Markets, Marketing and Storage 247 



consumer. Very often they pass through the hands of a 

 commission man, and frequently they go directly to the 

 wholesaler. In the larger cities, a considerable part of 

 the crop goes to the commission man, who, in turn, dis- 

 tributes it among the jobbers or wholesalers. The com- 

 mission man may employ a number of salesmen, or he may 

 depend upon an expert potato broker to bring in orders 

 from the wholesalers. Often goods are shipped around 

 the commission men to the brokers, and thence to the 

 wholesalers. 



The diagram (Fig. 18) may help to make clear the 

 methods of marketing potatoes. Perhaps it will seem that 

 there are too many middlemen concerned in the market- 

 ing of this crop. In many cases there are. We must not 

 lose sight of certain conditions of potato marketing, how- 

 ever. The retailer sells in small quantities, and he has no 

 room to store more than a small supply of potatoes. He 

 must needs depend upon the wholesaler for his supply. 

 The wholesaler in turn has to cater to a fairly definite de- 

 mand from the retailer. He cannot take ever^^-thing which 

 is sent to him by the farmer, but must have access to the 

 supplies of the commission man in order to get the desired 

 variety and grade. So we have the potatoes coming to the 

 large dealer or commission man, who sells in small lots to 

 the wholesalers, and the wholesalers divide the product 

 into still smaller parcels and sell to the retailer. The 

 lack of proper grading, the bulkiness of the goods, and the 

 demand for small quantities at a time, tend to make 

 necessary the services of several classes of dealers in the 

 process of marketing potatoes. 



There is no chance to gamble on potatoes, as on wheat 

 and certain other crops, since there are no exchanges where 

 the traders can come together. The potato market is 



