in the familiar form, has grown dim. It is worth pointing out, however, that failure of business to gain ground in the early spring has not invariably postponed recovery until the follow­ing autumn, nor has a short, abortiw spring rise always had that result. "Our index of industrial production began to decline in January, 1919, and continued dO\rnward until earh­summer; thereupon it moved sharply upward. carrying well above the normal line, with the result that actiYitv in July and August was at the highest leYel of the Year. "At the beginning of 1921, also, the production curYe was falling and continued to fall until :\laY, when it turned abruptly and continued to adrnnce, with slight interruptions, for two Years. A minor adrnnce in activity was under wa\-earh-in l 92-1, but a sharp recession ensued, touchinp-hottom in mis of the Rerrrn•trur:­ti0n Finance Corporation during the past four weeks, TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW · ···================= Standard Statistics states in its March 23 issur: "There is no need ... for intelligent men to overlook the fact that the Reconstruction scheme is merely a relief measure for the emergency phases of hanking difficulties. Banks have been helped temporarily. The blaze has been put out, but the fire hazard has not heen removed, and the inherent weaknesses in the banking structure have not been removed by the Reconstruction plan. These weaknesses include: faulty management in the past, too many small banks, lack of strict public super· vision, impediments to branch banking in certain areas where it seems economically inevitable, and multiplicity of state and national banking systems." F INANCIAL The meagre data thus far available seem to indicate that the emergency banking relief measures have materially relieved the tension in banking circles and brought about a more optimistic attitude. Bank failures in the United States declined, according to Bradstreet's, only 109 being recorded for the four weeks ending Feb­ruary 25 as against 225 for the preceding 28 days. The average amount of money in daily circulation (adjusted) declined by $103,000,000 during the month from Feb­ruary 6 to March 5. Much of this impressive decline can be credited to the "anti-hoarding drive," but most of it probably represents a reduction in the till money reserves of commercial banks. During the same period, member bank borrowings from the reserve banks fell off slightly. The steady ~utflow of gold apparently is being checked also, a net gain of some $11,000,000 in gold being registered for the week ending Man:h 9, the first weekly gain since December 23. The reversal of the gold flow appears to he the result of a marked weakening in the French, Bdgian, and Dutch exchange rates, accom· panied by a phenomenal rise in sterling quotations, the latter rate reaching $3.72 on March 8. All of these developments suggest a marked improve­ ment in the general banking situation. The mere existence of the Reconstruction Corporation as a source of emeq!;ency loans appears lo have had a powerful psychological effect on commercial bankers. It would he expected, therefore, that an increasing amount of new bank credit would be macle available which should bring about a general decline in short term money rates and the long expected improvement in the high grade hond market. This trend should be materially assisted by the reduction in the New York Reserve Bank's dis­ c~unt ralc from 31/:~ per cent to ~ per cent (effective February 26) , and by the apparent resumption since the first of March of reserve hank open market buying. The hankin;r situation in the Elevrnth Federal Reserve Dislrir-t. although showing hut lillle change over Jan­ uary figures, apparrnlly rloes not yet renect this general improvement. Total debits to individual accounts are down markedly: time deposits have grown somewhat at the expense of demand deposits; borrowings from the Reserve Bank han• increa~ed slightly; and loans extended and government bonds held have shrunk to s?me extent. The probable explanation of these trends is th~t t~e Reconstruction Corporation was not able to orgamze its machinery in the Southwest in time to make itself felt in Fchnrnry. If thi~ asc;umption is correct, a distinct improvement in Eleventh District hanking data can be anticipated for the . pn'sent month. The reports for February arc included in the tabulations presented below which are taken from weekly reports from the Federal Reserve Board: On l\iillions of Dollars) Feb. Jan.