384 FIELD CROP PRODUCTION 



along one or more railroads ; and when their combined 

 receipts are considered, it will be seen that they handle 

 immense quantities of grain. Line elevators are more 

 common in new and comparatively undeveloped country 

 than where farming has long been in practice. They per- 

 form the useful function of buying the producer's grain in 

 sections of the country where independent dealers or 

 farmers' companies have not yet become established. A 

 prejudice usually exists against the line elevators, the 

 opinion prevailing that they do not pay the best prices, 

 and usually, as the country develops, they come into 

 competition with independent dealers and cooperative 

 companies. Many line elevators are, however, doing 

 successful business where other companies exist, and are 

 most commonly found in the West Central and North- 

 western States. 



All three types of country elevators perform essentially 

 the same function in the grain trade, namely that of pur- 

 chasing from the producer at any time he desires to sell 

 his surplus of grain. 



410. Terminal markets. A few years ago the sur- 

 plus grain of a community was usually sold to the local 

 mill, but with the improvement of shipping facilities, 

 there have developed a centralization of storage elevators, 

 mills and places of marketing, and now only the smaller 

 mills depend entirely upon the local supply of grain, 

 almost all large mills buying additional amounts of it 

 needed for their mill at the terminal markets. 



Grain purchased by country elevators is usually shipped 

 to the terminal or primary market. Such markets are 

 located in large cities of easy access by rail or boat from 

 the sources of production. At the terminal markets, the 

 country elevator men or their representatives meet the 



