Which of these was a corrupt business practice that frank norris exposed in the octopus? railroad companies selling land to farmers and secretly keeping legal ownership of the land railroad companies receiving land grants from the government and attempting to sell the land railroad companies charging farmers and ranchers to transport goods and livestock to their land railroad companies purchasing land from the government and improving the land

The Muckrakers were journalists of the "Progressive Era" exposing corruption in big business and government and encouraging people to take action against it.  

In "The Octopus", Frank Norris portrays the Wheat industry in California including the disputes and struggles between Railroad Companies and Wheat Growers around the 1900s.

Thereby the best answer would be (The First one) "Frank Norris exposed railroad companies selling land to farmers and secretly keeping legal ownership of the land"

(a).national trade check first good luck

there is often only a small difference between what is legal and what is ethical when working with competitive intelligence..