16 BULLETIN 558, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
per cent to interior terminals outside of their own State; 30 per cent 
to export terminals; 7 per cent direct to interior buyers, jobbers, re- 
tailers, and consumers in Eastern States; 1 per cent to interior buyers 
in the South; and 20 per cent direct to mills. The small percentage 
shipped to southern points is probably accounted for by the preva- 
lence of the brokerage system in that section of the country and also 
by the fact that southern buyers usually purchase grain in bags, a 
condition impossible for most country elevators to fulfill, owing to 
lack of proper equipment. 
PRICE PAID TO THE PRODUCER. 
There are many factors which the country buyer must consider in 
establishing prices to be paid to the producer. If purchases are to 
be made by grade, prices must be fixed for the popular grade of each 
variety of grain handled. 
BIDS RECEIVED BY COUNTRY ELEVATORS. 
The dealer receives postal-card bids daily from terminal market 
dealers, track buyers, and others offering prices for stipulated grades 
of grain. Telegraph, telephone, and mail bids also are received 
from these sources at frequent intervals, together with offers from 
jobbers, brokers, retailers, and consumers. These bids, covering lots 
of definite size or grade, are so limited in character that they can 
not be sent out as generally as postal-card quotations. Quotations 
from the various markets are printed in the newspapers and daily 
market bulletins are published in the large terminal markets. Many 
dealers also subscribe to a service furnished by the telegraph com- 
panies, whereby they receive the quotations from one or more of the 
large terminal markets at frequent intervals during the day. This 
is commonly known as the “C N D” service. News-letters are 
issued by various commission houses, which contain information 
regarding the prices at which grain of various grades is selling in 
the markets, both for immediate and for future delivery, and fre- 
quently carry conjectural comments regarding the future trend of 
prices. From the information obtained from these sources the 
country buyer must decide what price is obtainable for his grain. 
The seller must know, in each instance, how his grades and weights 
compare with those in the market under consideration, as well as 
the proper amounts to deduct for brokerage, commissions, weighing, 
inspection, etc., and in the case of bids to arrive or cash prices 
paid for consigned grain at terminal markets he must be aware of 
the proper freight charges. The same freight rate does not always 
apply over all routes between the same points; hence in case the offer 
is for shipment via a certain route or for delivery on a specified 
