10 
BULLETIN 267, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
been very closely drawn in this bulletin, this distinction is not so 
apparent in actual practice. One man or one firm may combine the 
functions of several middlemen. Many distributors act simulta-. 
neously as car-lot wholesalers, commission men, and jobbers. As a 
matter of fact, few firms confine their activities to one line of busi- 
ness. Thus, of the goods sold by a firm on one day, part may have 
