COOPERATIVE SELLING 415 



the house will advance a loan upon which interest is charged. With 

 many this method of handling is unsatisfactory because it has 

 speculative features which only add to the numerous uncertainties 

 of the sheep business. 



Taken one year with another, the method of marketing most 

 prevalent is to sell the wool to agents of dealers' houses and 

 manufacturers who first inspect the wool either in the shearing 

 camps or in warehouses located at shipping points. As a rule, this 

 is about as satisfactory to the grower as any method of selling prac- 

 ticed because he can see the whole transaction through and experi- 

 ence a feeling of finality about his wool clip in a comparatively 

 short period of time. 



Auction Sales. In a few places auction sales have been con- 

 ducted in warehouses located at shipping points. Before sale day 

 purchasing agents inspect the wool and turn in sealed bids to the 

 proprietor of the warehouse, who opens them on the day of sale in 

 the presence of the owner, who passes judgment on them. He may 

 reject all of them or he may select a bid which is not the highest 

 made on his wool. If he is not present, the proprietor of the ware- 

 house follows his instructions relative to probable bids. Immediate 

 payment is made by the purchasing agent, who, as a rule, accepts the 

 weights taken by the proprietor of the warehouse as he receives the 

 wool from the owner. Those concerned with the organization of 

 auction sales had in mind first, the securing of competitive bidding, 

 and second, furnishing to owners an opportunity to compare the 

 selling merits of their wool. It is doubtful whether much has been 

 accomplished through the latter, as owners are inclined to attribute 

 differences in prices paid to circumstances wholly aside from the 

 differences between the lots of wool sold. 



Cooperative Selling. Several years ago a cooperative company 

 established warehouses in Chicago and Boston for the purpose of 

 securing a square deal in disposing of their wool and also for cut- 

 ting down intermediate charges. This company further undertook 

 to teach their stockholders better methods of preparation for market, 

 even going so far as to grade the wool at the shearing sheds at a 

 nominal charge. It has met, as it justly deserves, with a measur- 

 able degree of success in its various purposes. The Australian 

 methods of observing and grading have also been taught by an 

 enterprising organization, so that the West is making progress in 

 developing an understanding of the value of wool. 



