MARKETING PRODUCTS 109 



This is marketed later in the form of eggs, milk, or 

 meat. Animal husbandry is a very important branch 

 of agriculture, but its bearings will be discussed under 

 another heading. 



Crops grown for the home market are usually sold 

 direct to the consumer, or at most only pass through 

 the hands of the local grocer as a middleman. This is 

 a very simple and on many accounts a very desirable 

 business arrangement. The farmer can consult the 

 needs and tastes of his customers and by supplying 

 their wants he can be reasonably sure of fair prices 

 for his products regardless of the fluctuation in the 

 great market centers. By careful attention to grow- 

 ing his crops well and preparing them for market 

 attractively he can soon make a local reputation for 

 his goods that will always secure a ready sale, and he 

 has the great advantage of being able to grow and 

 sell a diversity of crops. The man who grows only 

 one or two market crops runs greater risks of loss 

 from an unfavorable season or from the fluctuations 

 of the market than the one who has a number of dif- 

 ferent crops. Weather conditions that injure one may 

 benefit others, and it is seldom indeed that prices for 

 all farm products are disastrously low at the same 

 time. With perishable products the grower for the 

 home market has the further advantage of being able 

 to sell them when fresh and in the best condition, and 

 he is not liable to the heavy losses due to deterioration 

 in transit so often met by those who ship such crops 

 to a distance. It is indeed remarkable how often 

 the advantages of a home market are overlooked and 

 in how many cases small towns and rural communities 



