196 DEEP FURROWS 



entire grain business. Even the speculating element is 

 not without its uses at times and the layman who 

 ventures to condemn This or That out of hand will do 

 well to make sure he understands what he is talking 

 about; for the business of the grain dealer is so sub- 

 ject to varying conditions and so involved in its 

 methods that it is one of the most difficult to be found 

 in the commercial world. 



Trading in futures finds birth in the very natural 

 disinclination of Mr. Baker to buy his flour by the ware- 

 houseful. He does not want to provide storage for a 

 year's supply, even if he could stand such a large bite 

 out of his capital without losing his balance. So while 

 the bakery man is anxious to order his flour in large 

 quantities for future use, he is equally anxious to have 

 it delivered only as he needs it, paying for it only as it 

 reaches him say, every three months. 



Before contracting for the delivery of the flour on 

 this basis Mr. Miller must look to his wheat supply on 

 a similar basis of So-Much every So-Often and he, too, 

 has an eye on storage and, like his friend the baker, he 

 " needs the dough," as they say on the street, and he 

 does not want to part with any more hard-working 

 money than he can help. Accordingly he looks around 

 for somebody who has wheat for sale and will sell it 

 right now at a fixed price but defer delivery and pay- 

 ment to a future date. With the price of his wheat 

 thus nailed down, Mr. Miller can set the future price 

 on his flour to his customers, taking delivery and 

 paying for the wheat as he requires it for filling his 

 flour orders. 



In the meantime where is the wheat? Out near the 

 fields where it was grown, in country elevators perhaps, 

 ready for transportation to market as the law of supply 