• Feb. 1932 1932 1931 Debits to Individual Accounts -$457 S700 $630 Deposits (total) --·-373 370 422 Time --------------------129 125 150 Demand ·-·--------·····--· .. _ 244 245 272 Borrowings from Federal Reserve 6 5 1 Loans (total) ------------270 275 316 On Secrnities ....... __ ---· -----------80 81 91 All Others ---------------------190 194 225 Government Securities Owned --86 87 67 *Five weeks. --~ STOCK PRICES Although mid-February saw a sharp advance in stock prices and a good share of the rise was maintained dur­ing the rest of the month, the market apparently was not ready for a major upswing and prices slumped off early in March with the worst loss being felt by the railroad stocks. The Standard Statistics Company's index of 421 stocks combined averaged 56.4 in February, 2.8 per cent under the average for the previous month. The utilities group index lost only 1.6 per cent, while the group including 33 rails fell 6.8 per cent. Feb. Jan. Feb. 1932 1932 1931 The Standard Indexes of the Stock Market: 421 Stocks Combined 56.4 58.0 119.8 351 Industrials -----------52.9 54.3 110.3 33 Rails --··-·---------··--_ . 34.2 36.7 104.7 37 Utilities -------··-··----· .. -·--· 92.8 94.3 177.9 WHOLEISALE PRICES Lower prices of farm products and foods were reflected in the continued decline in all of the indexes listed below. The Farm Price Index prepared by the United States Bureau of Agricultural Economics lost 4.3 per cent during February, and stood at 60 as com· pared with 90 in February a year ago. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics index including 784 com· moditics dropped from 67.3 in January to 66.3 for February; last year in February, this index stood at 76.8. Feb. Jan. Feb. 1932 1932 1931 Bureau of Labor Statistics _________ ··----66.3 67.3 76.8 Fann Price Index*·---·---__ -··-··--------· 60.0 63.0 90.0 The Annalist ···---·-·---·-----------------------··· 92.3 94°.0 111.2 Dun ----·-·--·----·---··---·---· -------------------··-$139.53 $140.34 $153.55 Bradstreet ·---···------·---_______ -·----------· .. $7.32 $7.52 $9.17 *Bureau of Agricultural Econom::,i_c•_· ----~----~---' TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW ========== ================ =·-----------·· ·­ Dun's index of wholesale prices has remained fairly steady during the past five months and lost only 0.6 per cent during February, to equal $139.53. Bradstreet's index, on the other hand, dropped 2.7 per cent to $7.32 for February as compared with $9.17 for the correspond­ing month in 1931. TEXAS CHARTERS A quickening of interest, due probably to improved business sentiment during February, marked the record of new incorporations in Texas during the month. The number of firms granted charters by the Secretary of State increased over the previous month by 9.2 per cent; since 1920, there are only two other instances in which the number of new firms incorporated during February exceeded that for the previous month. Charters granted Ly the Secretary of State were a;; follows: Feb. Jan. Feb.* 1932 1932 1931 Capital Stock 5,315,000 2,834,000 4,081,000 Number 167 153 176 Classification of New Corporations: Oil -------·--·------------­ - 36 25 27 Public Service ...... - Manufacturing ................. Banking-Finance --------­Real Estate-Building .. .. Tran~portation -----------­Merchandising -----­--General .. 18 8 23 2 45 35 26 3 14 4 53 28 23 13 22 7 49 35 Foreign Permits .. 