MANAGEMENT 235 



Staple products vs. specialties. The distinction between staple 

 products and agricultural specialties is not always clear, since 

 they shade off into one another by almost imperceptible stages. 

 In general, a staple product is one which will always sell at some 

 quotable price ; that is, any product whose price can always be 

 determined by the market quotations as in the case of grain 

 and hay, beef, cotton, hogs, and cattle may be called a staple 

 product. Any product, on the other hand, which is not actually 

 classified on the market, and for which there are not and cannot 

 be regular market quotations, but for which there is, nevertheless, 

 considerable sale, sometimes at fancy prices, may be called an 

 agricultural specialty. Fine stock for breeding purposes, fancy 

 saddle and driving horses, where each individual animal has a 

 special purpose and a special price of its own, fancy fruit and 

 vegetables which cater to special tastes, etc., are examples of 

 this class of agricultural products. In the growing of staple 

 products the farm manager's problem is primarily that of re- 

 ducing the cost of production. Since his products always sell 

 at a quotable price, the problem of marketing is reduced to a 

 minimum. Though important in itself, this problem is relatively 

 less important than that of keeping down the cost of production. 

 But the reverse is the case with the grower of agricultural special- 

 ties. His greatest problem is that of marketing, of getting 

 a fancy price for each individual unit of product. Though the 

 problem of keeping down the cost of production is important 

 in itself, it is relatively less important than that of successful 

 marketing. Success in the production of staple products de- 

 pends primarily on being a good producer ; in the growing of 

 agricultural specialties it depends upon being a good adver- 

 tiser, a good displayer of products, in short, in being a 

 good seller. While there will always be a place for the grower 

 of agricultural specialties, yet by far the greater part of the agri- 

 cultural industry must always be concerned with the production 



