14 BULLETIN 101&, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



then drive through the country, purchasing here and there in small 

 lots and concentrating these purchases at some shipping point until 

 a carlot shipment can be made. They then make the shipment and 

 make a draft through the bank for the cost of the corn plus their 

 profit, Local bankers often furnish resident dealers with their oper- 

 ating money. Where orders are not obtained in advance, broom corn 

 is purchased, concentrated in storage, and held until prices are satis- 

 factory or orders are obtained. 



ONE-MAN MARKETS. 



In extremely small towns and in a few of the larger ones there is 

 frequently but one local shipper. As in hundreds of other towns, 

 he usually handles the bulk of the mercantile business. He buys 

 everything the farmers have to sell and sells eveiything the farmers 

 need to buy, controls a bank or two, and, in a general way, realizes 

 on nearly everything going out or coming in. He lends money on 

 the crops and buys the bulk of them. When the marketing season 

 is over, some farmers are satisfied but others may feel that advantage 

 has been taken of them. 



Where one buyer handles the bulk of the broom corn the market 

 may be more or less monopolized. In studying these small markets 

 it has been noted that traveling buyers on entering a market will 

 first visit the local dealer. Frequently they find it to their advantage 

 to buy, or arrange to have the corn they require purchased, on com- 

 mission. This is natural, since the commission is very little if any 

 in excess of what it would cost a traveling buyer to hire an automo- 

 bile and spend several days going over territory with which he may 

 not be familiar. Besides, he must bid up on the broom corn to get 

 it at all, and he must see to the delivering, weighing, and shipping 

 himself. The local buyer, knowing this, offers him a carload out 

 of his warehouse as cheap or cheaper than he could go out and buy 

 it. With the field clear the local buyer can and does buy cheaper. 



Another method of keeping out buyers <is to "bid up" on small 

 crops here and there over a district. When the traveling buyer goes 

 into the field he finds the broom corn held at a much higher figure 

 than he is willing to pay and leaves the district without buying. 



LARGE MANTTFACTTXREES. 



The large manufacturers, as well as the large dealers, employ field 

 men either on a commission or on a salary basis. With some of these 

 large factories buying broom corn is a matter of speculation. The 

 buyers retained in the field report conditions, and if it is felt that 

 the conditions justify they buy a year's supply during the busy 

 marketing season. This practice involves a large outlay of money, 

 which is tied up in the business for the whole season. 