35 30 38 *Revised. The authorized capital stock of the firms which received charters during February showed up well, in­creasing 88 per cent from the $2,834,000 total for January to $5,315,000 for February. This total exceeds that for February a year ago by 30 per cent. Although there was a rather substantial increase in the number of firms capitalized at less than $5,000, the gain in total capitalization is reflected in the jump in the num­ber of corporations capitalized at more than $100,000 from 4 in January to 11 in the month just passed. As compared with February a year ago, both of these size groups increased by about 10 per cent. COMMERCIAL FAILURES Recovering from the severe jolt experienced in Jan­uary when 163 Texas business houses were forced to close their doors, the record of commercial failures in Texas during February fell in line with the improved trend which obtained during the last quarter of 1931. Only 82 firms went into bankrutcy during the month, as compared with 91 in the corresponding month a year previous. While normally there is a decline of 17 per cent in the number of commercial failures from January to February, this year, due primarily to the unusually high total for January, the decline was practically 50 per cent. Furthermore, the average liabilities per failure were also smaller in February, amounting to $21,146 in February as compared with $22,339 in the previous month and $22,154 in February a year ago. This decline is reflected in the drop in total liabilities: total liabilities in February 1rere Sl,IJLOOO, $lightly lc$S than half the total of 83,649,000 reported in the previous month and 14. per cent under the total for February 1931. Dry goods and c:lothing stores made up the largest individual group with 17 failures, while grocery stores and meat markets accounted for 10 of the insoh·encies. SeYen drug stores, six furniture stores, fi1·e men's cloth­ing stores, four each of women's wear shops and jewelry stores were also included in the total number of bank­ruptcies during the month. Commercial failures in Texas, as reported weekly to the Bureau by R. G. Dun and Company, were: Feb. Jan.• Feb. 1932 1932 1931 Number ----------------------82 163 91 Liabilities 1,734,000 3,649,000 2,016,000 Assets ------------------$745,000 1,706,000 919,000 Average Liabilities per Failure ·2i,146 22,389 22,154 Average Weekly Number ---------------21 33 23 *Five weeks. R. G. Dun and Company reports that there were 2,732 commercial failures in the entire United States during February with total liabilities of $84,900,000; during January, 3,458 firms owing $96,860,000 went into bank­ruptcy, while in February 1931 there were 2,563 in­solvencies with total indebtedness of $59,610,000. Aver­age liabilities per failure in the entire United States were higher by 11 per cent than in January and 34 per cent than in February 1931. DEPARTMENT STORE SALES While it is true that in none of the cities from which department stores report to the Bureau of Business Research were February sales equal in dollar value to those for the corresponding month in 1931, Lubbock and Waco stores made an unusually good showing, and percentage declines in Corsicana, Galveston, Houston, and Port Arthur were approximately equivalent to the decline in retail prices since last year. Total sales of the 34 store-; reporting to the Bureau amounted to $3,164,000, or 22.4 per cent less than sales for the same stores in February last year. In spite of the warm weather which prevailed in February and lessened the movement of late winter goods, total sales for the month were 7.5 per cent aboYe those for January. Last year there was a decline in sales from January to February, and the a\'erage gain between the two months during the years 1927-1928-1929 amounted to only 1.3 per cent. The unusual cold spell early in :Vlarch, while it may haYe delayed the sale of Easler c:lothes, probabh· helped merchants to dispose of winter goods which otherwise would ha\'e been carried O\'er to next season. February collections slowed up a little as compared with both January, and February 1931 ; howe\'er, col­lec:tions in Dallas, Gah·e;;ton, Houston, Lubbock, and San Antonio were better than the a1·erage for the State. · -···-···-· ---­ ·­ Percentage reported follows : h1 chBl anges sturcs in direct de plo arlmcnl Llw slore Bureau sales were as as Number of Stores Report· ing Abilene . ___________________ 3 Austin _ . ------------__ __ _ 6 Beaumont _ ____________ __ __ 3 Corsicana ____ ---------. __ .. . 