American Agriculturist 
THE FARM PAPER THAT PRINTS THE FARM NEWS 
“Agriculture is the Most Healthful, Most Useful and Most Noble Employment of Man.”— Washington 
Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Established 1842 
Volume 113 For the Week Ending May 10, 1924 Number 19 
A Sensible Plan for Selling Dairy Feed 
An Address Made Before a Meeting of Retail Dealers 
1 WANT to say in the beginning, gentlemen, that 
your Connecticut Association is not to be held re¬ 
sponsible for what I may say at this time. I am 
not here for the purpose of painting beautiful 
word pictures; neither am I particularly interested in 
saying things that will please you. I am somewhat 
indifferent as to whether you will remember the speaker, 
but I do hope that ybu will remember the message. 
In fact, I am perfectly willing to tell you some blunt 
truths and even run chances on making some of you 
men very angry if it will be the means of causing you 
to give very serious thought as to whether there is an 
element of truth in what I say and indirectly lead you 
to study your business more closely and see if you can¬ 
not improve on many of your methods. 
My wife just returned from a Buffalo hos- .. 
pital after spending several months, fully 
restored to health', and it was clearly demon¬ 
strated that all her trouble came about on 
account of a very nervous temperament and 
that constant worry brought about a con¬ 
dition that seriously affected her health. In 
other words, her mental attitude had much 
to do with undermining her health. Now, I 
am of the opinion that both the feed man¬ 
ufacturer and feed dealer are getting into a 
mental attitude that will adversely affect 
their business. 
When a feed merchant ge'ts in a frame 
of mind where he cusses his customers, 
when he begins to feel bitter against the very 
class of people who must be his customers, 
he may rest assured that this feeling will be 
reflected in their attitude towards him, and 
his business will be ready for the hospital. 
Before we damn the farmer, we should 
first be sure the farmer is wrong; that our 
complaints are well founded, and then be¬ 
fore we condemn him we should see if we 
cannot reason with him and get his view¬ 
point and convince him that his conclusions 
are all wrong. ■ . 
First—are we as feed manufacturers and 
feed dealers entirely blameless? Are we doing all we 
can to keep the farmer and make his business a success? 
Are we conducting our business along scientific lines, 
constantly trying to lower our expense, increase our 
volume, secure a greater turnover so that we can sell 
goods at a lower margin and yet make a satisfactory 
profit? Do we feed merchants study the needs of the 
farmer? Do we show any disposition to help him or 
is our attitude rather one of indifference? 
The feeder wants all he can get from his dealer. 
Isn’t that your attitude towards the feed manufacturer? 
Isn’t that our attitude towards the houses from whom 
we buy ouy supplies? The farmer feels you are over¬ 
charging him, that your prices are too high and your 
margin or profits too large. Isn’t that your attitude 
towards the mill from whom you buy your supplies, 
and isn’t that our attitude towards the oil meal, cotton¬ 
seed a gluten mills from whom we buy our supplies? 
In other words, are we not all very much alike? 
When the farmer will go to a car and haul his own 
grain and pay cash, isn’t it conclusive evidence that he 
would rather have a lower price and less service if he 
cannot get both? Is it right or just for you to charge a 
cash customer who hauls his own grain the same price as 
the farmer to whom you extend credit and to whom you 
must deliver goods? In one case you charge too much, 
or in the other too little. The farmer would rather 
have a low er price and less service or he would not in¬ 
dulge in cooperative buying. 
What does the farmer want above everything else 
on earth? Why does he get up in the middle of the 
night to milk cow r s, work hard all day, wear old clothes, 
economize on even the necessities of life if it isn’t from 
the fact that his money comes through hard effort and 
he appreciates its value. 
My experience teaches me that he wants to buy as 
By A FEED MANUFACTURER 
much for his money as possible and when he gets the 
lowest price he can secure he then takes all he can get 
in the way of service such as credit and delivery. 
The question uppermost in your mind is how you 
can conduct your business so you can give him what 
he wants, namely, a low price and at the same time 
not go broke. How can you conduct your business so 
you can secure the trade of the prosperous farmer who 
has the money or will get it and even discommode 
himself by accepting car-door delivery if necessary? 
Also how can you#conduct your business so you can 
secure the trade of the farmer who, while responsible. 
“Robbing Peter To Pay Paul” 
A FEW days ago a feed manufacturer came into our office and 
outlined a plan for putting the feed business on a better 
basis for everybody concerned. This plan coming from a man 
who had spent a lifetime in the business had so much good 
horse-sense in it, that we asked the manufacturer to write it 
down for our readers. 
“Instead,” he said, “I’ll give you an address which I made 
before a large gathering of retail dealers and which was printed 
in ‘Feedstuffs.’ ” 
The address is on this page. 
