16 N. H. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 319 



{I) Cash vs. credit purchases. 



(2) Large vs. small purchases. 



(3) Own transportation vs. delivery. 



(4) Bulk vs. package goods. 



(5) Advance orders. 



(c) Adjustments that might be made which would facilitate 

 greater economies in purchasing. 



Farmers, dealers, and retailers are being visited in several areas 

 in the state and to date contacts have been made with approximately 

 280 farmers, 60 retail stores, and 10 I'arni supply dealers in the fol- 

 lowing areas : 



(a) Keene (e) Manchester 



(b) Claremont-Xewi-»ort (f) Wolfeboro 



(c) Milford-Wilton (g) Colebrook 



(d) Rochester-Dover (h) Grafton-\\'ent\\()rth 



The data collected have not yet been summarized, l)ut some ob- 

 servations have been made as follows : 



(a) Farmers can add materially to their net profits for the year 

 by giving more study to purchasing of supplies. 



(b) These savings which can be made in purchasing sup])lies need 

 not necessarily come through reduction of the profits of individual 

 dealers but can be accomplished through cooj^eration with dealers in 

 carrying out the must economical jiractices in distribution and in 

 sharing the savings made. 



(c) Numerous cases are found where producers are obtaining or 

 believe they are obtaining special prices and secret discounts. Un- 

 der such a pricing system, however, the farmer is often not in a 

 position to compare his price with that ]>aid by others. 



(d) Gasoline is one commodity which is sulijcct to much price 

 cutting. .Some farmers are buying gasoline delivered at their farms 

 for from 1 to 4 cents under pump i:)rices. 



Local residents in some sections are buying gasoline below the 

 prices i)aid by summer ])eople. 



(e) Fertilizer i^rice schedules with dit'ferentials for services in- 

 volved are maintained more rigidly than in the case of many farm 

 sui)plies. Farmers can juiy for the service of credit and delivery or 

 not, as they choose. 



(f) Farm supply dealers are rather consistently using commercial 

 credit ratings on those customers who take credit. 



(g) One of the most important changes that farmers' coopera- 

 tives can make in distribution i^ractices is the separate pricing of 

 commodities and services and the rigid maintenance of such dififeren- 

 tials. An educational campaign in this connection would be of great 

 service to farmers. 



