MARKETING BROOM CORN. 23 



the gross returns minus the commission for selling and other charges. 

 Many factors enter into broom corn consignments that are not fully 

 understood and cause the business generally to receive much unjust 

 criticism. 



Primarily the consigning of broom corn is the result of unsatis- 

 factory home markets. When a farmer consigns his product to a 

 distant market usually he expects more than the home market offers 

 and blames the commission merchant if the returns do not measure 

 up to his expectation. He has little or no basis on which to arrive 

 at the value of his broom corn. He can only compare sales made in 

 his territory with the prices he received, or compare quotations 

 printed in trade journals or daily papers. Either would be of little 

 real value. Quotations in daily papers are often found to run for 

 weeks without change, to contain only indefinite descriptions, and, 

 at best, to indicate only broadly-prevailing prices. As a result they 

 do not furnish a satisfactory basis for comparison. Furthermore, 

 these quotations represent selling prices, f. o. b. terminal points, and 

 do not take into account values at country points. They are often 

 grossly inaccurate, yet are the prices at which consignments are ex- 

 pected to sell. It is difficult even for trade journals to give useful 

 quotations because of the lack of established grades. 



Although consignments are often unsatisfactory, the price received 

 may be the best obtainable. From a marketing standpoint there 

 seems to be no good reason why the farmer should not receive a fair 

 return on a consignment. If properly handled, it should sell on its 

 merits. Opportunities for selling are frequent, for in all big markets 

 to which consignments move the warehouses are visited by many 

 dealers who have come for the purpose of buying and who expect 

 to pay a fair price. 



Some of the more important points to be considered in analyzing 

 the situation are : (a) In periods of overproduction, consignments of 

 broom corn are likely to represent the bulk of the carryover; (b) 

 shippers often fail to load uniformly; (c) the bulk of the consigned 

 broom corn is usually of a low grade, which brings about slow sales ; 

 (d) heavy consignments weaken prices; (e) the bulk of the trade is 

 usually supplied before consigned broom corn is available; (/) deal- 

 ers may be forced to buy at lower prices to compete with consign- 

 ments ; (g) growers do not take into account extra expense of holding 

 and increased cost of selling; and (h) shipments are sometimes made 

 to unreliable commission men. 



In periods of known overproduction there is not the urgent de- 

 mand for early selection that prevails when broom corn is scarce and 

 low, and medium grade brush, such as constitutes the bulk of con- 

 signments, is a drug on the market. Manufacturers and dealers feel 

 that this class of broom corn can be purchased at any time; hence 



