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22 BULLETIN 1019, U. 8. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
try; in fact, many growers think that buyers drive out for broom | t 
corn only when they need it. While this idea may influence the 
belief that the demand justifies holding for higher prices, it is not 
necessarily true. «A buyer may have any or all of the following con- 
siderations in mind: = 
The obtaining of information on the quantities yet unsold and the general 
quality. 
Opportunity of examining the brush at the time of baling, or before, in orders 
to determine the quality more accurately. 
Purchasing entire crops, whereas on street markets only a part probably — 
would be offered. 
More time for making careful examination of prospective purchases than 
street markets afford. 
The obtaining of exceptionally good brush held off the cee market. 
The purchase for future delivery on account of car Shortage or in order to 
secure uniform loading of cars. . | 
Field buying is practiced extensively by traveling buyers. They | | 
usually select some shipping point for headquarters close to the sec- 
tion in which they wish to operate and drive from farm to farm. — 
The manner of dealing in the country for the most part is the same 
as on a street market, except that there is more opportunity to ex- | 
change views relative to trades. All bales are carefully inspected 
and enough brush * pulled ” to form an opinion as to the quality. 
It is customary for a field buyer to make a bid. If the farmer ~ 
refuses the offer, the buyer seldom will let a bid “stand” good for | 
a later date. This leaves the transaction open—a condition that 
invites the grower to see the buyer again before selling to some one 
else. 
Buying broom corn by this method is usually expensive. In cer- 
tain sections where Dwarf is grown the territory traveled covers a — 
wide area. Often only a few tals are obtained in one place or the 
kinds wanted may be widely scattered. Or perhaps the price offered — 
is not inviting to growers and little is obtained. Sometimes several 
buyers will traverse the same territory with practically the same 
results before the crop is moved. 
Often, too, trouble is experienced in concentrating the broom corn 
after it has been purchased. Some farmers sell, but later, on account 
of higher bids, may not deliver, which means an extra trip into the 
country to replace what is lacking on shipping day. Or the buyer 
may have purchased a crop not yet baled, or an estimated quantity, 
and if the market declines all of it and possibly some of a neighbor’s 
crop may be delivered. ; 
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CONSIGNMENTS... 
The methods of consigning broom corn differ little from those 
used with other farm products. It is shipped to a commission mer- — ~ 
chant at a terminal market, who in turn finds a purchaser and remits- 
ws 
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