254 The Sweet Potato 



point of production. An f. o. b. sale may specify that 

 the potatoes are to be delivered free on board at any 

 point that may be agreed on. The terms are, however, 

 very closely related and are often used interchangeably. 



Open consignment. — When a commission firm is well 

 known, the usual method of selling is merely to bill the 

 car to the firm in question on open account. Buyers 

 frequently claim that they can handle goods to better ad- 

 vantage when shipped in this way. The original re- 

 ceivers in the big markets usually resell to jobbers. 

 Jobbing houses have been referred to as the food banks 

 of the country. They buy from the original receivers 

 or commission merchants and resell to the retail stores 

 of the country, who in turn pass the goods on to the con- 

 sumers. Commission merchants prefer having sweet 

 potatoes shipped to them on open account because it 

 requires less immediate outlay of capital, and at the 

 same time gives them all the privileges of complete 

 ownership in selling to the jobbers or other buyers. If 

 the reliability of the person to whom the grower orig- 

 inally consigns the goods is not known, however, it is 

 best to have some kind of a check on his actions. 



Bill of lading attached. — The shipment of sweet 

 potatoes bill of lading attached is the method followed 

 by a large number of small associations that have been 

 remarkably successful in the collection of all their 

 accounts. The car of potatoes is billed direct to a 

 buyer. A sight draft covering the price of the contents 

 of the car is attached to the bill of lading and goes with 

 it. A copy of this bill is at the same time sent to the 

 bank which handles the buyer's business. The railroad 

 then protects the seller by requiring the buyer to go to 

 his bank and take up the attached bill, which automati- 



