MARKETING GRAIN AT COUNTRY POINTS. 33 
be placed on the platform and the loaded wagon and the test weights 
weighed together in order to determine whether the scale records 
accurately the additional 500 or 1,000 pounds. Pitless scales are 
likely to get out of adjustment unless they are placed on a very sub- 
stantial foundation. 
SUPPLY OF ELEVATORS. 
The number of elevators required to handle the surplus grain of 
a community will depend upon the volume of grain offered for sale. 
The requisite number may depend also upon the method of market- 
ing. If the surplus grain of a community is placed on the market in 
large quantities during a short period of time following the harvest, 
more elevators, or elevators of greater capacity, will be required than 
when the surplus grain is delivered more uniformly throughout the 
year. Also the number of elevators will depend to some extent upon 
the ability of the railroad to furnish cars when needed. 
ECONOMIC LOSS FROM OVERBUILDING. 
In some sections of the country there are more elevators than the 
volume of business will justify, some communities being supplied 
with 8 or 10 houses, when 2 or 8 would be adequate. It is unfor- 
tunate that in many places new elevators are still being added to an 
already overcrowded field. The criterion for determining whether 
or not additional facilities are needed should be the number of eleva- 
tors serving a community in proportion to the volume of grain mar- 
keted and not the number of houses at any one shipping point. The 
erection of new houses at small stations between larger shipping 
points necessarily reduces the contributing territory of them all. 
As stated earlier in this bulletin, one of the principal items 
entering into the economy of operating an elevator is the volume of 
the business transacted. As a general rule, the cost per bushel for 
handling decreases, as the volume increases, within certain limits. 
Therefore, as the number of houses serving a certain locality is 
augmented, the volume of business transacted by each house dimin- 
ishes, while the cost per bushel for handling the surplus grain of the 
community through the local elevator is increased. 
If too many elevators serve a community bad practices are likely 
to result. Difficulties arise regarding free storage, weights, dockage, 
or grades, and, speculation ensuing, the financial ruin of unsuccess- 
ful competitors is almost inevitable. If competition is too keen, 
short weights are sometimes introduced, or speculation is resorted 
to in an attempt to regain losses. Cases are cited where grain 
stored for farmers has been shipped out and sold, to be followed by 
