84 WHEAT 



the storage charges, the natural shrinkage in 

 weight, the insurance against loss by fire and cy- 

 clone, the interest on the money represented by 

 the value of the wheat and the extra cost of 

 handling the grain, may amount to from five to 

 ten cents per bushel depending on the length of 

 time of storage. Thus eighty to eighty-five cents 

 per bushel at threshing time may be better than 

 ninety cents six months later. 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 



The market price of wheat is normally deter- 

 mined by the world's conditions of supply and 

 demand. The United States produces more wheat 

 than is required for local consumption, therefore 

 the price is fixed by the country which buys the 

 export, but such price should under normal con- 

 ditions be higher than the surplus producing 

 country could fix for itself. Hence the export 

 price is a benefit to the wheat grower. 



TRICKS OF THE TRADE 



It is true that with a large, visible supply of 

 wheat in a certain section the tendency is to 

 depress the local price at threshing time when the 

 bulk of the crop is sold, but this is a " trick of the 

 trade " on the part of the buyers, due in part to 

 the congested condition and the impression 

 which the farmer receives that the supply is 

 greater than the demand. The true market price 

 of wheat is always established by the world's 

 supply and not by the crop of any one state or 

 locality. 



