The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1913-05-24

WHOM purchases are ma0s@ Wy #Hlll1sTS..
the warehousemen who manage the
sale of q Virginia planters tobacco
The Intervention of two men be-
tween producer and consumer is a
/ common occurrence Fruits and vege-
tables are often marketed through the
aid Of two middlemen, the city COM
mission dealer and a retail merchant
A series of three middlemen may in.
| clude first the local buyer OF the ship
per; second, the commission or the
wholesale merchant; and third. the re-
tail merchant. In the sale Of fruit by
auction, which is common in large cit.
les east Of the Mississippi river, the
| auctioneer is an additional middleman.
Onions raised in Kentucky are some
times bought by local merchant and
shipped to Louisville; here they may
be put into sacks and consigned to
a New York wholesaler or q commits
sion man who in turn sells to a New
York retailer. Eggs and poultry fire.
quently pass through the hands of at
least four middlenshn.
Public market pIAees are established
in a number of citA& and towns, and
in these places COB ,ners may buy
such articles as fruit Vegetables, dairy
products, poultry, ana eggs direct from
farmers as well as fri dealers.
Another institution aids the
producer to dispose d his crop is the
public warehouse Illustrations of this
are afforded in the marketing OF tobac-
co in Virginia and North Carolina.
wool from the northern Rocky noun
in Louisiana and Texas. The grow
ers or their representatives. with their
produce, meet the buyers at these
warehouses.
While farm products are In transit
by rail, there are certain points at
which the consigner may designate a
final destination. The purpose of this
practice is to enable the consigner to
find the best market for his goods.
This is the plan followed in shipping
fruits and vegetables by mail from
California to the east and from south
SiA STATES W the north.
The secretary of agriculture has
much to say concerning associative
marketing by farmers, and the eco
nomic advantages are stated in detail
"A survey of the systems OF market
ing farm products clearly discovers
Wat the farmers can best do to their
advantage. They must associate
| themselves together for the purpose of
assembling their individual contribu-
lions OF products, Of shipping in car
| load lots, Of obtaining market news
at places to which 1t is practical to
send their products, to sell Ii a con-
siderable number of markets, IL not in
many markets, and to secure the va
| rious other economic gains OF asso-
| ciative selling
To carry out this suggestion, it is
recommended that if congress estab-
| fishes a division Of markets, corps
of travelling field agents be maintained
| to assist farmers to form associations
for marketing their products.
Among the subjects whose inves-
tigation is suggested are the storage
| OF farm products either on the farm
or elsewhere pending their sale, the
| business Of commission dealers; the
various costs of marketing, properly
| tented, and compared with prices of
products at the farm and with consum-
ers' prices; description of principal
| markets and of chief producing re-
gions; and some problems of transpor-
! tation.
The secretary of agriculture closes
! his recommendations by making one
concerning. the participation Of CON
sumers in the solution Of marketing
! problems. A cheapening of farmers
costs of marketing will naturally re-
suit in gain to the producer rather
tsoan to the consumer. II the consum.
er is to gain by changes in the costs
of distribution, it seems probable that
he must do SO through cheapening or
eliminating costs at his end Of the
| chain of distribution. The consumers
can cheaper the costs of farm prod
ucts by cooperative buying and by re-
ducing the expenses Of retail and other
local distribution. The consumers as.
pect of the problems of the distribu-
ton Of farm products is a conspicuous
one at the present time, and problems
in distribution that are concerning the
consumer rather than the producer
may well be included within the serv-
ice of division of markets