10 BULLETIN 977, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICTJLTUBE. 
COMPETITION BETWEEN SHIPPERS. 
There is sometimes considerable competition between shippers in 
producing territories. The most common kind is the competition 
between regular shippers who live in the same territor}^ and who 
have built up a business and are in it to stay. Their relations are 
more or less friendly, and such competition acts to stimulate the 
country market. 
SPECULATORS. 
Speculators work in divers manners. Lack of space does not per- 
mit a full discussion of the workings of speculators. One or two 
illustrations will serve. " Foreign " speculators are those who think 
that prices are going to advance considerably in the immediate 
future. They appear in a producing section and contract for hay 
at a price which the country shipper can not afford to offer. In 
many instances no money is paid down to bind the bargain, because 
the producer is so elated with the high price he believes he will get 
upon delivery of his hay. If the market does strengthen, the deal 
goes through ; but if the market fails to advance and the price drops, 
the speculator suddenly leaves the region. Sometimes a few dollars 
per ton are paid down, and if the speculator has to break his bargain 
he will sometimes go to the regular country shipper and try to get 
relief by turning over the business upon receipt of the money paid 
out. When this is done, the regular shipper has the hard task of 
trying to convince the producers that the speculator's high price 
was all wrong in order that he may be able to buy hay at what it is 
really worth. Such speculators cause a great deal of trouble and 
dissatisfaction and serve no legitimate aid in the marketing of hay. 
LEGITIMATE " OUTSIDE " BUYERS. 
" Outside " buyers sometimes come into a territory and work some- 
what as do the speculators, in that they pay a higher price than 
the regular shipper can afford to pay. A case of this kind occurs 
when the outside buyer has a large order to fill at a very good 
price and does not have enough hay in his own territory to fill it. 
He is perfectly justified in advancing prices in the territory in which 
he works, but it is not often that he buys at such high prices for a 
very long time. When the " outside " buyer is operating, it naturally 
hinders the resident shipper's business. One reason why the outside 
buyer can afford to pay very high prices is that he may be shipping 
the hay into a territory with which the resident shipper is unfamiliar. 
There may be a marked difference in the manner of interpreting 
grades in this market and in the one to which the resident shipper 
usually ships his hay. These operations work more or less hardship 
