14 BULLETIN 558, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
disposing of the shipments to local dealers. Sales to arrive or on — 
track may be made direct to buyers at terminal markets, millers, 
retailers, or consumers, or the services of a broker may be utilized — 
in securing the attention of desirable purchasers (see fig. 2). Grain 
may also be sold to country track buyers at near-by points, or to — 
carload jobbers in consuming territory. 
When a sale is effected through a broker, he may act either as the 
agent of the buyer or the seller, usually, however, in the latter capac- 
ity. A commission usually varying from one-eighth to one-half cent 
per bushel is paid for his services. In communities where large num- 
bers of buyers congregate it is evident that the broker, by reason of 
his more intimate knowledge of the conditions in his particular 
market, is often in position to secure better prices for the grain than 
his client could possibly hope to attain. | 
TERMINAL-MARKET BUYERS. 
~The terminal-market buyer either purchases his supply of grain 
from commission merchants upon the floor of the exchange or direct 
from outside shippers, subject to the weights and inspection of his 
market. To the shippers he usually submits to arrive or on track 
bids by mail or telegraph after the close of each day’s market. These 
offers.or bids may be accepted at any time previous to the opening 
of the market on the following day. The country dealer soon learns 
that his drafts usually will be met promptly by the terminal market, 
and also, after a little experience, he knows how his weights will com- 
pare with the terminal weights. Purchasers when trading at terminal 
markets have similar advantages with respect to weights; also, since 
large quantities of grain usually are held in the elevators at terminals, 
in most instances dealers are able to make shipments in accordance 
with the buyer’s wishes. 
DIRECT TRANSACTIONS WITH CONSUMERS. 
Numerous mills which are located at terminal markets make their 
purchases under conditions similar to those affecting other buyers in 
these markets. When mills are located at secondary points, the 
shippers soon learn the nature of the weights to be expected from 
them. The chief objection to the practice of selling to the mills hes 
in their limited demand. The shipper, before he learns that his 
srain can not be used, frequently loses the opportunity to make a 
sale elsewhere. Direct transactions between country shippers and 
retailers or large consumers usually are confined to those located 
within a radius of a few hundred miles, such trade being considered 
highly profitable by those engaged in it, as the shipper and dealer 
divide between them the profit which otherwise would be made by 
