The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-01-08

| ery by individual farmers or associa-
tions of farmers to individual consumers
or associations of consumers. 1u these
direct forms of distribution, the middle
man is eliminated, although OF course
intermediate services are performed
either by producers or by consumers or
by both parties.
INTERVENTION OF MIDDLEMEN.
Among the varieties Of middlemen
concerned in the marketing Of farm
products are the travelling hucksterS
who 90 from farm to farm gathering
eggs, butter, poultry, calves, and other
commodities, which they sell to ship
pers, jobbers,. or retail dealers: The
I country merchants is often the first re-
ceiver OF such products as eggs, farm
made butter, poultry, wool, hides, cot
ton, and sometimes grain and hay In
regions where grain is the staple prod
uct, the tendency has been to displace
the country merchant by the grain
buyer and the local elevator man. 49,. .
Farmers commonly sell through com
mission merchants and to some extent
directly to wholesale dealers and also
to retail dealers. The farmer who en-
ploys trustworthy commission mer-
chant who will handle his products
honestly and honorably will get the
current prices for them within the
range of the commission merchants
business, but the farmer often hnds him.
self in the hands of commission mer-
chant who falsely reports that the prod
ucts we're received in damaged condi'
tion or that they were of grade lower
than thcy were in fact, or he reports re-
ceivine prices lower than those actually
received by hin for the products. Worse
than this, it is by no means rare that
the commission merchant has sold the
products and failed to return the net
proceeds.
Samples OF transactions in which only
one midjieman intervenes between pro-
ducer and consumer include the COM
mission man at large MARKET who re-
ceives consignments of live stock from
farmers and sells to packers; the factor
to whom the planter consigns his rice
or cotton and from whom purchases are
made by millers; the warehousemen
who manage the sale of Virginia
planters tobacco.
The intervention of two men between
producer and consumer is common oc-
curence. Fruits and vegetables are often
marketed through the aid OF two mid
dlemen, the city commission dealer and
a retail merchant.
MORE THAN ONE INTERMEDIATES.
A series of three niddlemen may in
clude first the local buyer of the ship
per; second, the commission dealer or
the wholesale merchant; and third; the
retail merchant. In the sale of fruit by
auction, which is common 10 large cit.
les east of the Mississippi river, the
auctioner is an additional middleman.
He may sell for a commission dealer, to
whom the consignment may have been
made by a country buyer; and the pur-
chaser at such an auction may be job
Der, who in tnrn sells to retail mer-
chant. Five middlemen are thus con-
cerned in such a transaction.
Onions raised in Kentucky are some
times bought by local merchant and
shipped to Louisville; here they may be
put into sucks and consigned to New
York wholesaler or commission man
rho in turn sells to New York retail
er. Eggs and poultry frequently pass
through the hands Of at least four mid
dlemen.
The marketing of clover seed is an
example of transfer from one farmer
to another through number OF mid:
dlemen. The first middleman may be an
Indiana jobber, who consigns to a CON-
mission dealer in Toledo, Ohio: here
the seed may be purchased by mer-
chant and shipped to wholesale dealer
in a distant city. The last middleman
in this course OF distribution is a coun
try storekeeper or city dealer in agri-
cultural supplies.
eMARKET PLACES AND WAREHOUSES.
Public market places are established
in number of cities and towns, and in
these places consumers may buy such
articles as fruit, vegetables, dairy prod
ucts, poultry, and eggs direct from farm
ers as well as from dealers. =
Another institution which aids the
producer to dispose of his crop is the
public warehouse. Illustrations OF this
are afforded in the marketing of to-
bacco in Virginia and North Carolina,
ool from the northern Rocky Mountain
States, and to some extent rice in Louis
lana and Texas. The growers or their
representatives, with their produce,
meet the buyers at these warehouses.
DIVERSION IN TRANSIT.
While farm products are in transit by
rail. there are certain points at which
the consiguor may designate final des-
tinatioo. The purpose of this practice
is to enable the consignor to find the
best market for his goods. This is the
plan followed in shipping fruits aud
vegetables by rail from California to
the East and from Southern States to
the North
ASSOCIATIVE MARKETING.
The Secretary of Agriculture q as
much to say concerning associative
marketing by farmers, and the eco
nomic advantages are stated in detail.
ga survey OF the systems OF marketing
farm products clearly discovers what
the farmers can best do to their advan-
tage. They must associate themselves
together for the purpose of assem- bling
their individual contributions of prod
ucts, of shipping in carload lots, OF OBJ
| tanning market news at places to which
it is practical to send their products, to
sell in a considerable number of mar
kets, if not in many markets, and to Sc
cure the various other economic gains
of associative selling"
To carry out this suggestion, it is rec
commended that if Congress esta blishes
| division of markets, a coprs OF travel
ing field agents be maintained to assist
farmers to form associations for market
ing their products.
ESTIMATES OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE
SUPPLY.
It is also recommended that estimates
of the prospective supply of fruits and
vegetables, and perhaps other products