LAND UTILIZATION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE 35 



that one-third to one-half of their gross annual sales were made during 

 the summer to vacationists and to local residents whose incomes are high- 

 est then. Families in Sanbornton and Tuftonboro who took in summer 

 boarders as a commercial business received between 35 and 100 per 

 cent of their annual household incomes during the same period. Busi- 

 ness in such rural areas generally held up after the departure of sum- 

 mer residents, because of the money left behind in the hands of native 

 residents. 



Sales of farm products to summer residents were a significant part of 

 the income of farm families in the three towns. Five per cent of the 

 gross income from farm products was from direct sales to summer people. 

 In Francestown and Sanbornton one dollar in forty was from these 

 sources, while in Tuftonboro sales to summer residents accounted for 

 one dollar in every six. Nearly one-half of all households that reported 

 the sale of farm products had some direct sales to summer residents. These 

 sales were principally in small retail lots, either at the farm or de- 

 livered to the door. Sales at the farms or through roadside stands 

 predominated in Tuftonboro, where the volume of summer traffic was 

 heaviest. Retail delivery to summer residents was more important in 

 the other towns. 



Sales of farm products to summer residents were supplementary or 

 incidental to other major outlets on most farms. The households most 

 exclusively dependent upon summer families for the disposal of farm 

 products represented smaller farm enterprises (Table 13). The smaller, 

 diversified farms in Tuftonboro generally were more dependent upon 

 direct sales to summer people than were the farms in the other towns. 



Indirect sales of farm products to summer residents supplemented 

 direct sales as a source of farm income in the three towns. In some cases 

 grocery stores, restaurants, and boarding houses acted as intermediaries 

 between the farmer producer and the summer resident consumer. Other 

 products went from producer to wholesaler to retailer to summer resi- 

 dent. Still others followed direct or devious routes to the tables of vear- 

 round families who were dependent to varying degrees upon summer 

 residents for livelihood. Although it was impossible to trace and deter- 

 mine the exact proportion of agricultural income which could be attrib- 

 uted to these obscured and interrelated phases of the summer recreation 

 business, an estimate was made of the income from farm products ren- 

 dered to summer recreationists through a single intermediate agencv— 

 as a store, restaurant, or boarding house. Thus in Sanbornton and Tuf- 

 tonboro, located near trading centers of summer resort areas, indirect 

 sales to tourists and summer residents amounted to 80 and 30 per cent 

 respectively of the value of direct sales to summer markets. Many farm- 

 ers were conscious of no dependence whatsoever upon summer markets, 

 although they were selling products to nearby stores, one-third or more 

 of whose sales during July and August were to summer residents or 

 tourist vacationists. 



