THE MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCTS 889 



according as there are 4, 5, or 6 onions in a row in each com- 

 partment. This case is sold with the goods and usually goes 

 into kindling wood. 



It is in the commercial saleroom that the handling of onions 

 differs from that of potatoes. It is a large room with one hundred 

 and sixty-eight seats, in the form of an amphitheater, with an ele- 

 vator in the center and behind this a raised "rostrum." This room, 

 together with three suites of offices and a grape showroom, is the 

 property of the corporation of Manchester. The use of it and the 

 grape showroom, with the basement and a suite of offices each, is 

 rented to three brokerage firms for ,150 per year. They also 

 pay 3d. per minute for the use of the rostrum to the corpora- 

 tion. The rent charged is the same as that charged at the be- 

 ginning of the undertaking and was put low in order to boom 

 Manchester as a port. It will probably be raised in the near 

 future. These brokers are associated and charter boats which 

 bring produce direct from Spain to Manchester by canal from 

 Liverpool. The sales take place whenever a cargo arrives, the 

 time being advertised together with the amount and description 

 of the produce to be sold. The selling is all by auction, and 

 the buyers, of whom the number is limited, are wholesale dealers 

 from all the cities and towns of the region, some coming, also, 

 from the distant, larger centers. Each broker is allowed in turn 

 forty minutes on the rostrum, then, if necessary, thirty minutes 

 more, and after that he may have another fifteen, the other two 

 having had each thirty minutes. Each makes out a list or cata- 

 logue of his goods, giving the grade, trade mark of shipper and 

 number of cases in a lot. A sample of each lot is brought up 

 on the elevator, which is in two sections which alternate in such 

 a way that there is always a sample before the buyers. The 

 sample is marked with the lot number, and the whole lot is 

 sold to the highest bidder. Each broker has his own employees, 

 who manage his goods while he is selling, with the exception 

 of the man at the elevator, who is employed by the corporation 

 of Manchester. The prices ranged from 4 s. 8d. to 5 s. 6d., with 

 an average of 5s. i^-d. or 5s. 3d. 



