Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1919-09-26

l'' ~'~- Sc ill II IlLtt~'.N cost INK from ,
IT, SIS apiece This system OF self
service salesmanship is applicabl,
only in regions where the grower.
have no cooperative association. il
would be extremely unWise for the
individual producer to go on the road
in active competition with an exten
siNe selling organization. The grower
also must bear in mind the fact that
although the returns from this meth
cd of selling at first may appear
large. they will be cut down To ;
great extent by his expenses, the time
consumed. and the consequent neg
lect of his regular business Thi.
practice may result also in l0Werina
wholesale prices. inasmuch as the
grower may be anxious to get away
and may sell at figures which the
regular dealers would not accept. Can
peddling is more common in the West
and Southwest than in nay other sec
tons of the country. but has de
creased under recent demurrage and
traffic regulations.
The producer who is seeking a
profitable market for his cOmmodi
ties may profitably divert his surplus
stocks to canning plants, picking
plants. cider mills, evaporating plants
or other commercial concerns which
specialize in the production of staple
food products. Canning plants porb-
ably constitute the largest outlet for
fruits and vegetables. However there
is common misunderstanding con-
corning these factories, as it is usually
thought that they utilize the Gull
grades of fruits and vegetables.
This is truG in only a limited way.
and the practice is annually becoming
less common. Competition has be.
come so keen among canning facto-
ries that quality is now determining
factor OF success. Consequently they
are making an effort to secure the
higher grades of fruits and vege.
tables. 1t usually is necessary to
make contracts in advance if markets
are to be secured at these factories.
The farmer who approaches a fac
tory only when he has unstable sur.
plus and the markets are glutted must
expect very low offers. Picking
plants use more vegetables than
fruits. large part of the cucumber
crop being utilized in this way. Kraut
factories. which in many sections af-
ford important markets for cabbage,
may be included under this head.
Cider mills and evaporating plants
are the real outlet for Gull grades of
fruits, although even here. quality is
becoming more important. 1t is a
truth too little understood that low
grades. while sometimes bringing fair
returns, are in reality detriment to
the market, because they tend to pull
down the prices of better grades.
Farmers will do better on the whole
to accept a low price for these Gull
grades from the factory and keep
them off the general market, this
causing the general value of the mar
ket to strengthen materially.
Direct Selling Sometimes Fails.
1t is common belief that the most
direct outlet for producers-that is.
the channel direct to consumers-is
always the most simple of all chan.
nels of distribution. 1t is doubtful
whether this is always true, for many
difficulties lie in the way of the pro-
Queer who attempts to get in touch
with the final consumers of his COM
modities. There is no doubt as to
the advantages, in that there are no
Intermediates in the distribution of
these goods and the producer is able
to get much higher prices than he
could II selling at wholesale. How
ever, there is the Inconvenience, of
getting in touch with the consumers
who are in the market for the partic-
ular commodities concerned and the
difficulty of making collections and
avoiding bad accounts. The average
larger grower is fully occupied in
supervising production on the farm
and it is troublesome enough for him
to keep in touch with general market
conditions without attempting to
handle all of the details necessitated
by direct marketing. Furthermore
these direct channels are possible
only in special cases where small
quantities of goods are to be shipped.
and it is seldom that large quantities
Iof products from extensive farms or
Orchards can be disposed of through
such outlets. Wholesale distribution
must be resOrted to in these cases.
Reaching Markets by Trucks.
Direct delivery by wagon or motor
truck is practicable only where the
farmer lives within a 25-mile radius
of the consuming center. Hence this
method of marketing affords an outlet
only for the commodities produced in
the area Immediately surrounding
the market. Such deliveries are lin
tied. in the main. to country towns
and smaller cities. The automobile
truck undoubtedly is enlarging this
service. but it probably will be limit
ed to very small portion of the total
producing area of the country and
cannot be expected to form an outlet
fnr tho Uroof hull, ~ eor,,, or1Ds