The corn crop of the country exceeds in value any other crop, and in most years any two other crops. It so much exceeds the de mand for it for purposes of direct consumption that the greater part of it has had to be sold in more concentrated form. Various corn products have recently been manufactured, large quantities of it have been used for the purpose of manufacturing alcoholic drinks; but by far the largest part of it has been used for the production of meat. It therefore happens that the areas of pork production are almost identical with the corn belt. The fact that the corn belt lay contiguous to the great ranges of the arid West built up a great cattle-feeding industry, especially in the Missouri River val ley. It would not be quite accurate to say that the corn belt is therefore the centre of beef production because much beef is produced out side the corn belt; but the centre of high-class beef production or the centre of the business of fattening beef is in the corn belt.
A small but rapidly increasing minority of American farmers are engaged in growing agri cultural specialties for which there is no well organized market or distributing system. These products are too numerous to be catalogue but they include most perishable fruits an vegetables and fancy products of various kinds, including fancy horses and breeding stocks. These products cannot be thrown on to the market as can the large staple products for the reason that there is no well-organized distrib uting system ready to handle them. Therefore the grower of such products must give a great deal of attention to their marketing and dis tribution. In some respects this is a more diffi cult if not a more important problem than that of growing them. The following figures show the totals in millions of bushels of the different crops harvested in 1916: Winter wheat, 685; spring wheat, 206; maize, 2,673; oats, 1,141 ; bar ley, 195; rye, 43; buckwheat, 17; potatoes, 406; hemp, 16; apples, 253; peaches, 54; hay, 70,000, 000 tons; and tobacco, 1,035,000,000 pounds.
A glance at the railroad map of the United States shows that the main lines run east and west instead of north and south. This is only an indication of a much larger economic fact, namely that the territorial division of labor is between East and West rather than between North and South. There is a natural and per manent division of labor between different cli matic zones. This gives rise to transportation lines running north and south. The division of labor and exchange of products between East and West are due in part to difference of soil and other physical conditions, but mainly to the fact that the East is older and the West young er. The older communities develop the highly technical industries first, leaving to the younger communities the task of producing raw mate rials and the cruder products. In short, the division of labor and exchange of products be tween East and West are mainly between the manufacturing and commercial regions on the one hand and the agricultural, mining and lum bering regions on the other.
This fact, in so far as it affects agriculture, derives considerable significance from its bear ing upon the problem of distributing farm products. It means that the bulk of our agricul tural produce is grown at vast distances from the centres of consumption. Another fact which points in the same direction is that our rail roads have given great attention to long dis tance freight and almost none to local freight. These may be said to be the dominating facts in the organization of our agricultural markets. The amount of produce which is grown within hauling distance of the consumer is so small as to be negligible. Accordingly very little account is taken of it and very few provisions have been made for handling it. Dealers of all kinds have planned their business primarily with a view to handling produce from a distance shipped by rail, and only secondarily, if at all, with a view to handling produce which is hauled to town by farmers nearby. Nor have many cities made provision for an open market where local pro ducers might sell directly to consumers.
From the standpoint of the city consumer this situation has certain advantages as well as disadvantages. It relieves him of depend ence upon local producers, giving him a choice among large numbers of producers scattered over wide areas. Again, it lengthens the sea son over which a perishable fruit or vegetable may be consumed. But it tends to discourage the local producer who might otherwise sup ply a very superior, because fresher, product in its proper season. Lacking adequate ma chinery for handling and distributing his product, he is often at a positive disadvantage in competition with a more distant producer who sends his product through a well-organized system with well-worn channels.
The predominance of this system of long distance marketing has necessitated certain changes both in method and machinery. When the farmer could haul his produce to town and show it to the consumer, marketing was sim ple and its methods could be crude without great loss of efficiency. The method was that which is known as selling on inspection. It becomes, however, a very expensive and labori ous process when producer and consumer are widely separated. It requires a chain of mid dlemen, each of whom must make a profit. Selling by sample is an improvement upon selling on inspection because it is less expen sive and laborious; but it is possible only where there is confidence in the seller, that is, confidence that the whole quantity offered for sale will be like the sample submitted for in spection. This is a case where confidence makes economy possible. A still more econom ical method, but a method which requires still more confidence, is that which is known as selling on grade. If the product is properly graded the name of the grade takes the place of a sample so that it is not even necessary to submit a sample for inspection. This requires confidence not only in the honesty of the seller but also in the scientific accuracy of the one who does the grading.