036 
THK RURAI> NEW-YORKER 
Parcel Post For Farm Women 
• • 
• • 
Aid To Better Business 
The mistress of Apple-Tree Farm was 
troubled all Winter because slie was get¬ 
ting only 30 cents a dozen for eggs when 
the city folks were paying 50. Why 
doesn’t she find out something about egg¬ 
mailing boxes, and go after that 50 cents 
herself? The parcel post is at her ser¬ 
vice, as well as at yours and mine. 
Let us see what can be done with 
eggs. Postage in the second zone on two 
dozen eggs will be about eight cents. The 
mailing cases to carry two dozen will 
cost her in the neighborhood of 10 cents 
each. Then if she is going to do the 
thing nicely, there will be a further cost for 
a roll of smooth, brown wrapping paper to 
wrap the box, and for tissue paper or cot¬ 
ton to wrap each egg. The expenses will 
reach 18 or 20 cents a package, which 
means nine or 10 cents on every dozen 
sold, and this cost will remain the same 
whether eggs are worth 50 cents or 20. 
Customers who buy a few eggs when 
they are high-priced will want more 
when they are cheap, so Mrs. Brown 
must make her calculations for the year, 
and not reason that there is no money 
in it in June, and that she will give it 
up then and resume it in November; but 
she must know whether the profits of 
the high-priced months will be enough to 
carry her through the low-priced ones, or 
she must sell so many of the cheap eggs 
that a very tiny profit on each will mount 
up to a nice little sum. I have used eggs 
as an illustration because there is more 
talk just now about mailing eggs than 
any other farm product; but Mrs. Brown 
has many things on the farm that are as 
desirable for mailing as eggs. Perhaps 
she has time on her hands in the Winter 
when she could make shirt waists for 
other women or rompers for other wom¬ 
en’s children ; and what about the maple 
syrup, mailable in sealed tins—or maple 
sugar and maple candy, mailable in al¬ 
most any package? Is there a city near 
enough for her asparagus and green peas 
to reach customers in better shape than 
the wilted goods the grocers sell? And 
how about dressed chickens and sausages 
and home-cured hams? Berry boxes are 
made nowadays for mailing, and cartons 
to carry peaches and apples. I saw an 
advertisement the other day of a cooked 
chicken dinner with plum pudding and 
vegetables and all the fixings, which was 
to be sent the customer by mail, and I 
have eaten delicious soft-shell crabs sent 
ready cooked to a town where sea food 
was ordinarily unobtainable. Has she 
or have we got anything to sell that other 
people would like to buy, and are we do¬ 
ing anything about getting our goods to 
market? 
The business of marketing by mail is 
a new one for everybody, and none of 
us can boast of much experience, but all 
of us can try experiments, knowing that 
anything that draws city and country, or 
town and town together must benefit 
both. Even if our experiments do not 
lead to great success in independent sell¬ 
ing, we shall at least be in a better posi¬ 
tion to judge the middleman who has 
been handling our goods. Maybe after 
all it costs more than we thought to get 
things to market. But if we are going 
to try to establish a little business let 
us start in with a confident expectation 
of making it a success, and a resolution 
to be as patient in bringing up a young 
business as any other young thing. It 
is almost certain that at first the ex¬ 
penses will be greater than the returns, 
and many will say “It was too much 
bother,” and it didn’t pay, before the lit¬ 
tle enterprise had a fair chance to grow 
up. Many women dislike keeping ac¬ 
counts, but if we are going into business 
we must be able to tell what our expenses 
are and what returns we are getting, 
and careful calculations made beforehand 
may save a disappointing failure. Fore¬ 
sight is a lot more useful than hindsight. 
But assuming that the farm has a good 
and desirable article to sell, and that 
Mrs. Brown knows how important it is 
to have a neat container for it, and fresh 
brown paper to wrap it in ; that she ap¬ 
preciates the fact that fresh laundered 
waists must be tied to the bottom of 
the box and covered with tissue paper to 
preserve their dainty freshness; assuming 
that she wraps up her fruit so that it 
does not bruise, and her eggs so that 
they do not break, there is still one im¬ 
portant part of her business to consider, 
and that is how to find customers. 
There are lots of different ways of ad¬ 
vertising beside putting a notice in the 
newspapers or having a billboard put up 
near the railroad track. The newspaper 
kind of advertising costs a good deal, and 
it is just as well for her to get her busi¬ 
ness started before venturing on a very 
great outlay on such notices. The surest 
way for her to find a market right away 
is for her to send samples and some sort 
of notification to people who know her 
or about her. Let us suppose that she 
wishes to sell maple nut fudge. First. I 
think she should make out a list, be¬ 
ginning with everybody who bought any 
of the Apple-tree crops last year—I 
should include everybody, the butcher 
who bought the calf and the city buyer 
who took the apples. Then I should add 
the Summer boarders who stayed with 
her last year, and if the neighbors were 
willing, the boarders who stayed with 
them and at Our Town Inn. I should 
include the former minister who left Our 
Town for a city church, and Sister An¬ 
nie’s daughter at hoarding school, and 
her husband’s nephew at Cornell. I 
should have 50 or 100 post cards printed 
or typewritten, or if that was too costly 
should write very carefully and plainly 
something like this: 
APPLE-TREE FARM, OURTOWN, NEW YORK 
HOMEMADE MAPLE NUT FUDGE. We are sending 
you a sample of our Maple Nut Fudge and hope 
to receive your order for one or more pounds, 
Our Fudge is home-made from our own mapfO 
syrup, carefully packed in neat cartons and 
sent postpaid on receipt of price in cash, stamps 
or P. O. order, lib., 40c.: 21b., 75c.; 5 lbs., $1.50. 
