30 _ BULLETIN 558, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
careful consideration of the factors causing the spread in price and 
because of unreliable newspaper reports. Frequently all of the facts 
regarding the market conditions are not available or are not correctly 
interpreted. 
Many elevator managers raise the original price offered the farmer ~ 
if he objects to it, often at their own financial loss. Other managers 
refuse to increase their bids, but offer to ship the grain on the 
farmer’s account, usually making a charge of 2 cents per bushel for 
handling the grain through the elevator. The charge for handling 
through the elevator may or may not reimburse the elevator manager 
for the cost of the service. Sometimes the service is rendered free 
of charge. When the returns for the grain are received from the 
central market the entire amount, less the handling charge of 2 cents 
per bushel, is turned over to the farmer. Sometimes such transac- 
tions result in profit to the farmer, but quite as often they are disap- 
pointing. 
The farmer who does not have a carload of grain to market at one 
time can not take advantage of this practice, because the freight and 
central market charges on less-than-carload lots would be prohibitive. 
ADVANTAGE CF GROWING UNIFORM VARIETIES. 
Grain is handled most economically through the country elevator 
when uniform varieties are produced in large amounts by the con- 
tributing territory. When this condition exists, the elevator manager 
is able to handle the grain on narrow margins which eventually 
result in a higher price level to the producer. In many sections of 
the country, however, several varieties and colors of the same kind 
of grain are produced and marketed at the country elevator. This is 
especially true in the wheat-growing region of Oklahoma and in 
States where white, yellow, and mixed corn and various colors of 
oats are produced. 
When an elevator must handle two or three varieties of the same 
grain, more bins and capital are required than when uniformity pre- 
vails. Moreover, when different colors of the same sort of grain or, 
as in some sections, when barley, rye, kafir, and other grains are 
raised in limited quantities and are received at the elevator in small 
lots, it is necessary to hold the various grades until a carload is ac- 
cumulated. Not only is supplementary bin space essential, but more 
capital is required to finance the business, because the elevator man- 
ager is forced to expend cash for grain upon its arrival and he is 
unable to dispose of it immediately and thus regain his capital for 
future use. Neither is he able to protect himself against price fluc- 
tuations by hedging, since the quantity of grain in store is not suf- 
ficient to form the basis for future contracts. The result is that the 
