The Washington herald., 1922-07-30
AUTOMOBILE SALES
TO FARMERS WILL
DEPEND ON CROPS
Harvest Returns Will
Measure Demand From
Agricultural Areas.

ST. LOUIS. Mo-, July 29-Auto-
mobile sales to farmers in the fall
months depend now absolutely on
the perfection of the corn crop.
which is everywhere in splendid
condition at this time, and upon
the settlement of the industrial
situation, according to C. A. vane.
general manager of the National
Automobile Dealers Association.
who has just completed a 500-mile
motor trip through the farm Sec
tions of Missouri and Illinois. talk
ing with farmers, automobile deal
ers and country bankers.
Wheat generally has netted splendid
yields, but the problem confront
ing the farmer now is getting this
crop into the market and turning
it into cash. 'Curtailed train serv-
ice due to the shopmen's strike has
already resulted in a serious Grip
pling of shipping facilities and II
the strike grows worse there will
be a loss of millions of bushels of
grain because of the poor storage
facilities generally existing on the
farms.
Another phase of the strike situ-
alton which is causing considerable
worry is the possibility of holding
up for months. probably until 1928,
. no ;e
going on. Country banks have
been carrying farmers for months
and have anticipated that this
crop return would see the slate
wiped clean of most of their in
debtedness. The bankers are re-
calling what happened to numer-
Gus country banks in the fall of
1920 and the spring of 1921 when
such institutions were forced to
close their doors because Il frozen
credits. The security. now as then.
was of the finest, but the impossi-
bllity of realizing cash On the debt
sent many a bank down.
The bankers in the small towns
are quite generally amazed at the
phenomenal comeback" of the au-
tomobile industry in 1922. To date
of July 20 the register of the sec
retary of States office IN Illinois
showed 712.734 motor vehicles reg
istered as against a total of CO.
452 for the whole year 1921 and
against 612,566 motor vehicles reg
istered between January 1 and
July 20. 1921. More than 100000
Increase in the period.
Dealers quite generally reported
a loosening up of the credit stu
alton. So far as their own needs
are concerned the dealers are not
much troubled because they are
short of deliveries. That always
makes for better terms in the sale
and their own resources have been
quite generally without expensive
borrowing. Many of them are
handling their time payment sales.
Others are developing finance cor
poration connections. Occasionally
a dealer is able to slip notes into
the home town bank for collection
from the car buyer.
Numbers of farmers are pros
poets who never have ueen con-
sidered so before by the dealers
Three times in one week in a lit
tie town of 5000 people in Illinois
farmers came into a Dodge Broth
ers dealers establishment ard
counted out the price of a car in
IS, $40 and $50 bills The dealer
had never bel"ie considered these
men prospects.
The coal strike Is having Its ef-
feet in the mining region. A Buick
dealer in town of about 5000
with a ten car contract had de-
livered eight cars up to the time
of the calling of the coal strike.
A Aprn 30, He informed me tSat5 he
was set for twenty-five deliveries
this year until that happened. The
strike wiped out a payroll of $780,
900 a month in his town. Unless
they settle the strike pretty soon,
he said, he will be lucky to get his
6ther two cars over.
A motor trip through Illinois
impresses one as a train trip never
can of the vast resources of the
agricultural sections of this coun-
try. Splendid highways. concrete
and oil. great farms. substantial
farm houses. modernly equipped
attest the solidarity of the wealth
of the country based on its land
From the automobile mans view
point, the highway situation is an
interesting one. In those sections
served by the hard roads 1t is safe
to predict that the average value
of the average automobile is at
least $3.50 more than the average
value of the average automobile
for the State at large. AS the
roads develop the price cost of the
car goes up, and the cheap car goes
further into the interior in its pi-
oneering. II the automobile indus
try wants to find the answer to the
saturation point question, it can
checkmate the saturations bugaboo
with new hard roads.