marketing can flourish, and at the present time but little of our agricultural produce is available for such use.

At the Market Place.-Possibly the most common arrangement in effecting direct marketing is that of the market place. The commodities marketed direct are more often of the perishable sort, such as fruit and vegetables. Of a somewhat less perishable nature are the eggs and poultry which are found in most market places. Aside from these commodities, mostly for immediate use, there are in many markets bulkier farm products, such as feeds, hay, and grain. Likewise, live stock is frequently brought to the market place. Certain market days are often made the occasion of much trading in horses and, to a less extent, in other stock. It is not unusual for men to meet at the market place and there make conditional bargains for property not present and complete the negotiations at the home of the seller.

The development of commercial agriculture has given the local market, and hence the local market place, vastly less importance than it had a century ago. On the other hand, there seems to be a place, though a limited one, for the municipal market.

Transactions between Buyers and Sellers at Long Range. Relatively little, yet in the aggregate an important amount, of farm produce is bought and sold direct at long range. The leading instances of this kind are such things as are shipped by parcel post or express, though they may occasionally go by freight. Eggs and dairy products, vegetables and flowers, and occasionally live animals, such as chickens, pigs, and calves, are sold direct from farmer to consumer, or to another farmer who wants them for breeding purposes. These instances are interesting, but, as will be shown in a later chapter, they make up but a small fraction of the total sales.

Indirect Marketing.-The great bulk of the produce of the farm is marketed indirectly. The nature of the case is such that it could hardly be otherwise. In the first place, it is bulky material. In the second place, it is produced at a distance from where it is to be ultimately wanted.

Indirect marketing may be divided into two fairly clearcut classes. The first is the usual one, in which goods are passed along from hand to hand, through various middlemen and transportation companies. The second is an outgrowth of this development, an attempt to simplify it, and consists of an integration of the processes and means by which marketing is more usually done. This integration is of two kinds: (1) combining functions and processes; (2) combining different lines of goods.

Usual Indirect Marketing.-In the majority of cases the middleman performs a single, simple function. This may be illustrated by referring to the case of the local stock buyer who buys the stock from a farmer, ships it in the routine way to a commission firm, and makes his living out of the margin between his buying and selling prices. The transportation company is in a sense a middleman which also performs a simple, regular function. Direct marketing is effected ordinarily either by selling to a middleman or by consigning to a middleman, who in turn finds a buyer. Thus the bulk of farm goods is sold.

Sale to a Middleman.-This is the more prevalent of the two methods just mentioned. The usual way of selling grain, cotton, live stock, dairy, and the other more general farm products is to sell to some one of the merchant class, who in turn sells to the consumer, or perhaps often to another middleman who moves the goods along toward the consumer. These men seem to be just as necessary to the whole process of production as the farmer himself since in few instances is the farmer able, economically, to produce his goods and get them to the consumer direct. The dividing up of the market processes among several different men is closely related to the principle of division of labor, which has so long been accepted as both necessary and desirable.

Sale through a Middleman.-Another way of getting goods from the producer to a consumer is to consign them to a man who, without buying them himself, undertakes to *find some one else to buy them. This he does usually for a stated part of the sale price, or for a given amount per

unit.

brokers.

These salesmen are known as commission men and

METHODS

The Basis of the Transaction.-How is a commodity put upon the market? It requires little explanation where buyer and seller meet, for then the article which represents the basis of the bargain is in sight and each party has full opportunity to see and to consider the whole matter. In the case of marketing at a distance the circumstances are essentially different. Here the sale is usually to a middleman who, in order to stand competition, is obliged to be expeditious, yet he must know what he is getting. Several methods of meeting these requirements have been developed. Sale by Individual Units.-Every one is familiar with this sort of bargaining. It characterizes the sale of farms, of houses, under most circumstances of horses, of dairy COWS. In the retail trade a great number of commodities are sold by individual units and inspected by the buyer. This is true of clothes, shoes, hats, household furniture, and the like. At the same time there may be a large number of identical units which will satisfy the purchaser equally well. Hence a better instance of the individual unit as the basis of a bargain is a carriage horse or a woman's hat. In the latter case there is, or at least so it is hoped, no exact duplicate. The paintings of the great masters are good examples. No matter how many duplicates there may be there is but one original, and this in itself gives a distinction and a value. Here the individuality of the unit stands out prominently.

