The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-05-14
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsIxIN, Director,
Washington, d. C.
THE ADVERTISING FARMER.

/
out of present difficulties for many
farmers, in the opinion of students of
the farm-marketin problem, of which
few of them are taking advantage.
| 1t is noticeable that merchants and
manufacturers, altho most of them are
| facing reduced sales and a falling
scale OF prices, are not cutting down
on their advertising. Many OF them
/ on the contrary have increased their
expenditures for newspaper space.
realizing that this is necessary to
counteract the tendency toward a
slump in buying. American business
spends on an average about two mil
| lion dollars a day in advertising, but
the volume of sales averages about a
| hundred million dollars day. The
two million dollars is the regulator
and stimulator of the flow of the hum
dred million. The way in which the
| individual business man uses his share
of the two million determines very
largely what is to be his share of the
| hundred million.
This is a fact which the farmers, as
a class, are just beginning to grasp.
The farmer, for the most part, pro-
! duces staple raw materials which may
always be sold at a market price by
merely hauling them to the nearest
market. Unlike the merchant and the
manufacturer, he does not face d
competition which is capable of driy-
ing. him from the market, nor does he
have to create a demand for his prod
uct. A bushel of potatoes is always
worth something, and people will al
ways need potatoes.
The Farmers Position.
So the farmer has reasoned in the
past. He ranks among the producers
| of fundamental necessities. In fact
he produces the most fundamental
necessities of all. Only wood, steel
and other basic materials of industry
can compare with food in this regard.
The producers of steel do not ad-
vertise. The demand for steel. is GER
tain, just as is the demand for food.
But the produceEs of steel and of most
of the other basic materials of Ameri-
can industry are organized and do
| control the prices of their products.
| That is the great difference between
them and the farmers. If the potato
! growers were organized, they would
| be in the same strong position as the
| producers of iron and petroleum and
| lumber. But the farmer is in no such
position. He has almost no control
over the market price of the staple
! commodities which he produces. Some
| efforts are now being made by farm
ers to obtain such control by holding
crops and by making agreements as to
how much of a given commodity shall
be produced. These efforts will doubt
less. grow in strength and extent, but
so far they have not produced any
striking results, as is shown by the
present economic situation of the
farmer who is bearing the brunt or
| the fall in prices.
| What advantages has the farmer to
lcounter-balance these disadvantages?
He has all of the rights of free COM
petition, if he will only use them. He
has the right to produce anything ne
pleases, and sell it anywhere he can
for the best price he can obtain. FOR
example, the price Of corn may be
down, but if he can produce h1gn
grade of seed corn and advertise 1t IN
such a way that he can convince oln-
ers of it's excellence, he may be able
to sell it for a very high price. Again,
beef and hides may be down, but
breeding stock and breeding service
/ are things for which special market
at a special price may be created.
There are thousands of suburbanltes
who are starting in the chicken bust
ness this spring, for example, ana VINO
will pay good prices for Matching eggs
young chickens, and breeding stock
The possibilities and methods of
farm advertising are ably discussed IN
a booklet on the subject Which mas
i been published by the South Dakota
Agricultural college in collaboration
with the United States department of
agriculture. This publication espec-
tally emphasizes the opportunities OF
selling thru advertising special prod
SuCh
and especially the enormous 1oppor-
tunity of appealing directly to the
consumer thru the want-ad columns
| of the daily papers.
Subscribers read the want-ads,
this bulletin says. ''in fact many OF
them read the advertisements first
| A study of<the want-ads which run
continuously in any strong daily paper
reveals the fact that farmers are In
5 that way selling the greatest variety
of things, including things which II
would be difficult to sell in any other
way. Matching eggs. young chickens
) young tomato and other plants for set
: ting out cuttings for starting hedges
manure for use in flower gardens, spe-
ciaI quality fruit, comb honey, rab-
bits, nuts, cider, strawberries, are
few of the things which are being
marketed successfully thru want ads
by farmers in one paper in one city.
Publicity for Farms.
/ There now exist near all large cities
farms which use advertising almost
, as thoroly and scientifically as dc
merchants. Such farms usually have
: names such as Sunnybrook or High
View, which sound well and look vel
= | in print. This name is apt to be dis
played in large letters on the highway
) nearest the FARM and also on IT
barns, it's wagons and trucks. These
, farms usually make a speciality Of
neat and attractive appearance ant
treat motorists and other visitors po
litely. Such farm will have an ad
2 vertisement of some sort in the near
est paper all the time. 1t has discov
cred that with a little enterprise al
hmost anything that has good value
: can be sold at a good price, and tina
, | a steady revenue may be made to FLOW
in, quite independently of the stap1'
: crops. The South Dakota bulletin de
t scribes the operations of one larg'
= farm which sells 90 per cent of all it
products by mail thru advertising di
rect to the consumer. This farm, TO
example. sold 800 bushels of alfalf;
seed at a net profit of $500, thru I
/. iten-word want-ad. the cost of adver
1 Using being $3.50 Such farmers ar
I not among the bankrupts.
: Despite such successes, and despit
7 the fact-that almost every farm prod
. uct has been sold thru advertising an
: by mail. the proportion of farmer