36 EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 344 



Table 13. Distribution of 80 year-round resident households* according 

 to amount of agricultural sales to summer residents and percent 

 such sales were of total agricultural sales 





" Represents all households reporting the sale of agricultural products to summer residents : 20 

 per cent of all households and 48 per cent of those reporting agricultural sales. 



Despite the importance and volume of summer sales, certain mal- 

 adjustments and limitations in the satisfaction of recreation markets were 

 indicated by the comments of both summer and year-round residents. 

 The comments of summer people generally reflected a comparison of 

 local markets with the most efficient city markets. By comparison, local 

 markets were rather poor with respect to the price and variety of prod- 

 ucts available and the quality of service rendered, but were better with 

 respect to the quality of product received. 



The most common complaints were against what were claimed to be 

 the high prices of products locally, the summer rise in prices, and the 

 alleged two-price system of discriminating against seasonal residents. 

 Also mentioned were undependable supplies of farm products, lack of 

 variety of products in local stores (especially meats), and the "independ- 

 ent attitude" of certain clerks. 



On the other hand, many residents recognized the fact that higher 

 prices and less varied stocks were justified, and that local dealers were 

 rendering a difficult but valuable local service under conditions which 

 made maximum efficiency impossible. A few were annoyed because of 

 the visits of peddlers with diverse articles of sale, but a more common 

 complaint was that farmers, meatmen, bakers, and other dealers did not 

 appear often enough or with enough variety of products. 



The quality of fresh products from the farms generally was con- 

 sidered good, although some thought there should be better cleaning and 

 grading of products, and especially that the milk should be pasteurized. 

 In areas accessible to trading centers such as Laconia, an increasing num- 

 ber of summer residents have adopted the habit of buying all fresh fruits, 

 vegetables, dairy and poultry products in the chain stores when buying 

 their other staple supplies, thus eliminating a trip to the farm. 



Farmers and storekeepers mentioned several difficulties experienced 

 in serving recreation markets. The short season made it necessary to get 

 a large part of the year's income during the summer so higher prices 

 were charged. The lack of sufficient summer residents in a locality to 

 support so seasonal a business, their search for low prices and consequent 