Ask for our prices on Maple Syrup in sealed tins. 
Then I should do up two or three 
ounces of the fudge, wrapping it carefully 
in paraffin paper, and daintily in brown 
or white wrapping paper, and send a 
post card and sample to every one on the 
list. I think Mrs. Brown would find 
that some of the people replied and that 
a few orders came in. And if her goods 
are really worth the price sin* asks she 
will soon find many people who are glad 
to get them. She must not he discour¬ 
aged if customers are slow to respond, 
and if it takes a long time to pay for the 
first outlay on stamps and samples. The 
beginning is the hardest part. She must 
remember that this is a new business for 
everybody and not be discouraged if she 
makes some mistakes. Uncle Sam is 
giving her the same rates that he gives 
the biggest Chicago mail order houses, 
but he leaves Mrs. Brown to find out 
what use she can make of parcel post. 
Perhaps she will get some unexpected 
returns; perhaps this will lead to find¬ 
ing a better market for the main crops. 
The minister in the city may not want 
any fudge, but would like a barrel of As- 
trachan apples sent by freight next Aug¬ 
ust. Since she has reminded him of Ap¬ 
ple-tree Farm he will bring his custom 
there. I think she will soon find her lit¬ 
tle enterprise of value in many ways, all 
looking toward better business on the 
farm. e. F . 
Direct Trade in Food. 
A Maine subscriber tells us how he 
had developed a great direct trade in 
sauerkraut, horse radish, pickles and sim¬ 
ilar food. Here is an extract from his 
circular: 
I am sending quotations of the follow¬ 
ing articles that I put up: Pure horse¬ 
radish, per doz., $1; 2y a gal. keg of sauer¬ 
kraut, $1.25; 4 gal. keg of sauerkraut, 
$1.50; 6 gal. keg of sauerkraut, $2; 14 
bbl. of sauerkraut, 115 lbs. net, $3.25; 
20 lb. keg of salted dandelion greens, 
$2.20; 30 lb. keg of salted dandelion 
greens, $3; vegetable salad, 0 oz. bottle, 
per doz., $1.50; pure apple jelly, per doz., 
$1.50; cucumber pickles, put up in mus¬ 
tard, salt, sugar, vinegar and a small 
amount of alum, 2% gal. kegs, $1.75. 
These are all simple food articles. You 
would think most families would provide 
their own supply. Yet this man has 
developed a great trade in which he gets 
the 100-cent dollar. His goods are al¬ 
ways clean and uniform, and one pack¬ 
age sells another. Ilis trade is conducted 
on business principles, and is just as 
legitimate as any other. We shall keep 
on giving these little stories about selling 
food, for along this line is the great op¬ 
portunity for farmers' wives and daugh¬ 
ters. 
! The Woman At Law! 
[Under this heading wo shall discuss the letral J 
■ rights of women, particularly as regards their ■ 
A property and their children. There will he direct I 
I answers to actual questions and general state- I 
I merits of lair.] | 
Partition of Property. 
What redress has a wife here in Cali¬ 
fornia if a farm is owned by her husband 
and herself, hut he refuses to live on it. 
and will not sign a deed for its sale? 
There are two minor children, he partly 
contributes to their support. The wife 
is desirous of moving to town where 
she can support herself; is not strong 
enough physically to manage a farm. Is 
there no way she can get her share of 
money from the farm? w. N. w. 
California. 
You and your husband probably own 
the farm as tenants in common, and 
the only way for you to obtain your 
share of the value of the farm is to 
sell your interest in it, if anyone will 
buy, although it is probable that no one 
would care to buy under the circum¬ 
stances. Failing in this you could com¬ 
mence what is called a partition proceed¬ 
ing to separate your common interest in 
the farm. After this is completed you 
could sell the part that was given you. 
M. D. 
Minor and Bank Account. 
Will you let me know if my youngest 
sister, who is only 11) years old, can 
draw money from a savings bank which 
was in my mother’s name, and put in 
trust of my sister through death? Now 
she is married can she put that money in 
her own and her husband’s name, when 
she is only a minor. a. o. e. 
New York. 