3 Dallas . _ _ . ·------------_ 6 El Paso _____ _____ _ __ _____ 4 Fort Worth .. _____ ------------5 Galveston ____ 4 Houston ___ _ ---------------8 Lubbock _______ ----------------3 Port Arthur _________ .. _____ 3 San Angelo ______ __________ .. --3 San Antonio _____ ------________ 9 Tyler . ------------------------3 Waco _-----------------------______ 3 All Others ____________________18 STATE __ . __________________________ 84 Sales of 84 Comparable Stores: February ------------------__________ Pcrccntagt• ha ngl' in Sn le·., Feb. Fi'b. Ycar-to ­ 1932 1932 date. 1932 , from from from Feb. Jan. Yrar-to· 1931 1932 dau·. 1931 41.1 t-2.7 -34.6 -25.5 -r-5.9 -26.7 27.3 + 5.4 -28.6 -17.2 +24.7 -20.8 19.3 + 23.4 -21.1 -27.7 -7.4 -30.6 -22.2 + 8.1 -23.5 -18.3 -16.3 -22.6 -17.4 + 11.3 -24.l -5.6 -7.7 -17.5 -17.5 -4.8 -17.7 -24.7 -11.3 -29.6 -29.4 + 1.8 -36.0 -21.1 +31.1 -18.0 -7.4 + 0.7 -11.3 -26.1 5.6 -33.6 -22 .4 -l-7.5 -26.2 1932 1931 3,164,000 4,075,000 January -------------------------____ .--------2,943,000 Year-to-date* -------------------. _·----__ 5,896,000 7,991,000 •Only those stores for which our records arc comp1ele for both ycani are included in thi s total. ~~~~~~~~­ The Federal Reserve Board reports that department store sales during February ih the United States were 16 per cent below those for the corresponding month last year, while there was a decrease from January to February of about the estimated seasonal amount. EMPLOYMENT In line with seasonal influences, the number of workers employed by the 619 firms reporting to the Bureau of Business Research and the Cnited Stales Bureau of Labor Statistics dropped slight! y so that the number of employees as of February 15 stood at 64,919 as against 67,234 on the corresponding date in the previous month. Average weekly wages per worker amounted to $24.83 in February and S24.82 in January. Comparisons with February a year ago show the effect of the unseasonal gain in factory employment in Febru­ary 1931. The number of workers on payrolls on February 15 was 15.1 per cent less than on the cor­responding 1 sulhtantial drops in al'era~·c weekly wages per 1rnrker. Se1enteen of the 32 employment groups showNl hi;!lier weekly wages per worker in Februan than in January, Lut with only one exception these gains were made simultaneously 1rith reductions in the number of w. 1931 Production ___ Shipments -­Stocks -·-----­ -­ 280,000 -256,000 -847,000 338,000 241,000 823,000 286,000 328,000 74-0,000 In the United Slates, production dropped from 5,026,­000 barrels in January to 3,971,000 barrels in February, or 21 per cent. Shipments also declined, totalling only 3,118,000 barrels as compared with 3,393,000 barrels in the previous month. Since output exceeded shipments by about 850,000 barrels, there was a gain of 3.3 per cent in stocks on hand; at 26,631,000 barrels, stocks compare with 25,778,000 barrels at the close of ]anuary and 28,612,000 at the end of February 19.'31. Cement mills in the United States were operating at 18.7 per cent of capacity as against 29.4 a year ago. LUMBER That average weekly shipments per unit 111 lumber mills reporting to the Southern Pine Association in­creased 14 per cent during February as compared with the previous month, may be looked upon as a Ln-orable development, particularly because this increase was accompanied by a gain (even though in this case it was only 1.6 per cent) in average unfilled orders. At 197,046 feet, average weekl y shipments per unit during February were almost 50,000 feet above a\ erage weekly output, so that even with the gain of 3.5 per cent in production dur ing the monlh there was a net decline in stocks. - The Southern Pine Association reports activity in its member mills as follows: (Jn Board Feet) Feb. 1932 Jan. 1932 Ft h. 1931 Average Weekly Production per Unit --------------------­______ 148,666 Average Weekly Shipments per Unit --------------­-----------­197,046 Average Unfilled Orders per Unit, End of Month ____ 542,449 143,589 172,291 533,658 267,851 286,154 808,560 Average unfilled orders per unit have been on the increase since the first week of January, and bookings at the end of February, though not quite up to one month's run, are the highest recorded for the year so far and are about one-third below those at the close of February last year. PETROLEUM More and more it is becoming apparent that the problem of the oil industry as a whole is based primarily upon the ability of Lhat widely extended industry to obtain a better balance between production of oil products and consumption requirements. Although the output of crude oil has been drastically restricted, the difficulty of keeping production under control may be judged from the facts that while the average production of crude oil in the first two weeks of March ranged about 2,142,000 barrels daily, the current shut-in production has been conservatively estimated at 3,000.