382 



FIELD CROP PRODUCTION 



by the products of his labor after it leaves his hands, and 

 hew it reaches and supplies the consumer through the 

 complicated system of distribution that has been built up 

 around it. A most interesting story it is, if told in detail, 

 sometimes containing the element of romance and not 

 infrequently that of tragedy. We shall not touch upon 

 the stories of fortunes won and lost in the grain market, 

 but shall attempt to explain in a simple manner the 



Fig. 131. — A typical country elevator. 



general working plan of the great system of grain market- 

 ing, touching briefly upon each division of the business 

 and the function which it performs. 



407. The country elevator. — The function of the 

 country elevator is to purchase from the farmer his surplus 

 of grain or hay and to start it upon its way to the con- 

 sumer. Country elevators may sometimes store the 

 grain for a time, awaiting better shipping facilities or a 

 more favorable market. There are three kinds of coun- 

 try elevators, based upon their systems of management, 



