The Glenwood post., 1923-10-11
flowers, as well as food


folded our napkins the lady of the
house went to the phone and ordered
ice cream. Mind you, she did this
after we had sat down and were eat
ing. But long before we had finished
the other good things the ice cream
came. A boy brought it and went
away, never asking for SO sordid
thing as money.
The ice cream was a dream, but or
dering ice cream for dinner after you
have sat down to eat just about got
and I had to think it all out by myself.
Here it is:
Wives and cooks of big-town and
city homes don't keep much money in
the house-not nowadays. They are
too busy to trail down town or around
the corner before each meal ITO pick
out and buy what they want Tele-
phones and light delivery auto trucks
are too handy and willing to do all
their shopping and delivering for them.
Total bills are paid at the end of the
month.
A lot is said in favor of peddling
farm products and selling to private
families. Of course that sort of bust
ness is all right for fellow on a
small farm who likes to fool away half
day in town, chasing along alleys.
We grow and market vegetables from
the farm every year, selling to the
town stores only In fifteen minutes
after we arrive in town with a load
| the produce is sold, all of it in bunch,
and we are ready to go back to the
hate to see a farmer peddling his stuff
in town.
Where the farmer roduce peddler is
up against it is that most of the town
families he will visit have accounts
with their favorite town store. Many
of them do not have a dollar in the
house from one pay day to another.
But the town stores want lots and
lots of choice farm foods to supply
their regular customers. Many and
many a time I have been in town and
certain stores have asked me to bring
in a load of certain vegetables from our
truck patch and garden the following
day. Arriving in town at the particu-
lar stores the following day, the clerks
would be waiting to fill their morning
orders from my load.
The point is: Any good grocer who
buys your high-grade farm truck has a
chance to sell it to a dozen customers
where you will have one. He, like the
ice cream distributor in the city men,
toned above, has facilities for display
ing and selling your goods that you
have not. OF course he is the hated
middleman that so many condemn, but
is n necessity nowadays.
The thing then, for the farmer to
do in taking produce to town is to stop
and unload his truck at the right end
of the telephone, which IS the town
store.
Personally, again, 7 have rather
warm feeling for most local town bust
ness men. These merchants are the
backbone of the town. Also, as the
town prospers the farms around the
town share the benefit.
A farm peddler will glut the town
with small load in short time, and
90 back with part of it to feed the
pigs, believing that town folks starve
and would not buy if they had money.
But take that or a bigger load to a
live-wire grocery store, and the mau
ager will have it sold out like hot
cakes.
If you attempt to peddle farm pro-
duce in town the town-home cook as a
matter of past training and attitude
towards farmers in general, will expect
you to sell under store prices. If you
do not, you can move on. But if she
orders the same vegetables from her
favorite store over the phone she sol.
dom haggles over the price. Hence,
though you do not get so much for
your vegetables as the grocer sells them
for, you get as much as you would
through private family selling, you save
lot of time and you have the good
will of every business house in town,
for business houses don u love farmer
peddlers.
---Nr--