MARKETING OF BERMUDA ONIONS 25 
$4 these inspectors will determine the grade, quality, and condition 
of a carload of onions, and issue a certificate which sets forth the 
facts and is prima facie evidence in any United States court. 
Prices "f. o. b. usual terms" are usually a few cents higher than 
"f. o. b. cash track," because in the latter case cash is paid immedi- 
ately without possibility of rejection and because dealings are made 
personally between seller and buyer without expense or delay of tele- 
graphing. 
A speculator, a broker, or a cash buyer can use any of the methods 
of sale. In fact, all of these methods (except cash at car door) are used 
by both dealers and growers. 
Many of the buyers at the Texas shipping points are agents for 
dealers with headquarters in various cities. They are often local 
men, who buy for outside parties on a brokerage basis of about 10 
cents a crate. They in turn sometimes employ buyers to secure 
onions in the upper counties, paying them about 5 cents a crate for 
their services. The city dealers sell the onions to jobbers or retailers, 
depending largely upon the size of the city in question. In the larger 
cities the brokerage or commission houses sell in " jobbing lots" of 
20 to 50 or more packages to jobbers, who in turn sell in smaller 
quantities to retailers. 
SHIPPERS' MARGINS, TRANSPORTATION CHARGES, AND PRO- 
DUCERS' RECEIPTS COMPARED 4 
The relative advantage of the shipping point compared with the 
delivered sale has aroused much difference of opinion among Texas 
onion growers. Some growers sell through brokers or consign to com- 
mission houses in various parts of the country each year in the belief 
that the risks and costs are more than compensated by the higher 
prices secured by the delivered sale. Others prefer to sell locally 
for cash to speculators or to the representatives of carlot receivers. 
A large number use both methods, depending on conditions. The 
growers' cooperative association that discontinued business in 1913 
made a determined effort to force selling on a delivered basis only. 
The following paragraphs and accompanying charts are devoted to a 
description of the portion of the wholesale price retained by the pro- 
ducer, the margins or spreads that have been obtained by shipper or 
speculator, and the transportation charges daily for six years. By a 
study of past conditions the grower will be in a better position to 
determine the circumstances under which he can profitably utilize 
the services of the speculator or shipper, and those under which he 
can better assume for himself the risk of market fluctuation and the 
costs of shipping to one of the, consuming centers. 
The margins shown were computed by determining the average 
prices paid at each stage of the marketing process. Sufficient time 
was allowed between stages to permit the commodity to reach the 
next step. For example, the prices paid at Laredo on Monday show 
a certain average price paid for all No. 1 Yellow Bermudas. Onions 
bought on that day ordinarily arrive and are sold on the Chicago 
4 In this d iscussion ' ' shippers 'margin " represents the difference between the price per crate at which the 
shipper buys the onions and the price at which he sells them, less the transportation charges. These 
charges are separated, as they are the same whether paid by the local buyer or by the grower who consigns 
his shipments. Producers' receipts are the amounts paid to the producer for his onions per crate, less 
transportation charges if he consigns his own shipments. 
101360°— 25f 4 
