§ 452. Establishment of division.-The Governor of the Farm Credit Administration is hereby authorized and directed to establish a division of cooperative marketing with suitable personnel in the Farm Credit Administration. Such division shall be under the direction and supervision of the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration. (July 2, 1926, ch. 725, §, 44 Stat. 802; Ex. Ord. No. 5200, Oct. 1, 1929; Ex. Ord. No. 6084, Mar. 27, 1933.)

§ 453. Authority and duties of division.-(a) The division shall render service to associations of producers of agricultural products, and federations and subsidiaries thereof, engaged in the cooperative marketing of agricultural products, including processing, warehousing, manufacturing, storage, the cooperative purchasing of farm supplies, credit, financing, insurance, and other cooperative activities

(b) The division is authorized

(1) To acquire, analyze, and disseminate economic, statistical, and historical information regarding the progress, organization, and business methods of cooperative associations in the United States and foreign countries.

(2) To conduct studies of the economic, legal, financial, social, and other phases of cooperation, and publish the results thereof. Such studies shall include the analyses of the organization, operation, financial and merchandising problems of cooperative associations.

(3) To make surveys and analyses if deemed advisable of the accounts and business practices of representative cooperative associations upon their request; to report to the association so surveyed the results thereof; and with the consent of the association so surveyed to publish summaries of the results of such surveys, together with similar facts, for the guidance of cooperative associations and for the purpose of assisting cooperative associations in developing methods of business and market analysis.

(4) To confer and advise with committees or groups of producers, if deemed advisable, that may be desirous of forming a cooperative association and to make an economic survey and analysis of the facts surrounding the production and marketing of the agricultural product or products which the association, if formed, would handle or market.

(5) To acquire from all available sources information concerning crop prospects, supply, demand, current receipts, exports, imports, and prices of the agricultural products handled or marketed by cooperative associations, and to employ qualified commodity marketing specialists to summarize and analyze this information and disseminate the same among cooperative associations and others.

(6) To promote the knewledge of cooperative principles and practices and to cooperative, in promoting such knowledge, with educational and marketing agencies, cooperative associations, and others.

(7) To make such special studies, in the United States and foreign countries, and to acquire and disseminate such informa

tion and findings as may be useful in the development and practice of cooperation. (July 2, 1926, ch. 725, § 3, 44 Stat. 802.)

§ 454. Advisers to counsel with Governor of the Farm Credit Administration; expenses and subsistence.-The Governor of the Farm Credit Administration is authorized, in his discretion, to call advisers to counsel with him and/or his representatives relative to specific problems of cooperative marketing of farm products or any other cooperative activity. Any person, other than an officer, agent, or employee of the United States, called into conference, as provided for in this section, may be paid actual transportation expenses and not to exceed $10 per diem to cover subsistence and other expenses while in conference and en route from and to his home. (July 2, 1926, ch. 725, § 4, 44 Stat. 803; Ex. Ord. No. 5200, Oct. 1, 1929; Ex. Ord. No. 6084, Mar. 27, 1933.)

§ 455. Dissemination of crop, market, etc., information by cooperative marketing associations.-Persons engaged, as original producers of agricultural products such as farmers, planters, ranchmen, dairymen, nut or fruit growers, acting together in associations, corporate or otherwise, in collectively processing, preparing for market, handling, and marketing in interstate and/or foreign commerce such products of persons so engaged, may acquire, exchange, interpret, and disseminate past, present, and prospective crop, market, statistical, economic, and other similar information by direct exchange between such persons, and/or such associations or federations thereof, and/or by and through a common agent created or selected by them. (July 2, 1926, ch. 725, § 5, 44 Stat. 803.)

