10 BULLETIN 266, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 
but this service probably will be limited to a very small portion of 
the total producing area of the country and can not be expected to 
form an outlet for the great bulk of- farm crops. Again, the develop- 
ment of cities with their t constant encroachments upon outlying 
country districts forces production areas farther from the market 
centers, and in the larger cities makes it practically impossible for 
growers to deliver their produce direct to consumers. The best ex- 
amples of successful direct deliveries by growers to consumers are 
found in the sales of fresh fruits and vegetables in small country 
towns and in the deliveries of milk from neighboring farms through 
the residential sections of most of the larger cities. 
PUBLIC MARKETS. 
Public markets afford a profitable outlet for the farm products of 
growers located within hauling distance of many large cities. These 
markets may be either municipally or privately owned. Selling may 
be either at wholesale or retail, although in many cases both selling 
methods are allowed. Customarily the sites consist merely of an un- 
covered tract set aside for this- purpose, where space sufficient for the 
grower's wagon is rented at an average charge ranging from 10 to 
25 cents per day. The site may be improved by the erection of sheds 
or even a specially constructed market house. In the latter instance 
the interior is portioned into stalls which usually are rented to regular 
wholesale or retail dealers who buy from the producers. 
The grower who sells on the public market has the advantage of 
being able to ascertain available supplies and thus arrive at a fair 
market price. He secures the advantage of competitive buying by a 
large number of dealers who are attracted by a wide variety of prod- 
ucts in plentiful supply. 
In certain places where municipalities have failed to provide 
facilities of this character, the growers themselves have organized, 
purchased tracts of land in the city and developed their own trading 
place. 
Public markets are important factors in the distribution of farm 
products in many eastern cities, and although they are not quite so 
usual in the West, they constantly are receiving more attention. 1 
EXPRESS AND PARCEL-POST SHIPMENTS. 
The extensive use of express and parcel post by farmers in order 
to reach consumers is of recent development, and the ultimate possi- 
bilities of this means of distribution are as yet unknown. The post- 
office authorities, as well as the express companies, are making efforts 
to bring the consumer and producer together by publishing lists of 
1 See Branch, G. V. Public retail markets. In Yearbook U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1914. 
