230 THE BOOK OF CORN 



ern f eedstuffs, a brief outline of methods in vogue will 

 be read with interest and profit. 



The first step in the flow of corn from farm to 

 ultimate consumption is to the great distributing cen- 

 ters of the west, known as primary points. These 

 include Chicago, Kansas City, St Louis and others of 

 less importance. The second stage begins at these dis- 

 tributing centers in the grading, temporary warehous- 

 ing, storing and reshipment via rail, river and lake. 

 The destination is eastern or southern distributing cen- 

 ters of secondary consideration, and tide water rest- 

 ing places for loading into ocean vessels for for- 

 eign countries. 



Transportation — Rates of freight from country 

 loading station to primary market or to the seaboard, 

 rates of commission for handling, storage charges, etc, 

 together with the current price of the various grades 

 every business day in the year, are easily available to 

 the farmer and the country dealer. All such may be 

 relatively as well posted on market conditions as the 

 big operator on the Chicago board of trade or on the 

 New York and foreign produce exchanges. Theoreti- 

 cally, the farmer with a single carload of com enjoys 

 as good an opportunity to secure full market value for 

 his product as the operator on a large scale, but this 

 does not always follow. In spite of legislative effort 

 to equalize freight rates, and the work of the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission, transportation companies too 

 frequently make it possible for the large shipper to 

 enjoy rebates, giving him enormous advantage over 

 others, including the farmer with a single carload. 



THE LINE ELEVATOR SYSTEMS, 



covering a large part of the com belt, now handle an 

 important part of the corn as originally sold by pro- 