§ 456. Rules and regulations; appointment, removal, and compensation of employees; expenditures; appropriations.--The Governor of the Farm Credit Administration may make such rules and regulations as may be deemed advisable to carry out the provisions of this chapter and may cooperate with any department or agency of the Government, any State, Territory, District, or possession, or department, agency, or political subdivision thereof, or any person; and may call upon any other Federal department, board, or commission for assistance in carrying out the purposes of this chapter; and shall have the power to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of such officers and employees not in conflict with existing law and make such expenditure for rent, outside the District of Columbia, printing, telegrams, telephones, books of reference, books of law, periodicals, newspapers, furniture, stationery, office equipment, travel, and other supplies and expenses as shall be necessary to the administration of this chapter in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, and there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, such sums as may be necessary after the fiscal year 1927, for carrying out the purposes of this chapter. (July 2, 1926, ch. 725, § 6, 44 Stat. 803; Ex. Ord. No. 5200, Oct. 1, 1929; Ex. Ord. No. 6084, Mar. 27, 1933.)

§ 457. Partial invalidity of chapter.-If any provision of this chapter is declared unconstitutional or the applicability thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the validity of

the remainder of the chapter and the applicability of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby, and nothing contained in this chapter is intended nor shall be construed, to modify or repeal any of the provisions of sections 291 and 292 of this title. (July 2, 1926, ch. 725, § 7, 44 Stat. 803.)

Chapter 19.-COTTON STATISTICS AND ESTIMATES

§ 471. Statistics and estimates of grades and staple length of cotton; collection and publication. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to collect and publish annually, on dates to be announced by him, statistics or estimates concerning the grades and staple length of stocks of cotton, known as the carry-over, on hand on the 1st of August of each year in warehouses and other establishments of every character in the continental United States; and following such publication each year, to publish, at intervals in his discretion, his estimate of the grades and staple length of cotton of the then current crop: Provided, That not less than three such estimates shall be published with respect to each crop. In any such statistics or estimates published, the cotton which on the date for which such statistics are published may be recognized as tenderable on contracts of sale of cotton for future delivery under chapter 14 of Title 26, shall be stated separately from that which may be untenderable under said chapter. (Mar. 3, 1927, ch. 337, § 1, 44 Stat. 1372.)

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§ 472. Information furnished of confidential character; penalty for divulging information. The information furnished by any individual establishment under the provisions of this chapter shall be considered as strictly confidential and shall be used only for the statistical purpose for which it is supplied. Any employee of the Department of Agriculture who, without the written authority of the Secretary of Agriculture, shall publish or communicate any information given into his possession by reason of his employment under the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than $300 or more than $1,000, or imprisoned for a period of not exceeding one year, or both so fined and imprisoned, at the discretion of the court. (Mar. 3, 1927, ch. 337, § 2, 44 Stat. 1373.)

§ 473. Persons required to furnish information; request; failure to furnish; false information.-It shall be the duty of every owner, president, treasurer, secretary, director, or other officer or agent of any cotton warehouse, cotton ginnery, cotton mill, or other place or establishment where cotton is stored, whether conducted as a corporation, firm, limited partnership, or individual, and of any owner or holder of any cotton and of the agents and representatives of any such owner or holder, when requested by the Secretary of Agriculture or by any special agent or other employee of the Department of Agriculture acting under the instructions of said Secretary to furnish completely and correctly, to the best of his knowledge, all of the information concerning the grades and staple length of cotton

on hand, and when requested to permit such agent or employee of the Department of Agriculture to examine and classify samples of all such cotton on hand. The request of the Secretary of Agriculture for such information may be made in writing or by a visiting representative, and if made in writing shall be forwarded by registered mail, and the registry receipt of the Post Office Department shall be accepted as evidence of such demand. Any owner, president, treasurer, secretary, director, or other officer or agent of any cotton warehouse, cotton ginnery, cotton mill, or other place or establishment where cotton is stored, or any owner or holder of any cotton or the agent or representative of any such owner or holder, who, under the conditions hereinbefore stated, shall refuse or willfully neglect to furnish any information herein provided for or shall willfully give answers that are false or shall refuse to allow agents or employees of the Department of Agriculture to examine or classify any cotton in store in any such establishment, or in the hands of any owner or holder or of the agent or representative of any such owner or holder, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $300 or more than $1,000. (Mar. 3, 1927, ch. 337, § 3, 44 Stat. 1373.)

