CHAPTER XIII. 

 THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 



The Else and Progress of the Grain Trade of the United 

 States is one of the greatest marvels of an age noted for its 

 commercialism. Its entire history would form almost a com- 

 plete record of the development of the American continent, for 

 it was the major factor in the opening up of three-fourths of 

 our settled domain. The pioneer husbandman formed the 

 vanguard in the march of civilization. The first succeeding 

 ranks were formed by the merchant. Then came in quick se- 

 quence the panoramic array of our ocean, lake and river fleets, 

 of our canals, of our wonderful storage and transportation sys- 

 tems, and of our commercial institutions. 



The cereal crop has been the distinctive feature of rural in- 

 dustry in the United States. Here, as in every agricultural 

 community, the three concentric circles of distribution which 

 arose were centered in the local market, in the city market, 

 and in the foreign market. In the modern wheat industry, 

 wheat farming is mainly for a commercial surplus. A minor 

 portion of the wheat grown is consumed or retained on the 

 farm, while the great bulk of wheat is poured into the streams 

 of local, interstate and international commerce. The major 

 factor in that part of the cereal crop which figures in the in- 

 ternal trade and foreign commerce of our nation is composed 

 of wheat. Much more corn than wheat is produced in the 

 United States, but only a minor portion of this corn becomes a 

 factor in its raw form in the domestic trade of the country, 

 while a comparatively insignificant portion is exported. Less 

 than 3 per cent of the corn grown in the United States in 1906 

 was exported, and only 25 per cent of that grown in 1905 

 found its way into the channels of domestic trade. For the 

 last decade of the nineteenth century, the exports of wheat 

 from the United States were over one-third of the amount 

 grown, while those of corn were only one-fifteenth. For the 

 year 1902, ten-seventeenths of the wheat grown, but only two- 

 ninths of the corn, was shipped outside of the county where 

 it was raised. 



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