10 U. OF N. H. AGRI. EXP. STATION [Bulletin 249 



candies, cigarettes, and what not; doubtless there is less temptation 

 here than in communities where larger and more numerous cities are 

 distributed; and, finally, the traffic on our main highways may pro- 

 vide a less attractive vantage ground than more heavily travelled 

 roads in other states for the emplojinent of city funds and talent in 

 such an undertaking. Table IV shows that less than 5 per cent of 

 the average sales per stand were purchased farm products, and as a 

 matter of fact these few purchases were made locally, practically with- i 

 out exception. " 



It is of interest to note that as classified here, farm products, in- 

 cluding the 4.9 per cent purchased for resale as well as the 19.3 per 

 cent raised, represent 24.2 per cent of the total sales. They are ex- J 

 ceeded only by gasoline and oil which represent 29.8 per cent. The I 

 big groups, representing roughly between 18 and 30 per cent of total 1 

 sales, are gasoline and oil, farm products, merchandised commodities 

 like candy, ice cream, and tobacco, and home prepared food. Over- 

 night accommodations and miscellaneous represent only 3 and 4.8 per 

 cent respectively of total sales. There is obviously a difference be- 

 tween buying and selling gasoline on a gross margin of 5 to 15 percent 

 and selling farm products which one has raised largely with his own 

 labor and with little direct cash outlay. The proprietor of a merchan- 

 dising place cannot get anything more out of a product than the gross 

 margin — the difference between what he pays for it and the price for 

 which he sells it; and he too has His fixed costs of rent, depreciation, 

 taxes, insurance and repairs. The farmer may have to pay out cash 

 for feed and fertilizer, but the main difference is one of labor and 

 management involved. The cost of production for these crops and 

 animal products is beyond the scope of this study, and we can only 

 suggest that in so far as the difference in margin between selling farm 

 products and merchandising others is one of hours of work the road- 

 side stand should be a desirable way to market some farm labor. We 

 talk about "the farmer's thirty cent dollar," meaning that out of 

 every dollar paid by the consumer the farmer gets less than one third 

 for producing the product. Surely if he sells at the roadside he is 

 taking the place of some middlemen and may hope to get a part of 

 their pay. For example, the cost of marketing apples at 12 represen- 

 tative stands in Michigan, as compared to selling them through the 

 regular channels, indicated that the grower's portion by the latter 

 method, was only 19.4 cents out of the consumers' dollar while at the 

 roadside he got sixty cents besides being paid fifteen cents for his ex- 

 tra labor.* Something of the gross margins on merchandise handled 

 at the roadside are shown in Table V. This table is based on a few 

 averages. It does not attempt to emphasize sufficiently the wastes 

 and losses incident to the handling of such materials. 

 ■ In Table VI the records were sorted by the proportion of sales repre- 

 sented by farm grown products. The distribution of sales among the 

 different classes and something of the relation of family receipts from 

 other sources to that from the roadside marketing business is included. 

 The distribution of the classes of products sold would appear to be 



♦Agricultural Experiment Station, East Lansing, Michigan. Special Bulletin 

 No. 185, Roadside Marketing in Michigan. 



