MARKETING FARM PRODUCTS 355 



Where distances are too great for the meeting of producer and 

 consumer, direct shipment may be resorted to. Butter, eggs, 

 poultry, and vegetables have been shipped to special customers. 

 While this method has rarely proved cheaper than other systems 

 because of the smallness of the shipments and the expense of 

 the packages, yet it has proved a means of putting high quality 

 produce into the hands of those who appreciate quality and are 

 willing to pay the price. 



Sales to and through middlemen. The development of 

 modern systems of transportation, the growth of great indus- 

 trial cities, and the expansion of specialized commercial agri- 

 culture has brought with it a complex middleman system which 

 needs to be studied with care with a view to its better organiza- 

 tion with a greater economy and justice. 



For some articles the market may be said to be world-wide, 

 because the entire product is effective in determining the market 

 price. This is true of wheat, wool, cotton, sugar, tea, silk, and 

 many other nonperishable articles in general use. Liverpool 

 has for a long time been the central wheat market of the world. 

 Being a port situated on the outer edge of the wheat-deficit 

 area of western Europe, Liverpool became the objective point of 

 shipments of wheat from all wheat ports of the United States, 

 Canada, South America, Australia, New Zealand, India, and 

 Russia. In each of the countries producing a surplus of wheat, 

 primary wheat markets were established such as Chicago, 

 Minneapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, and many other points 

 to which the wheat is shipped from the farmer's local station. 

 Thus there are many stages, many processes, and many middle- 

 men between the wheat producer and the bread consumer. 

 The local grain dealer buys grain at all times in any quantity 

 and of most any quality the farmer has to sell. He holds it in 

 his warehouse until he has a carload lot and then ships it to a 

 primary market, consigning it to some commission firm at that 

 point for sale. At this point the wheat may be milled into 

 flour and by-products or it may be cleaned and graded and 

 reshipped in the direction of the wheat-deficit areas of the world. 

 , In either case, owing to the great distance, the wheat or its 



