1911. 
1 17 1 
GETTING CLOSE TO THE CONSUMER. 
Public Markets for the Farmers. 
I have read with interest the many articles pertain¬ 
ing to the consumer’s dollar, and can easily see the 
difficulty of changing conditions in large centers like 
New York, Philadelphia or Chicago, where the mat¬ 
ter of transportation enters so largely into the ques¬ 
tion. The producer being in many instances many 
miles away from the city, is at the entire mercy of 
the commission merchant and transportation com¬ 
panies, unless he makes an effort to sell direct to the 
retailer. There are certainly many hundreds of re¬ 
tail stores in the large cities that would buy produce 
direct, in that way getting it fresh and possibly a 
little lower than buying from the jobber, as the pro¬ 
ducer could well afford to make a price a little be¬ 
low the jobber’s and still realize better returns than 
by shipping on commission. One of my neighbors is 
supplying eggs regularly to several of Philadelphia’s 
largest hotels direct and receiving top prices through¬ 
out the season. Many other producers can do the 
same, only they must go after the busi¬ 
ness. Several in a community could 
join together and have one member go 
to the city and solicit such trade, and I 
feel confident many dealers and consum¬ 
ers could be found who would be at 
least willing to give direct shipping a 
trial. 
The article on page 1111 on establish¬ 
ing a farmers’ market in Decatur, Ill., 
is interesting, but an old story to Lan¬ 
caster County inhabitants, as Lancaster 
City, with about 50,000 population, has 
had such markets for years, and it has 
always seemed almost inconceivable to 
me that other similar cities did not have 
similar markets. In Lancaster the city 
owns one market house containing nearly 
300 stands, which are sold to the highest 
bidder each season for one year’s rental, 
some individual stands selling as high as 
$100 when there is competition. The 
usual price is from $25 to $50 each. The 
city also sells space along the curb for 
about two city squares for Wednesday 
and Saturday morning, when farmers 
back their wagons up to the curb and 
place a narrow stand on the pavement 
next to the curb, and in some instances 
next to store line also. These stands, or 
spaces, sell at from $6 to $10 per year. 
On these two city markets Wednesday 
and Saturday morning market opens 
usually about 4 a. m. and continues till 
9.30 to 10 a. m. In addition to this 
there are five privately owned market 
houses, where markets are held Tues¬ 
day morning, Thursday and Saturday 
a. m. and Saturday p. m. The stalls in 
these houses are sold for one-year terms 
to farmers, butchers, bakers and truck¬ 
ers, same as city markets. 
Each house has over 200 stands, so 
you can form an idea of the amount of 
produce taken to Lancaster and sold 
by the producers direct to the consumers. 
Potatoes, apples, etc., are also hauled 
through the city streets by many farm¬ 
ers, who do not attend market regu¬ 
larly. There were no $1.50 to $2 po¬ 
tatoes in Lancaster this season, and if 
there were the producer received the 
full price, except the early shipped po¬ 
tatoes from Norfolk, etc. The only 
charge here to check up against this method is the 
time required each trip, wear and tear on horse and 
wagon, and market stand rental, but this is a small 
item in comparison to the usual 60 to 70 cents the 
swarm of middlemen exact of the producer's dollar, 
so they can live well, and work little. 
There are evidently hundreds and possibly thou¬ 
sands of cities and towns where a system similar to 
this could be put into operation. Whose fault is it 
that it is not done? There are thousands of farm¬ 
ers and truckers over the country smarting under the 
unjust returns received for hard labor, who, if they 
would make a determined effort to better their mar¬ 
keting conditions, could certainly do so. If you live 
within hauling distance of a city or town where you 
think people eat some of the things you produce, 
and you have no regular markets, try peddling a few 
loads through the streets. You will soon be sur¬ 
prised at the trade picked up, as nearly all consumers 
prefer fresh produce to the kind found in the stores, 
of very uncertain age. This method would be much 
better for your bank account than shipping to some 
large center on commission, even though causing 
T'£-I£C RURAL) NEW-YORKER 
slightly more work. Each season we make a specialty 
of early tomatoes, which are sold in Lancaster. This 
season we began marketing June 26, and till July 7 
had sold 3,000 pounds at 10 cents per pound average. 
During this period the market was oversupplied with 
tomatoes shipped from the South, and also a fair 
amount from early growers through the country. We 
could not sell anywhere near this quantity at one 
stand on each market without lowering the retail 
price, so I asked various farmers and truckers in the 
different markets whom I thought would likely sell 
for me, and soon had 20 or more willing to do so. 
They were charged eight, 10 and 11 cents flat, and 
sold them for what profit they could make.. In this 
manner zee did not receive all the producer’s dollar, 
but zve did receive more than double zvhat zve zvould 
had zve shipped to commission merchants in Philadel¬ 
phia or Nezv York. 
After July 7 the price dropped to seven, six and 
five cents per pound, wholesale, at which figure the 
entire crop was disposed of except a few hundred 
pounds sold first week in August. At the present 
time farmers are receiving 75 cents to $1 per bushel 
for potatoes and the same figure for apples, 20 cents 
per half peck measure being realized for choice apples. 
