STUDY OF SMALL FARMS NEAR WASHINGTON. 17 



weekday morning. Most of the farmers are there by that time. The 

 produce is sold mostly between 3 and 7 a. m. If the farmer has not 

 sold out by 7 o'clock he generally has to sell at a sacrifice. The 

 buyers, retailers, hotel men, boarding-house keepers, or brokers haul 

 the produce away from the farmers' wagons. The farmer who whole- 

 sales is usually home on the farm by noon. 



Those who retail sell on retail markets, which are separate from 

 the wholesale market. They sell direct to the consumer, and this 

 process usually occupies the greater part of the day. It is generally 

 the farmer with a small acreage of crops who sells on the retail 

 market. The farmer with a big acreage can not dispose of all his 

 produce in this manner. 



The grower who sells by commission also delivers his produce to 

 the city, but the commission man does the selling. The grower may 

 return home immediately upon unloading, provided he does not have 

 to wait for the containers, which the farmer is supposed to get, re- 

 gardless of the method of selling. The usual commission is 10 per 

 cent of gross sales. 



Thus it can be seen that marketing is no small part of the opera- 

 tion of these farms. Table IV shows that from 11 to 16 per cent of 

 the farm expenses are for marketing. This is about 10 per cent of 

 the gross crop sales. It includes only the actual cash expenditures 

 incurred in marketing, such as market-stand fees, lunch, and horse 

 feed, and does not account for the time of men and teams required 

 to haul produce to market. Here, again, the farmer who has but one 

 horse is at a disadvantage. He can not haul more than the one 

 horse can draw. He is hauling and selling a one-horse load while 

 he could just as easily sell a two-horse load. 



In grouping farms of the same size according to the average price 

 received for their produce, it appears that the farmers receiving the 

 highest prices also get the highest labor incomes. The better prices 

 are partly due to better marketing methods, and reflect better quality 

 of produce, better pack, and having the produce ready early in the 

 season. The trucker, therefore, should aim to raise a crop above the 

 average in quality as well as quantity, and to get it on the market 

 before the bulk of the crop for the section is marketed. 



FARM PRODUCTS RETAINED FOR HOME USE. 



In a discussion of profits on small farms something should be said 

 regarding the relative importance of farm products retained for 

 home use. The results of this study indicate that the family on the 

 small farm does not get as much food directly from the farm as does 

 the family on the larger farm. For instance, the families having no 