­000 barrels a day. Although the refiners of the United States in the twt>he months ending March 12, operated on a weekly average of around 60 per cent of capacity, yet gasoline ~tock~ during 1932 have closely paralleled those for the rnr­responding period of 1931. For the year 1931, total volume of exports of crude and refined oil products from the Lnited States amounted to 44. per cent more than the imports of these products, yet the trend of total ex ports of oil products has been rather sharply downward since 1929. For the week ending l\Iarch 12. Oklahoma's daih crude oil production w~,s nearly 18 ,per cent below th~t of the same period in 1931 ; Kansas production likewise was less than that of a year ago. In most Texas districts. production is less than a year ago-in several district~ considerably less; East Texas, however, produced in ·===== = ===-·-----------------·-­ the week ending March 12 at th(~ daily average rale of 323,600 barrels in conlrast to the dailv awrage rate of 82,700 barrels a year ago. Daily average production of petroleum, as reported by the American Petroleum Institule, was as follows: (In Barrels) Feb. Jan. Feb. 1932 1932 1931 Panhandle _________ .. 49,037 51,525 54,337 North Texas __ ______ 48,100 49,300 59,888 West Central Texas _____ 24,150 25,225 24,425 West Texas --------------·-____ 176,163 174,000 244,712 East Central Texas_____ _______ 52,438 50,637 42,650 East Texas ____ ... ____ --·-·--315,137 335,175 19,675 Southwest Texas ____ _ _ ___ 51,875 52,213 78,038 Coastal Texas _________ __________ 112,412 112,450 158,737 STATE __________________ _______ 829,312 850,525 682,462 UNITED STATES _________ 2,143,275 2,189,987 2,127,587 Imports ------------------------------237,750 216,857 259,178 l\ew field developments, according to the Oil Weekly, were as follows: ~~~~~~~F--~~~a,1.~~~~b.-. eb. J--Fe~ 1932 1932 1931 Permits for New Wells _____.__________ 508 360 333 Wells Completed -----------------------499 502 288 Oil Wells ---------------------------------401 409 141 Gas Wells --------------------------________ 13 12 23 Initial Production (In Thousands of Barrels) ________ 3,017 2,877 151 Gasoline sales in Texas, as indicated by taxes col­lec;ted by the Stale Comptroller, totalled 55,289,000 gallons, as compared wilh 61,9n9,000 gallons in Decem­ber, and 61,059,000 gallons in January 1931. COTTON MANUFACTURING IN TEXAS Texas cotton mills reporting Lo the Bureau of Busi­ness Resean:h turned out 3,360,0UO yards of goods dur­ing February, a total exceeding by 7.4 per cent the oul­put for the previous month. Last year in February, these same mills produced 3,474,0UO yards of cloth. February production exceeded sales by about 300,000 yards, resulting in an accurnulation of goods on hand. Sales totalled only 3,067,000 yards as compared with 3,742,000 yards in January, and 3,419,000 yards in February a year ago. unfilled orders dropped from 3,815,000 yards at the close of January to 3,633,000 yards at the end of February, a decline of 4.8 per cent; at this level bookings were 23 per cent under those at the close of February a year ago and are scarcely a month's run at present uperaliog schedules. Heports from 21 cotton mills clirecl tu the Bureau may lie summarized as follows: Feb. Jan. Feb. J'J32 1932 1931 Bales of Cotton Used 3,702 4,280 4,547 Yards of Cloth: Produced _ 3,360,000 3,129,000 3,474,000 Sold _ 3,067,000 3,742,000 3,419,000 Unfilled Orders 3,633,000 3,815,000 4,739,000 Active Spindle 143,426 145,224 160,993 Spindle Hours 34,4-01,000 36,081,000 40,165,000 The number of active spind les, at 14.3,426, dropped 011ly 1.2 per cent from the pre1'ious month as against a drop in bales of <'Olton used from 4,2BO to 3,702, or about 14 per cent. Spindle hours reflect this seasonal decli11e