§ 473a. Classification of cotton on request of producer.-The Secretary of Agriculture, upon request in writing from any group of producers organized to promote the improvement of cotton who comply with such regulations as he may prescribe, is authorized and directed to determine and to make promptly available to such producers, the classification, in accordance with the official cotton standards of the United States, of any cotton produced by them. The Secretary of Agriculture is further authorized to pay the transportation charges and to furnish tags and containers for the samples of cotton submitted for classification under this section, and all samples of cotton so classified shall become the property of the Government, and the proceeds of any sales thereof after classification shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. (Mar. 3, 1927, ch. 337, § 3a, as added, April 13, 1937, ch. 75, 50 Stat. 62.)

§ 473b. Market supply, demand, condition and prices; collection and publication of information.-The Secretary of Agriculture is also authorized and directed to collect, authenticate, publish, and distribute, by telegraph, radio, mail, or otherwise, timely information on the market supply, demand, location, condition, and market prices for cotton, and to cause to be prepared regularly and distributed for posting at gins, in post offices, or other public or conspicuous places in cotton-growing communities, information on prices for the various grades and staple lengths of cotton. (Mar. 3, 1927, ch. 337, § 3b, as added April 13, 1937, ch. 75, 50 Stat. 62.)

§ 473c. Rules and regulations.-The Secretary of Agriculture is further authorized to make such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter. (Mar. 3, 1927, ch. 337, § 3c, as added April 13, 1937, ch. 75, 50 Stat. 62.)

§ 473d. Quality tests and analyses by Secretary for breeders and others; fees.-The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make analyses of fiber properties, spining tests, and other tests of the quality of cotton samples submitted to him by cotton breeders and other persons, subject to such terms and conditions and to the payment by such cotton breeders and other persons of such fees as he may prescribe by regulations under this chapter. The fees to be assessed hereunder shall be reasonable, and, as nearly as may be, to cover the cost of the service rendered. (Mar. 3, 1927, ch. 337, § 3d, as added Apr. 7, 1941, ch. 42, 55 Stat. 131.)

§ 474. Powers of Secretary of Agriculture; appropriation.—The Secretary of Agriculture may cooperate with any department or agency of the Government, any State, Territory, District, or possession, or department, agency, or political subdivision thereof, or any person; and shall have the power to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of such officers and employees, not in conflict with existing law, and make such expenditures for the purchase of samples of cotton, for rent outside the District of Columbia, printing, telegrams, telephones, books of reference, periodicals, furniture, stationery, office equipment, travel, and other supplies and expenses as shall be necessary to the administration of this chapter in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, and there are hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary for such purposes. (Mar. 3, 1927, ch. 337, § 4, 44 Stat. 1373.)

§ 475. Cotton crop reports.-The Secretary of Agriculture shall discontinue acreage reports based upon farmers' intention to plant cotton and shall cause to be issued between July 1, and December 1, five monthly reports, one as of September 1, one as of October 1, one as of November 1, and one as of December 1, each of which shall state the condition and progress of the crop and the probable number of bales which will be ginned, these reports to be issued simultaneously with the cotton ginning reports of the Bureau of the Census relating to the same dates, the two reports to be issued from the same place at eleven antemeridian of the eighth day following that to which the respective reports relate. When such date of release falls on Sunday or a legal holiday the report shall be issued at eleven o'clock antemeridian of the next succeeding workday. No such report shall be approved and released by the Secretary of Agriculture until it shall have been passed upon by a cottoncrop reporting committee or board consisting of five members or more to be designated by him, not less than three of which shall be supervisory field statisticians of the Department of Agriculture located in different sections of the cotton-growing States, experienced in estimating cotton production and who have first-hand knowledge of the conditions of the cotton crop based on recent field observations, and a majority of which committee or board shall be familiar with the methods and practices of producing cotton. (May 3, 1924, ch. 149, § 1, 43 Stat. 115; Mar. 3, 1927, ch. 337, § 5, 44 Stat. 1373.)