THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 215 



Thus the per cent of wheat exported from the United States 

 is five times as large as the per cent of corn, while the per 

 cent of wheat shipped outside of the county where grown is 

 nearly three times as large as that of corn. Wheat is the key- 

 stone in the arch of commodities which is buttressed on con- 

 sumption and production, and which supports the great com- 

 mercial superstructure that, with its many ramifications, unites 

 into a threefold nexus of interests rural producer and urban 

 consumer, manufacturer and agriculturist, and the producers 

 engaged in diversified extractive industries. The grain move- 

 ment has a function in the national economy second in im- 

 portance to that of no other factor in our agricultural life. 

 Directly and indirectly, it is the chief feature in our com- 

 mercial relations. 



The Three Methods of Marketing Wheat utilized by the 

 American farmer depend upon the amount of wheat that is 

 grown. The largest farmers make a wholesale disposal of the 

 bulk of their wheat, watching a good opportunity to sell, or 

 employing agents to watch at the chambers of commerce or 

 boards of trade of such primary markets as Duluth, Minne- 

 apolis and Chicago. A large class of less extensive growers 

 obtain a price remarkably close to city quotations by forming 

 close business relations with commission men at the large 

 terminal points. By shipping their grain directly, they avoid 

 the middleman charge of the local dealer. The great mass of 

 smaller farmers sell to the local elevators. The profits of the 

 local buyers, however, have quite frequently been scaled to the 

 lowest notch by competition. 



The Buyer of Wheat is always located within hauling dis- 

 tance of the producer's home. There are two classes of buyers, 

 the local grain dealers and the dealers who represent the 

 terminal grain buyers. The general policy of the railroads has 

 been to rely upon these two classes of buyers to provide the 

 country elevator facilities needed for receiving and shipping 

 grain, and to enable them to do this promptly by furnishing 

 them with adequate transportation facilities. The terminal 

 grain buyers, controlling lines of hundreds of elevators, have 

 been the most important factor in the producer's grain market. 

 The local buyer is usually a dealer engaged exclusively in the 

 grain business, but frequently, especially in Minnesota and the 



