Von. LXXIII. No. 4284. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 5, 1914. 
WEEKLY $1.00 PER YEAR. 
PLANNING FOR THE FARM AUCTION. 
How To Make It Pay. 
T HE RIGHT TIME.—The time of holding an 
auction should be considered, for this may go 
a long way in affecting the returns of the sale. 
The dairy farmer, if his cows freshen in the Spring, 
and his territory is a Summer dairy section, should 
wait until Spring before holding his sale. In a sec¬ 
tion devoted to Winter dairying, the farmer will 
observe the situation differently. The most disas¬ 
trous auction the writer attended was on a beautiful 
October day. Every farmer realized the warm wea¬ 
ther could not continue much longer, and he stayed 
at home. Those who attended the auction were 
loafers or farmers who were interested only in the 
social side of the auction and the free luncheon. 
Auctions timed in seeding time, in the midsummer, in 
harvest or silo filling or corn-harvesting and husking 
time are doomed to be in a greater or less measure a 
failure. If the weather is good the greater will be 
the shortage in the footings at the close of the sale. 
If weather is bad, the 
farmers will get out, 
face a bad rain or snow 
and stand around shiv¬ 
ering in a big overcoat 
at a sale rather than 
lose time. “It is the 
worst morning we have 
had this Winter, and I 
am going to the sale,” I 
told the family, and I 
hurried around with the 
chores, and got started 
for the sale. The roads . 
were drifted, snow came 
in clouds, and before I 
had got far I saw by the 
way the neighbors were 
turning out there would 
be some lively competi¬ 
tion. Bad weather is 
oftentimes of assistance 
to a sale rather than 
hindrance, for farmers 
can do nothing, and the 
social diversion of the 
sale and the love of the 
game of buying brings 
them to it. 
ADVERTISING A 
SALE.—In advertising 
an auction, don’t go at it 
in a half-hearted way, for advertising brings the bus¬ 
iness. The local newspaper and the auction bill are 
the two efficient mediums of publicity, and if the 
auction is one of dimensions, if there are purebred 
animals for sale, the farmer should try the live¬ 
stock columns of the farm paper. The larger breed¬ 
ers rely on the agricultural press altogether. Many 
farmers endeavor to get inside a $5 bill in their ad¬ 
vertising and their auction printing. If they would 
increase their appropriation to three or four times 
the figure I have no doubt that each dollar addi¬ 
tional'would return them $25 more in the footings at 
the close of the sale. One of the largest country sales 
I ever attended was one where the proprietor spent 
upward of $40 advertising his farm auction, and he 
secured buyers from several counties. Ilis returns 
were several hundred dollars in excess of his an¬ 
ticipations. I Know another farmer who had ar¬ 
ranged for an auction, and he learned there would 
be another auction within two or three miles of his 
farm. He could not secure his auctioneer for sev¬ 
eral weeks again, and he was anxious to clean up the 
sale. He went ahead, only he used a heavier appro¬ 
priation for advertising, and his returns more than 
gratified him. He declared he would be satisfied 
with $1,200 as total, but when he figured the sale 
that night with his clerk, the returns amounted to 
over $1,600. 
THE HAND BILL.—Don’t try to economize by 
using a small bill as large as a sheet of writing 
paper. It doesn’t attract attention, and it shows up 
“small.” Have good bills printed, about the size of 
two pages of this paper opened out. Get the bills 
printed on good stock. The printer should have some 
special manila that is excellent for auction work. 
This manila will last during the life of the bill, and 
for months after the sale. Don’t try to crawl out 
with a small expenditure by using some material like 
light newspaper print stock, for the first little wind 
will tear the bills to pieces. A farmer whom I know 
tried the cheap thin stock, and within two hours 
after posting I saw several of his bills torn to shreds. 
THE AUCTION LUNCH.—Treat the crowd right, 
and they will treat you right. Have something warm 
for the visitors when the noon hour comes, and have 
plenty of it. Don’t give a cold hand-out; give the 
visitors plenty Of good hot coffee. Don’t give them 
skim-milk with it. but cream, and plenty of sugar. 
Give some sandwiches, cheese, and baked beans. It 
may take a little extra work, but it will pay, and if 
you can have some good hot coffee on tap from the 
time the sale starts, give the fellows a chance at it. 
There is no question about the shortest road to a 
man’s pocketbook is through his stomach at the time 
of an auction. I know a farm auction that was 
ruined because the farmer was close ou lunch. He 
hoped to get through by noon, but the crowd came 
slow, and at noon the guests began inquiring about 
the refreshments, and then before the sale was com¬ 
pleted the crowd had nearly all gone home. The 
ladies’ aid of the church may ask the privilege of 
serving dinner, and in such case I know it would 
pay the farmer to pay them for absolutely every per¬ 
son served and give the dinner free, although when 
the church serves the farmers generally expect to 
pay. When it comes to selling pure-bred live stock 
entertainment is essential, automobile service, and 
in instances entertainment in the home and at the 
hotel for a day or two pays the proprietor profits. I 
attended the sale of a certain breeder who gave a 
banquet at the leading hotel of his town, the first 
night of the sale, provided entertainment for all 
visitors, and meals for the day’s sale, and it paid 
him. At the banquet, every one toasted the host be¬ 
cause of his hospitality. If you live any distance 
from the railroad, see that transportation is afforded 
both to and from the trains. Advertising this will 
insure visitors from away. 
CONDITION OF GOODS.—Have stock and equip¬ 
ment in good condition. The farmer who has the 
reputation of keeping poor unproductive animals will 
find his sale will suffer from it. If his tools are poor 
makeshift arrangements, only the class of buyers 
who use that kind of tools will be present. They 
will want time, too. and 
their credit is about as 
unstable as the goods 
they buy. Have the 
stock in good shape, 
don’t try to deceive. 
Don’t try to cover up a 
broken casting with 
paint, or pass over a 
weak part of a machine 
or animal; the crowd 
may discover, and if it 
does not. some one later 
will. The auctioneer 
cannot afford to be 
tricky, for he has cer¬ 
tain advertising value 
to a sale. If he is 
own to “strike off" 
goods at somewhere 
near their value he can 
command the buyer’s 
bidding more efficiently 
than if he has the repu¬ 
tation of working his 
crowd for the last 
penny. If you have a 
good large sale, do not 
leave the load to one 
auctioneer, have two. 
One can cry, while the 
other will work the 
crowds for bids. This is the way the live stock men 
do it, and frequently they have three or four auc¬ 
tioneers. See that the clerk is careful about the 
paper he takes. Many notes given at auctions are 
not bankable, others taken altogether must suffer a 
discount of as high as 50 per cent., and then they are 
only held as collateral. The banker is very critical 
about accepting these notes. See the clerk has all 
paper endorsed by responsible parties, and make the 
note as solid as if given to a bank. And if you don’t 
advertise, and your equipment is poor, don’t blame 
the auctioneer. w. j. 
R. N.-Y.—Farmers visiting in New York will fre¬ 
quently be interested in attending the fruit auctions, 
several of which are held every business day, and ad¬ 
vertised in the morning commercial papers. This 
comparatively new phase of auction selling has 
proven a great success in systematic and economi¬ 
cal handling of staple fruits. A study of one of these 
auctions will show the value of grading and brands 
THE FARM AUCTION. INTERESTING THE CROWD. Fig. 615. 