Where it is not practical to consider every individual unit, yet where samples cannot well be taken, the most feasible plan is by inspection. Here the buyer does not pass judgment on the whole series of articles one at a time, but makes a mass judgment, as it were. For example, a carload of sheep are passed upon as a group. If the sheep are fairly uniform it is not necessary that the buyer be able to recognize any given individual, or even see it so as to know it a second time, but the appearance of the whole

lot is the basis of price-making. It is conceivably possible to standardize fat stock so as to sell it by grade, but it will probably never be done as a general practice. The difficulty of establishing a standard and of getting the different grades together is too great, and, in consequence, the most satisfactory method seems to be for the buyers to make their bids with the stock actually before their eyes.

Sale by Sample.-This is a method intermediate between selling by inspection and selling by grade. It means the inspection of a small amount which is put forward as representative of the larger amount. This method is in common use in the grain market. For future trading in grain the sample is not satisfactory and the grade must be substituted, but for immediate purchase, as wheat for milling, or oats for feeding, the most satisfactory way seems to be by sample. Grain lends itself well to sampling. Vegetables, fruits, fibers, dairy products, tobacco, and all manner of seeds are further examples of sales by means of samples.

Sale by Grade.-Sale by grade begins to assume a more scientific aspect. The commodity must of necessity be relatively uniform and one in which such variations as there are may be defined and identified. One of the best examples is grain, particularly wheat. Relatively few words serve to give a clear picture of the grain. For instance, "No. 1 Northern" has such a definite meaning in the minds of the wheat dealers of the country that they are willing to stake their fortunes on the rise and fall of prices, not concerning themselves over the question of identifying the grade. By this method great quantities of grain change hands quickly and at long range. The advantages of sale by grade are mainly two: First, the transactions may take place without the physical presence of the commodity. This means that price-making influences reach over a wide eircle almost at once, and a uniform price will result. Second, possibilities are provided for future contracts. Commodities which can be standardized and designated by grade can be sold for delivery in the future. This is true, for example, of wheat, corn, and cotton. It is coming to

be true of such products as butter and cheese, yet always to a lesser degree than of the commodities named above, since butter and cheese, no matter how carefully graded, change in quality as time passes. With butter the change is always for the worse; with cheese, for a year or so, it may be for the better. The more exactly produce can be brought to a standard of quality, the more nearly can prices be leveled over both territory and time, allowing in each case for the necessary costs of transporting and storing. In the manufacturing world articles which are readily standardized usually bear a trade-mark, and the trade-mark comes to stand for quality. Examples of this can be found at will, as Royal Baking Powder, or Heinz' 57 Varieties, concerning which the public knows the important facts.

Advertising, a Means of Marketing.-Just as truly as standards are effective in getting produce through the market, so advertising serves a great purpose in letting potential customers know what is to be had. The man with a perfectly staple commodity, such as wheat, or cotton, hardly needs to make use of any advertising medium in order to facilitate sales. The market is already made, so far as he is concerned. There is nothing unique about the particular quantity of corn which an ordinary grower has in his crib; the market price is well established and he must take it or keep his grain. On the other hand, he may have a hundred bushels of seed corn for sale, and with this the situation is essentially different. There probably is no well-established market with a stable price fixed. Those who buy are not ready to take the first article offered. Hence the question of getting buyer and seller together becomes a very important one, so important, in fact, as the difference between a sale at perhaps $2 to $6 a bushel, and the regular feeding value of the corn, which is perhaps 75 cents. A good advertiser lets it be known that he is in the market for making sales, and as a rule he makes them, while great numbers of potential competitors remain potential competitors only because of their failure or inability to furnish the connecting link between the product in their possession and the wants of customers.