UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
, BULLETIN No. 558 4 
Contribution from the Office of Markets and Rural AK Ee 
Organization ~ 
CHARLES J. BRAND, Chief 
Washington, D. C. v July 28, 1917 
MARKETING GRAIN AT COUNTRY POINTS. 
By GEORGE LIVINGSTON and K. B. SEEpDs, 
Specialists in Grain Marketing. 
CONTENTS. 
Tage. Page 
TiO MONG hs 6 | Secaesseos Coes Saeeoe caseeeEe Lop A TIM SE OTA Se eels Ne se haba ee aes 27 
Function of the country elevator.....-...--- 22 eElandlingerain for tarmersseasm--c oe -see ae ee 29 
Mieenods7of puncbase..c+2 2-04. 4-- 20. Se eee 6 | Advantage of growing uniform varieties... -. 30 
WieihOdSkGi sale Aer see emery SOY oS aie aoa 1S SKRarmiand-elevatorscalesa has — sh aasee eee 31 
TUBED ORES ae a a ee a eee ZA SUL Playa tel evra COTS assy po 33 
Price paid’ to the producer... 2.2.2. 2..-.2.-- 16 | Cost of operating a country elevator......... 34 
Transient and permanent ‘‘scoop-shovelers’’. 21 | Hazards of the country elevator business. ... 37 
Contracting with farmers for future delivery - 23 |. Farmers’ cooperative associations............ 4] 
Sronine Craupioriarmers..< 2 6203.6 anes - ZosleCONCUSIONS | Sass aes sae ae I ee 42 
INTRODUCTION. 
The need for definite knowledge of methods and costs of marketing 
grain at country points has led the Department of Agriculture, 
through the Office of Markets and Rural Organization, to undertake 
' a comprehensive study of the subject. The need for such informa- 
tion has found expression chiefly from three sources: (1) The grain 
trade of the Middle West, both at country points and at central 
markets, as well as the farmers of this section; (2) producers and 
merchants located in the cotton belt, in some parts of which a grain 
surplus has existed for the first time during the last two years, the 
successful marketing of which is handicapped by inadequate handling 
facilities; (8) producers and dealers of the Pacific slope, where the 
process of transition from the present method of handhng grain in 
bags to the more modern and efficient bulk system, used in the 
Middle West, is demanding serious consideration. 
- In order to contribute toward the information needed a general 
survey of the grain-handling methods in vogue in the surplus- 
. Notr.—This bulletin should be of interest to producers, shippers, dealers, and consumers of grain 
_ and grain products throughout the United States. 
93179°—Bull. 558—17 a 
