Commercial Disposal of the Sweet Potato 339 



tribution and carefully catering to the desires of the 

 best trade, make it imperative that the present day 

 grower know something of the available marketing 

 agencies and familiarize himself with the best methods 

 of manipulating his crop through the various chambers 

 of commerce. The present tendency is for the grower 

 to take an active interest in the disposition of his pota- 

 toes and in many instances do the actual selling him- 

 self. This calls for good business judgment in: (1) 

 choosing the best markets and properly developing them ; 

 (2) cultivating sales in various markets; (3) properly 

 weighing the importance of various sales factors which 

 influence market conditions each season; and (4) deal- 

 ing with the different selling instrumentalities which 

 commerce will always make legitimate and necessary. 

 The grower must also know something of the terms 

 and methods which may be employed in transacting 

 sales, if his operations are to be placed on a business 

 basis. 



At the present time, only two channels of trade are 

 opened to the producer. They consist of the "home 

 market " and foreign markets. The latter term is not 

 used to designate markets outside of the United States, 

 but refers to all markets outside of the state where 

 grown. This usually means shipping to the eastern, 

 northern, or middle-western fruit- and vegetable-con- 

 suming cities, as New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, 

 Chicago or Omaha. At present, local canning factories 

 handle a large part of the home market trade. These 

 canneries are now located in practically every state 

 where sweet potatoes are of any considerable importance, 

 and are, playing an important part in consuming much 

 of the crop during the harvest months. Many enthus- 



