As each delivery of wheat is graded and weighed, word is sent to the central wheat exchanges that so many bushels of such and such grades are at the elevator, and official samples are also sent on at the same time. The bulk of the sales however are made by grade and not by sample. The actual buying and selling takes place in the wheat exchanges, or wheat pits as they are called, at Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, Duluth, Kansas City, St Louis, and Winnipeg, each of which markets possesses its own special character. Chicago the greatest of the wheat markets of the world passes through its hands every year about 25 million bushels of wheat, chiefly from the western and south-western States. It owes its preeminence to the converging railway lines from those States, and to its proximity to Lake Michigan which puts it in touch with water carriage. New York has grown in importance as a wheat market since the opening of the Erie Canal. It is especially the market for export. Minneapolis is above all things a milling centre. No doubt it has become so partly on account of the immense water-power provided by the Falls of St Antony. It receives annually nearly 100 million bushels of wheat, its speciality being the various grades of hard spring wheat. Duluth is the most northern of the American wheat markets. It receives and stores over 50 million bushels annually. It owes its importance to its position on Lake Superior, which is available for water carriage. Kansas City deals with over 40 million bushels per annum, largely hard winter wheat, which it ships down the Missouri River. St Louis deals in soft winter wheats to the extent of about 20 million bushels per annum. Winnipeg is the market for Canadian wheats, to the extent of over 50 million bushels per annum. It has the advantage of two navigable rivers, the Red River and the Assiniboine, and it is also a great railway centre. Its importance is increasing as the centre of the wheat-growing area moves to the north and west, and it is rapidly taking the leading position in the wheat markets of the world. It has been stated above that Chicago is the greatest wheat market, but it will no doubt have been noticed that this is not borne out by the figures which have been quoted. For instance, Minneapolis receives every year nearly four times as much wheat as Chicago. The reason of this apparent discrepancy is that the sales at Minneapolis are really _bona fide_ sales of actual wheat for milling, whilst nine-tenths of the sales at Chicago are not sales of actual wheat, but of what are known as “futures.” On this assumption, whilst the actual wheat received at Chicago is 25 million bushels, the sales amount to 250 million bushels. Such dealing in futures takes place to a greater or less extent at all the great wheat markets, but more at Chicago than elsewhere.