MARKET METHODS AND PROBLEMS 43 



15. Draw up as complete a list as possible of the farm products 

 which are handled through auctions. What characteristics make 

 them suitable for auction dealing ? Mention several that are entirely 

 incapable of being handled at auction. Why? 



16. Does the auction system reduce the number of middlemen who 

 handle the goods between producer and consumer ? Does it add one 

 more link to the chain ? 



17. What effect does it have upon the cost of selling? upon pro- 

 ducers' price returns ? upon consumers' prices ? 



18. Take the auction method as applied to the commodity in 

 which you are most interested. What is the character of the demand 

 brought together in the auction-room? Does the auction reach 

 demand as fully as do private dealers ? Does it stimulate demand as 

 effectively as the private dealer ? 



19. Point out the similarities and differences in the organization 

 and methods of the stockyards and the cotton or grain exchange. 



20. Does the stockyards system make it easy or difficult for large 

 buyers to manipulate prices to their own advantage ? 



21. Explain the method of the "call board." Does this method 

 of dealing bring about full and free competition among buyers ? 



22. Does the name "broker" as used in the fruit and vegetable 

 trade carry the same significance as when applied to the broker in the 

 grain or cotton exchange ? the stock broker ? the real estate broker ? 

 What is a broker ? 



23. Point out the distinction between car-lot wholesaler, commis- 

 sion man, jobber, and broker. Are they generally separate indi- 

 viduals ? 



24. What is a speculator ? Describe the process of speculation. 

 Do all the classes of middlemen mentioned in the previous question 

 engage in speculation ? May persons outside the trade do so ? 



25. Could some of these middlemen be eliminated from the mar- 

 keting process ? Is the work they do superfluous ? Could someone 

 else do their work more economically ? Back up all your statements 

 with adequate evidence. 



26. What is the relative charge made by the wholesaler, the 

 jobber, and the retailer of oranges? Which does the most work? 

 Explain the services of each. Does each suffer the same amount of 

 loss or deterioration of goods handled? Does this enter into the 

 consumer's price ? 



27. Are the middlemen who handle farm products specialists? 

 What is the jobber's specialty? What is the country shipper's 

 specialty ? Can you cite any new form of specialization which has 

 appeared in the handling of some commodity with which you are 

 familiar ? 



