Imperial Valley press., 1913-11-28

tended the service in these two zones
to fresh meats when properly
wrapped.
The full significance and the posi-
bilities of this order have not yet
dawned upon the country. Under it
a man may ship a twenty-pound
dressed turkey to a customer $50
miles away for an advance of 1.2
cents a pound. In other words, a
Thanksgiving turkey usually finds its
way into the city dweller's market
basket at an advance of about 10
cents a pound over the price the
farmer received. The producer and
the consumer would, brought into
touch with one another, have nearly 8
cents a pound to divide between them
as an extra profit for the farmer and
as saving for the consumer.
The one weak element in the situa-
tion is the difficulty of producer and
consumer getting together and bridg-
ing the price-raising gap between
them. A number of suggestions have
been made as to how this may be over
come. One is that the postoffice de-
partment issue monthly publication
containing a directory Of all the farm
ers who would like to ship direct to city
consumers copies thereof to be fur
nished to city consumers at price
sufficient to cover the express.
Another suggestion proposes that
individual enterprises shall take up
the work in each city of compiling a
list of all the farmers within radius
of $50 miles who would like to sell
produce to consumers direct, charging
each farmer a small fee for the in
sertion of his card and then selling
copies of the catalogue to consumers.
Still another suggestion is that
newspapers which make a speciality
of small ad business open up a de-
partment of parcel post advertise
ments, where farmers may insert two
or three line ad for month at reas-
enable rate. The service a newspaper
could thus render it's readers, most of
whom would like to find good farmers
to deal with, would be so great that
the paper featuring it might find the
growth in circulation more than pay
ing the way of the department.
Whatever method may ultimately
be resorted to in an effort to bring
the producer and the consumer into
direct contact through the parcel post,
the department will not fail to utilize
all the avenues of publicity in its eff
fort to induce the farmer to make full
use of it. Its advantages will be pro-
claimed at farmers Institutes; the ag-
ricultural colleges will be asked to as
sist in the education of the farmer to
it's uses and advantages, and in divers
ways the country will be shown how
the system can be used to cut down
the cost of living.
That the parcel post service is popu-
lar is revealed by the fact that when
it was established the postmaster gen.
eral predicted that it would carry a
million packages a week, whereas it
is now carrying twice that many a
day. That it is reasonably safe is
disclosed by the fact that out of the
first 40,OOO,0OO packages carried not
a single claim for damages resulted.
That the service is better than the ex-
press companies ever have been able
to furnish is illustrated by the fact
that in two cases out of three where
two packages are sent forward at the
same hour, the one by express and the
other by mail, the mail package ar
rives in less time and goes at much
lower rate than the express package.
Some city dwellers have hit upon
the idea of marketing by mail entire
ly. They have parcel post baskets in
which the farmer can place a dozen
or two of eggs, pound or two of but
ter, a chicken or two, some canned
corn, beans, and the like, and other
products, and forward it by parcel
post. When the baket reaches it's
destination it is emptied and returned
ready for the next order.
The service on rural routes will
prove of great aid to the overworked
housewives.
Nothing is more unfortunate in rur-
al life than that so often the wife Of
the farmer has to do her own washing
because she cannot get her clothes to