770 READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



It is the purpose of this paper to explain the relation of the 

 commission man and jobber to the handling of produce in the 

 enlarged markets of to-day, and to discuss some of the problems 

 that have arisen in connection therewith. By commission man is 

 meant an agent stationed at a primary market for the purpose of 

 receiving consignments from shippers at a distance and disposing 

 of the same at a stipulated rate of commission on the selling 

 price. The term "jobber" is used to apply to those dealers in the 

 primary markets who buy outright from shippers at a distance, 

 either through travelling agents or according to mailed quotations, 

 and who sell to retail agencies or to other jobbers in the same or 

 in other primary markets. 



A survey of the agencies handling produce in our primary mar- 

 kets twenty or thirty years ago discloses very few jobbers. Prac- 

 tically the whole field was held by the commission man. It was 

 he who acted as the sole intermediary between the local shippers 

 and the retail agencies of the cities during the initial widening of 

 the market. The advent of the jobber into this line of business 

 came at a later date. 



To understand why the commission man rather than the jobber 

 first entered the primary market in the handling of farm produce 

 we must bear in mind the degree of hazard which was then in- 

 volved in such business. The fact is that no one cared to buy 

 farm produce outright from distant shippers because of the risks 

 involved. The only kind of business which then attracted men 

 was that of an agent who could command a commission in pro- 

 portion to the amount of produce handled, without incurring at 

 the same time any liability regarding the quality or safety of the 

 product. This meant that all risks involved had to be borne by 

 the local shipper. 



An explanation of the factors contributing to those early risks 

 requires the enumeration of a number of hazards. In the first 

 place, the physical condition of the produce as it left the various 

 farms was a matter of great uncertainty. Farmers had only 

 the vaguest knowledge as to the demands of the market and 

 would mingle produce of various grades and of various stages 

 of ripeness or unripeness. The method of packing was equally 



