MARKETS, AGRICULTURAL. The more numerous markets are in any well cultivated country, provided they are at a sufficient distance not to interfere with each other, and on different days of the week, the greater saving there is of time and labour of conveyance. Good roads or navigable rivers are of great importance to a market-town ; and if there are mills in the neighbourhood, where corn can be ground, they will increase the advantage to the farmer by causing a regular demand above what the immediate consumption of the place may require.
The vicinity of a good market where every kind of agricultural produce will always find purchasers at a fair price, greatly adds to the value of a farm, especially if good roads lead to it ; and the advantage is the greater if it be a populous town,, which not only consumes much produce, but from which various kinds of manure may be brought by the teams which have carried the produce to market.
It is perhaps for the general advantage that the farmers should bring their corn in regularly, without speculating on a rise or fall of prices. Nevertheless they may be safely left to follow the dictates of their own judgment, influenced as that is by the rise and fall of prices, which are the only indications we have of the demand requiring supply. The farmer is tempted to withhold his corn when the price is low, in order to have a greater profit when it rises ; and, to a certain degree, he is justified in doing so : but if he speculates on his own corn, when he can obtain a fair price for it, he becomes a merchant, as much as if he purchased to sell at a profit. When there is a good market at hand, the produce of the farm should be rstodarly sold, so as to give the fanner a constant supply of money for Ina operations, besides a portion set apart for the rent and other regular payments. In this way ho will, at the end of the year, have had the average price, without risk and without speculation ; and by a little caution he may obtain some what more than a mere average, provided he has always more money at Nand than his immediate wants require, and is never forced to selL In order that the fanner may not be imposed upon, he must either make himself acquainted with the transactions in different neighbouring markets, or he must rely on the honesty and judgment of an agent, whose business it is to attend markets and buy and *ell for others. These men are generally called salesmen or factors, and when their character for honesty is established, the small sum wldoh is paid them on the sales will generally be found to be fully compensated by the advantage which their knowledge of the markets and of the quality of the articles gives them. This is particularly the case in the buying
and selling of live-stock, which requires much more knowledge and experience than most other articles. The people whom the farmer has to deal with in fairs and markets have generally a thorough knowledge of the real value of the articles offered for eale, by constantly frequenting market., and confining their atteution to buying and selling only.
The farmer is therefore seldom a match for the dealer, and will find it his interest to employ a person equally skilled in these matters.
The farmer would lose too much valuable time, and be led to unneces sary expense, if ho attempted to obtain the requisite knowledge by fre quenting different and distant markets, as the dealers do.
Notwithstanding this, a certain knowledge of markets and prices is accessary to enable a farmer to detect imposition or ignorance in the person he employs, and the occasional attendance at fairs and markets is indispensable to obtain this knowledge.
When the whole bulk of the articles to be sold is brought into the market and exposed for sale, the market is called a pilelicd market ; when only a small portion is brought, to show the quality of the whole, it is called a sample market. Each has its peculiar advantages and inconveniences. Iu a pitched market the buyer sees what he pur chases, and can thoroughly examine it; he may therefore be induced to offer a more liberal price ; but it often happens that he has to carry • load away by the same road by which it was brought; the sacks also have to be returned, which causes frequent mistakes and losses ; and there is an evident waste of time and labour. When the article is sold by sample there is more reliance on the honesty of the seller, and the buyer naturally keeps on the safe side, by offering somewhat leas, as a kiwi of insurance against slight deceptions. The buyer keeps half the sample and the seller the other, that they may be compared with the bulk in case of any dispute. The seller sends the article sold on a day agreed upon ; and if it is corn, the- sacks are brought back when the waggon or cart returns home. The price is usually paid on the next market-day. In very large dealings the selling by sample is generally adopted; small quantities are usually pitched.
Great inconvenience still arises from the various measures used in different markets; and dealers require tables to reduce them to one standard. The law which has established one uuiform standard of weights and measures does not enforce its adoption, and a great variety of weights and measures still remains to perplex the dealer.