in manufacturing activity by a loss of 4.7 per t'ent from the total for fonuary and, at 34,401,000 hours, are 14 per cent below those r~ported in February, 1931. TEXTILE SITUATION Cotton consumption in the United States during February was 4.50,000 bales as compared with 434,000 bales consumed in January and 433,000 bales consumed in February 1931. This is an increase of about 4 per cent as compared 1rith January of this year as well as with February of last year. According to the Association of Cotton Textile Merchants of :\ew York, February suffered a severe set· back from the fa\'orable showing made in January of this year. Cloth sales during February amounted to 245,600,000 yards as compared with 338,000,000 yards in January. This represents a decrease of 27 per cent. The decline in cloth sales from February 1931, to February 1932, is 25 per cent. Unfilled orders declined from 391,000,000 yards at the encl of January 1932, to 378,000,000 yards at the end of February 1932, or about 3 per cent. The percentage decline from February 1931, to February 1932, is 4 per cent. SPINNERS MARGIN Prices of raw cotton and the prices of 32-twist yarn adYanced during February, but the price of raw cotton adYanced more sharply than the price of 32-twist yam Accordingly, the spinners margin declined from 176 in January to 172 in February. This is a loss of 4 points for the month. COTTON BALANCE SHEET Supply of raw cotton in the United States on March 1 was 14,337,000 bales as compared with 11,010,000 bales on the same ad frnm tht> \larch supply· price curve, the indicated pril'c i~ het"·ccn 6.2.1 f'rnt' and 6.75 cents. Inasmuch as the n!'W crop is heginning lo be a market factor and sinre the February l<'xtilc figures, issued by the Association of Cotton Textile \Ierchants of :\ew York, arc not encouraging, for an\" bullish enthusiasm lo develop, it would probabh-have to come from the inflationary measures recently enacted into law and from unfavorable weather M the growing season gets under way. COTTON BALANCE SHEET IN THE UNITED STATES AS OF MARCH 1 ! In Thou5ands of Running Bales\ Year Carry· 0\'f'f Imports• Orr"m her I E111imnt,..• To1al Con!UffifHirtn Expnrt!ll Tn1al R11lanrr 1924-1925 1925-1926 1926-1927 1927-1928 1928-1929 1929-1930 1930-1931 1931-1932 ---­--------·-­-­---·--------­----------­----------------·---.. --­-· ···---------------­··----------· -------------­-·­--­-------------­--­-------------­ 1,556 1,610 3,543 3,762 2,536 2,313 4,530 6,369 213 199 232 226 246 215 41 56 13,153 15.603 18,618 12,789 14,373 14,919 14,243 16,918 11,922 17,412 22.39.3 16.777 17.155 17,447 18,814 23,343 3,503 3,74.6 4,019 4.201 4.012 3,809 2,900 3,081 6,134 5.927 7.565 5.122 6,190 5.293 4,901 5,925 9,737 9.673 11 ,584 9.323 10.232 9,102 7.804 9,006 5,185 7,739 10,809 7,454 6.923 8.34.5 11,010 14,337 •In 500-pound bales. The cotton year begins on August 1. FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SH IPMENTS A belated spell of winter in March, coming after weeks of spring weather had given fruit and vegetable crops a good start, played havoc with Texas truck farms and orchards and caused severe losses to producers all the way from Dallas to the Valley. The East Texas peach and tomato crops suffered great damage. Cucumbers and beans in the Corpus Christi and Valley areas were killed, and onion plants were also hurt. The straw­berry deal, which was beginning to get under way, was set back about two weeks. Citrus trees in the Valley escaped injury. Reports on fruit and vegetable ship­ments in the next few months will give a more accurate picture of the extent of the damage done by the freeze. Loadings for February totalled 6,805 cars and were exceeded only by the record of 7,256 carloads set in February last year. The bulk of the loadings consisted of mixed vegetables, spinach, and cabbage. Grapefruit shipments in February totalled 1,211 carloads as com­pared with 976 cars in January and 361 cars in Febrn­ary 1931. The first carload of strawberries for the season moved out in February and loadings of beans jumped from 9 in January to .55 in the month just passed. Also incl uded in the total shipments for the month were 75 cars of sweet potatoes, 4 cars of cauliflower, 1 car of