THE CONSUMPTION OF WHEAT 



3. The Markets of the World. 



The marketing of a commodity so universally con- 

 sumed as wheat is certain to vary greatly in different 

 countries. The market for wheat in some countries 

 displays all the features of the most highly specialised 

 market created by the mechanism of exchange under 

 modern economic conditions, while in others it is 

 wholly unorganised and little in advance of medieval 

 conditions. Sale by grade, future dealings, the rise of 

 speculative dealers, the modern corn exchange, these 

 are the characteristics of a market such as that of 

 Chicago. But the organisation of marketing does not 

 concern us here so much as the geographical distribu- 

 tion of markets. The markets may be divided into 

 two classes: 



(1) Those which require foreign supplies to meet 

 the home demand. These markets are situated for 

 the most part in Europe, but in the Far East a small 

 demand for foreign wheat has grown up. 



The comparative strengths of these markets may be 

 seen from the following table, showing average annual 

 production of wheat and average annual imports of the 

 chief importing countries during the last three 

 decades : 



TABLE I. 