Everything would depend on how and 
in whose name the money was deposited 
in the bank. If it was deposited in the 
mother’s name the bank will probably not 
April 25, 
pay it out to the daughter unless letters 
of administration have been granted on 
the mother’s estate, and a guardian ap¬ 
pointed for the daughter. If, however, 
it was placed there in the name of the 
daughter, she can probably obtain the 
money at any time, or change it into her 
own name. The bank will be quite care¬ 
ful to see that it is paid out in accord¬ 
ance with the legal requirements, es¬ 
pecially if the sum is largo. It would 
be well to confer with an officer of the 
bank. 
Property in Trust in Will. 
\\ ill you tell a widow having a mar¬ 
ried son (the only living child, he hav¬ 
ing a wife and children), how to make 
a will leaving an unencumbered farm for 
the said son for fife, after his death to 
he equally divided for the grandchildren? 
Also how to word the wifi making her 
daughter-in-law executor or trustee after 
the death of said son provided she, the 
daughter-in-law, outlives the husband, 
also to make will so as to protect the 
property from any debts of said son. 
South Carolina. h. b. g. 
To do as you wish your will should 
contain the following provisions: 
“I give and devise to my executor and 
trustee hereinafter named in fee simple 
my farm (describe sufficiently to identi¬ 
fy ) in trust nevertheless to manage and 
conserve said real property and to col¬ 
lect and receive the rent, income and 
profits thereof and to pay over the in¬ 
come thereof to my son. 
during his life, and upon his death to 
convey said real property in fee simple 
to his children then living in equal 
shares. 
“I hereby appoint my son. 
the executor of and trustee under this my 
last will and testament, and on his death 
I appoint my daughter-in-law. 
his successor as executor and trustee of 
this my last will and testament, and I 
direct that neither my sou nor my 
daughter-in-law shall give any bond as 
such executor and trustee.” 
Inasmuch as the executor holds the 
property in trust for the children, it wifi 
not be liable for the debts of the son, 
and there is no need of making a provis¬ 
ion for this in the will. m. d. 
Wife’s Right in Husband's Property. 
Will you let me know as to a wife’s 
right? My husband has never left home, 
and he is a man of 50 years, just married 
a year now. Ilis mother and father deed¬ 
ed the farm to him, and he is to pay 
the other children so much at father’s 
death. The mother has been dead three 
years next August. The father is 83 
years. I would like to know if I have 
to work here and get nothing if my hus¬ 
band should predecease me? j. xi. k. 
Michigan. 
It would appear from your letter that 
your husband is under some sort of a 
contract with his father with regard to 
the property by which the rights of the 
other children must be recognized. Just 
as soon as your husband obtains title to 
the property, in himself, your rights also 
attach, and may not be got rid of with¬ 
out your signing them away. Your in¬ 
terest amounts to a one-third part of all 
land of your husband for your fife. It 
would appear that by a recent amend¬ 
ment of the laws of Michigan, in 1909, 
a widow is given one-third of the lands 
absolutely, which, of course, is a larger 
interest than a one-third interest for fife. 
M. D. 
Giving Property to Incompetent, 
Suppose you had an heir to your 
property, and you knew the prospective 
heir was incompetent to manage or keep 
the property, or if you wanted to give 
or deed some property to some incompe¬ 
tent person, how could you make the 
transfer so that the receiver could not 
sell, give it away, mortgage it, lease it 
for more than a year at a time, or in 
any way make it liable to debts, dam¬ 
age, or any other executions? g. w. s. 
The way to dispose of your property 
for the benefit of the incompetent would 
be to give it to trustees to manage anil 
conserve and pay over the income and 
profits to the incompetent as long as 
lie lives, and then the trustees can deed 
it to whoever you name. If the incom¬ 
petent has property of his own, there is 
110 way he can "fix it” so that it cannot 
be used to pay his debts; that is, he can¬ 
not dispose of his property to defeat 
his creditors, hut if he is incompetent an 
application can be made to a court for 
the appointment of a committee to ad¬ 
minister his property and affairs. 
M. D. 
Change of Name. 
Having married for the second time, 
and having two sons by first marriage, 
I should like to change their name to 
my present one. Can you advise me 
whether I have to go to the courts? If 
so. which one? s. s. 
New York. 
The legal way for you to change your 
sons’ names is by application to court. 
This is neither a costly nor lengthy pro¬ 
ceeding. However, if there is no prop¬ 
erty involved, and the boys are youug, 
there appears to be no objection to their 
assuming your name without court 
action. But this would make it harder 
for them to trace their identity later on. 
Three Advertisements Free 
I N order to encourage farm women to develop direct trade 
through parcel post The R. N.-Y. will print free of cost in 
the May issue of Woman and Home three advertisements of 
farm produce for sale. These will appear in the 
Subscribers’ Exchange Department 
. The advertisers must be genuine farm women—wives or rela¬ 
tives of farmers who live on the farm and who offer home¬ 
grown or homemade goods for sale. The goods must be relia¬ 
ble and enough in quantity to supply a fair trade. We will use 
our judgment, after considering the circumstances, as to which 
advertisements to use, and will, if desired help arrange the 
form of the advertisement. The object of this is to show by 
practical illustration the possibilities of developing direct trade. 
Farm women who would like to try this should write us fully 
what they have to offer, with a clear description of it. 