lettuce, 1 of tomatoes, 27 of oranges, 25 of potatoes, 2 of green peas, 116 of mixed citrus, 278 of ('arrots, JSH of beets, and 147 of greens. Fruit and vegetable shipments, as compiled from daily reports from the United States Department of Agricul­ture, were : (In Carloads) h •h. Jan. Frh. 1932 1932 1931 Mixed Vegetable~ 1,683 1,438 1,84.5 Spinach _ 1.590 1,560 2,077 Cabbage 1,431 1.569 1.980 Grapefruit 1,211 976 361 Sweet Potatoes 75 69 129 Cauliflower __ 4 71 Strawben-ies 1 Lettuce Tomatoes ____ _ ____ ___ __ 1 1 2 2 20 Oranges 27 24 40 Potatoe<; Green Peas _________ 25 2 51 15 19 1 Beans-Snap, Lima, String __ _ _______ _ 55 9 2 Mixed Citrus 116 87 14 Peppers 1 Ca1Tot 278 95 366 Beets 158 99 236 Greens 147 280 119 Turnips and Rutabagas 46 TOTAL 6,805 6.347 7.256 POULTRY AND EGGS Total intcn;tatc rail ;.;hipments of poultry and eggs combined during February amounted to 307 cars, a decline of 6 per cent from the 326 cars shipped out of the State during February last year. The drop occurred in the poultn· $hipmenl$, which fell from 179 cars to 148 cars, or 17 per cent. Egg shipments to other states amounted to 159 cars compared with 147 ('ars a year ago. One carload of eggs was received in Texas from Georgia. The Lubbock, Abilene, and Fort Worth-Dallas areas stand out as the large shipping points of chickens in Texas, while the Cuero-Yoakum and the Dallas-Fort Worth sections originate the bulk of the eggs. '-----­ FEBRUARY CARLOAD MOVEMENT OF POULTRY & EGGS• Shipments from Texas Stations Cars of Poultry Live Dreased Cars Chickens Turkeys Chickens Turkey" or Egg• 1931 1932 1931 1932 1931 1932 1931 1932 1931 1932 TOTAL --64 44 1 112 93 8 12 191 160 Jntrastate .-5 2 44 1 Tnte·rstate -.... 59 42 1 112 93 8 12 147 159 ~York -...... 46 41 1 48 35 3 2 19 36 Lllinois 4 6 9 2 3 11 50 Massachusetts -------19 7 2 2 7 21 ew Jcrseyt 12 7 4 2 Pennsylvania 2 11 21 1 7 4 Louisiana -------3 1 1 47 9 Connecticut 5 4 1 2 Missouri 5 2 1 2 5 3 Georgia 3 9 10 Michigan 1 1 2 10 13 California 3 1 3 1 Alabama 8 Florida 11 6 Rhode Island .... -··- 1 2 Tennessee __ ··---.. _ 4 2 Maryland ------------- 1 1 Di United Statt·s Bureau of Agricultural Economics and prosperts for grazing during the coming season were said to be better than on the same date a year ago. Cattle suffered somewhat from the frequent cold rains which prevailed during February so that their condition was 2 points below the 5 vear average on March 1. Further deterioration may have occurred during the unseasonably cold weather the early part of March. Tndications are that there will be a large supply of grass fat cattle available for market, but unless the market ·impro,·es, no heavy runs to market are expected. Sheep were in excellent condition on March 1, but some los~es of young lambs and newly-sheared goats occurred during the extreme cold spell early in March. The livestock condition report of the United States Department of Agriculture for Texas as of March 1 is as follows: Condition of Ranges Condition of Livestock Per Cent of Normal Per Cent of Normal Cattle Sheep & Goals Cattle Sheep Goat11 March 1, 1932 _______ ____ 82 85 80 83 81 One Month Ago............ 78 80 79 81 79 One Year .\ g<>---··-···--86 89 84 88 87 5-year Average ·------·--81.4 82.0 82.0 83.8 81.2 Total rail shipments both intra-State and inter-State of all classes of livestock amounted to 2,241 cars in February, as compared with the 2,675 cars during the corresponding month a year ago. Hogs showed the sharpest decline with a drop of 62 per cent, while cattle and calves were off 15 and 25 per cent respectively. Movement of sheep gained 38 per cent over the same month a year ago, thus maintaining the high rate of shipments which has prevailed for a number of months. Cattle shipments out of the State by rail amounted to L719 cars, compared with 1,380 ears in February J93l, a decline of 8 per cent. Shipments of hogs declined 49 per cent, calves 44 per cent, and cattle 8 per cent. TEXAS CAR-LOTt SHIPMENTS OF LIVESTOCK DURING FEBRUARY* Cattle Calves Swine Sheep Total 1932 1931 1932 1931 1932 1931 1932 1931 1932 1931 Total Interstate Plus Fort WorthIT _______________l ,196 1,292 142 256 85 168 296 l64 1,719 1,880 Total Intrastate Omitting Fort Worth_________ 311