23 



nomical, but farmers doing a small business need to ^et more 

 of the consumer's dollars, and seem to be willing to go to some 

 trouble to secure it. 



Summary. 



To sum up, the public retail market should furnish a new 

 opportunity in marketing, especially for the small and medium- 

 sized grower, and for consumers who are willing to make a 

 little effort in getting their supplies. The amount of food 

 handled in the public markets will necessarily be small com- 

 pared with the volume which is needed to supply the 3,500,000 

 people of this State. As has been stated innumerable times, 

 Massachusetts is dependent on outside sources for at least 75 

 per cent of her food, and this food, shipped in from outside, 

 must go through the regular and established channels of dis- 

 tribution. Massachusetts' climate is such that outside markets 

 can only be open for five, or at most six, months of the year. 

 The markets will handle only fruits and vegetables to any large 

 extent, and so cannot have any effect on the distribution of the 

 staples. In residential towns, where most of the houses are 

 detached and there is land enough for home gardens, the de- 

 mand for the products which the public market handles is not 

 large enough to promise a large chance of success. The con- 

 spicuous failure of markets of this character in several towns 

 during the past year attests the truth of this statement. 



It is therefore easy to see that the public market is sharply 

 limited in its field, and those who look on it as an automatic 

 reducer of the cost of living are bound to suft'er disappointment. 

 But within its limits, the public market, if properly managed 

 and supported by farmers and consumers, has a place. 



