Evening star., 1926-12-16
CASH BASIS GOAL
OF FARMER TODAY
City Folk Turning More and
More to Charge Accounts,
Reports Show.
BY j. c. ROYLE.


NEW YORK. December 16.-Ths
farmers of the country are getting
on a cash basis. Automobiles ant
improved roads have put them there
and the rural merchants who have
not taken this trend into considera
ton are finding it reflected in the de
crease in their profits. The automo
bile has been blamed for lot ol
changes in merchandising practice
but the automobile makers and users
retort that the merchants who have
suffered have done so because they
failed to use the motor car.
Reports today from the Northeast,
the Southwest the Northwest and the
Southeast indicate that the agri'
culturist is dealing not on credit but
for cash. This is a distinct reversal
of the urban trend, where more new
credit accounts have been opened in
the last two months than in any
similar period.
IOng-Term Credit.
Formerly rural and small city stores
carried the accounts of farmers for
from 6 to months, and did their
own buying accordingly. When the
crops were harvested the farmer paid
his bills if his products netted him
enough TO do so. Immediately there
after he began charging his purchases
again. Merchants laid in large stocks
of goods to meet this demand and
had to have considerable sums tied up
on their shelves for months at a
time.
The day of the crop settlement
period has passed in most farming
communities. This is the reason that
some Midwestern and Southern COM
munities have reported only such a
slight decrease in purchasing power.
although cotton has dropped and grain
crops in some sections have been dis
appointing. Farmers are being paid
on a weekly or monthly basis for
dairy products, eggs, poultry and
other products handled largely by CO.
operative associations and for fruit
sent to canneries and sugar beets sent
to sugar factories. Such receipts in
many instances are as large as the
income from the so-called money
CROP revenue. So purchases by farm
ers are being spread throughout the
gear instead of being concentrated in
Spring and Fall.
Buying just as Large.
Formerly large stocks of goods on
conditions. Jobbers and wholesalers
looked for big business in Fall and
Spring and were disappointed because
recently they have not gotten it. But
under present conditions, the business
is largely for cash, retailers bills are
discounted and both retailer and
wholesaler have discovered that the
total volume of buying is just as big
as befores although it is not concen-
trated in such narrow time limits.
The real concern now of the inde-
pendent retail merchant is competi-
ton from chain stores and mail order
houses. AS one Northwestern banker
expressed 1t today, the stores on a
cash basis seem to be doing the largest
and most profitable business.
The rural dry goods merchants in
many localities report they are being
hard hit. They say the automobile
has brought the city department stores
small cities and rural communities
and they claim the recession their
sales have shown is a result of this.
This does not agree with the attitude
of the merchants in the suburban dis.
tricts adjoining large cities. The lat
ter say they can buy the same goods
practically as cheap as the city de-
partment store. that their rents. labor
costs and overhead are lower and that
since the automobile. the bus and
good roads have opened their doors
to the farm dwellers, they have bene.
flied accordingly.
There is a distinct tendency among
suburban and rural merchants toward
cooperative purchasing. There has
also been a move toward buying di
rect from manufacturers. but this has
not progressed far, since the whole
salers are in position to give prompt
and satisfactory service.