Good home-grown celery retails at five to 10 cents 
per stalk, and all other vegetables at corresponding 
figures. Eggs at present range about 36 cents per 
dozen, some days as high as 40 cents being realized. 
Butter marketed by farmers, 35 cents per pound. 
The people of Lancaster have become so accustomed 
to purchasing all needed supplies in these markets 
that all butchers and bakers in the city have regular 
stands and dispose of enormous quantities of their 
products each market day. If farmers living near 
cities and towns would organize and request city or 
town authorities for a space in which to sell goods on 
specified days, more could be accomplished in a few 
weeks than by months of writing and discussion. 
There are millions of dollars of consumers’ money 
going into the middlemen’s pockets that the farmers 
should have, and can have if they go after it. 
Lancaster Co., Pa. elmer j. weaver. 
R- N.-Y.—This is a typical case. There are thou¬ 
sands of consumers waiting for just this chance. 
A HOME IN THE OZARKS. 
Built by Town People. 
We came in possession of the farm while my hus¬ 
band was working in a dry goods store in the town 
a few miles away. There was little on it in the way 
of buildings to appeal to anyone, but he was wise 
enough to see the natural advantages it possessed, 
most of the land being fertile, though rather rough. 
Besides, there was a never-failing stream of water 
running diagonally across it, and two or three springs. 
The only buildings were a dwelling, a log stable and a 
corn pen made of fence rails. The land had been 
mortgaged when the house was built, so the owner 
was glad to exchange it for a smaller piece of unen¬ 
cumbered land. 
The first few years were spent in clearing mors 
land, repairing fences and grading up the live stock. 
There were now three healthy growing boys in our 
family, so the matter of more room and better accom¬ 
modations began to occupy our minds. In the Autumn 
of 1903 we began preparations for putting up a frame 
dwelling the next Spring, by getting out 
the foundation stone. In prying up some 
rocks that were jutting out of a hillside 
in the cornfield, we found them to be 
a good quality of white sandstone. In 
our book of designs was a house which 
always appealed to me as being both 
beautiful and substantial. It was part 
stone and part frame. When, later, a 
stonemason who lived nearby, came past 
and pronounced it an exceptional quality 
of building stone, our plans began to 
take form. So when the crop was gath¬ 
ered, my husband went heartily to work 
getting out stone for our house. Per¬ 
haps it was best he did not understand 
the size of the task he had under¬ 
taken. 
When the Spring of 1904 came there 
were many things to be though of be¬ 
sides the house. We must plant as large 
a crop as we could, and look carefully 
after the growing stock, for upon these 
we must depend for our financial aid. 
But the boys were then large enough to 
lend a hand with the work, so after the 
crop was well started and about 50 loads 
of stone hauled, the building began. 
Four rooms and two porches was the 
ground plan, with chimney in center, 
arranged to carry all flues. The build¬ 
ing went on by spells as farm work 
permitted, through that Summer, but 
when Autumn came and the children 
must start to school, our supply of 
stone on hand was exhausted and wall 
up only to the windows. I think the 
window sills were all laid. The quarry 
had been turning out an abundance of 
stone, beautifully white, so that Winter 
again was spent as the one before, in 
getting ready for the next Summer’s 
campaign, which we began with renewed 
vigor, for we wanted to live in that 
house the coming Winter. But fate 
seemed to order otherwise. The wall 
went up true and strong, each stone 
having careful supervision, until it was 
complete. It was 12 feet high all round. 
We were very proud when the heavy 
scaffolding was torn away and we could 
look on its glittering whiteness. 
The owner of a sawmill had been en¬ 
gaged to move his mill on the farm and 
saw out the heavy timbers. His time for comir.g 
was three weeks ahead, and all through that Winter 
we coaxed and begged him to come, but in vain. That 
Winter spent in waiting was the hardest task we had, 
I believe, but Spring again brought better times, and 
the timbers were at last sawed, carpenters put the roof 
on and that Autumn we moved in feeling that we had 
won a victory. The house was our own and more 
highly prized because of the long struggle we had to 
win it. Ours is the first of the kind in this part of 
the State, but as there is an abundance of stone and 
timber growing more scarce, there will likely be others 
built in the future. mrs. w. l. chambers. 
Texas Co., Mo. 
R. N.-Y.—This Ozark home reminds us of the 
Dutch farmhouses in northern New Jersey, built of 
brownstone, usually quarried on the farm itself. All 
the family took a hand in the building, and many of 
these houses show hand-wrought woodwork in the 
inside finishing that excites the envy of modern archi¬ 
tects and builders. The simplicity of outline shown 
in Fig. 479 suggests the abiding beauty of these Colon¬ 
ial houses, which never go out of fashion. 
“THE HOUSE IN THE OZARKS.’’ Fig. 479. 
THE PROPER KIND OF YOUNG STOCK. Fig. 480. 