For years we have said that the present credit system for buy¬ 
ing feed was very costly and absolutely unfair. Yet when we 
have suggested the cash basis of purchase, some farmers have 
maintained, perhaps rightly, that it was absolutely impossible 
for them always to pay cash. We have answered this by the 
statement that the place to borrow money was at the bank, and 
not from the feed dealer, and that most farmers can get credit 
at the bank if they really make an effort. The present system 
robs the cash buyers to pay for the other fellow s credit. The 
plan suggested on this page is fair; the credit system is not. As 
the writer suggests, the dealer does not collect from one cus¬ 
tomer to pay for services rendered another, yet the plan does 
make provision for the dealer to give credit if the farmer insists 
upon it—T he Editors. 
will not borrow money from the bank and insists on 
his feed dealer extending him some credit? How can 
you secure both classes of customers? 
I am prepared to answer these questions, not be¬ 
cause I am wiser than you nor have I had greater 
practical experience in the retail game than you, but 
because I have had the opportunity of daily witnessing 
the experience of many, many merchants in many lines 
of business, who have blazed the trail and demonstrated 
that it can be done. 
If 85 per cent, of the retail feed dealers doing a credit 
business fail to make a success and practically all make 
a success of the plan I will lay before you, I have a 
right to say that the plan works. Let me say first that 
I am an advocate of a straight-out cash business. Per¬ 
sonally I would take my chances on losing the business 
of any feeder who is in the habit of buying on time. 
While I will lay before you a double plan I person¬ 
ally would follow the plan of doing a strictly cash 
business. You ask why. I will answer, because I can 
sell at a less price and it entails less labor and risk. It 
gives a more rapid turnover and turnover is more 
important than profit. Working for a greater turn¬ 
over is always safe while constantly striving for a 
greater profit is liable to lose your customers. 
If the retail feed dealer carrying an $ 8 , 000.00 stock ' good cash customer knows full well that he must pay 
turned over his money in the same ratio as the grocer his share of keeping accounts and the losses of bad debts, 
selling bread on a daily turn, costing say eight cents I repeat, the one who operates this plan must have 
per loaf, and retailing at nine cents, his profits at the the courage to insist that the rule be invariably fob 
end of a year would be $240,000.00 counting 300 busi- lowed. He should have the courage, indeed, he must 
the same stock and same daily expenses, sell at 10 
per cent, profit instead of 100 per cent, but turn your 
stock each ten days and you will break even at the end 
of the year. 
Now the question naturally arises—do cash stores 
make a success? A certain concern had 4,000 cash 
stores in 1919 and during 1920 increased the number to 
900 and during the same year increased their sales over 
fifty million dollars or an increase of 66^2 per cent. 
Remember always that it is the farmer who is the best 
customer of the cash store. Sears-Roebuck and Co., 
the great Chicago cash mail-order house, does almost 
a million dollar business each and every day and 95 
per cent, of their customers are farmers. 
Go ask the manager of the local A & P store 
——— as to what proportion of his customers are 
farmers and he will tell you that from 80 to 
90 per cent, and you will find that your 
credit customers are his cash customers. 
If you will not do a cash business, if the 
experience of others means nothing to you, 
and you insist you would lose one-half of 
your trade, then, and then only, I would 
ask you to try the following plan: 
Make all prices on a net cash, no delivery 
basis. This would attract attention. In 
order to make a yet lower price, quote a bulk 
price and charge five cents for bags, provided 
the farmer doesn’t furnish bags. When 
credit is extended, make thirty days the limit 
and add one per cent, for this service. Hence, 
if a customer bought $ 100.00 worth of feed 
during the month, he would pay you $ 101.00 
at the end of the month. If he did not pay 
promptly at the end of thirty days, close the 
account with a note drawing interest. Then 
use the good judgment God gave you to de¬ 
termine whether you would extend him an¬ 
other month’s credit before the note was 
paid. Also add one per cent, if account is 
paid in one day instead of thirty days as the 
■■ "■ charges are for service rather than interest. 
If the customer wants additional service in 
the way of delivery, make a minimum charge of at least 
5 per cent, for each and every delivery even though it is 
for five pounds of chick feed. Don’t base your delivery 
on so much per bag, for on a one-bag delivery you might 
lose money at five cents per bag but on a ton delivery 
might be able to deliver at five cents per bag and make 
money. You can work out your delivery charge to 
suit your own particular business and to suit local 
conditions. 
The success of these plans depends entirely upon 
following them in each and every case. You will 
always make a failure if you make exceptions and do 
not treat all alike. 
Under these plans you can say to your customers, 
“I will sell you feed on a cash basis and at a cash price 
for just what it is worth, no more, no less. I will 
furnish you whatever service you desire but this ser¬ 
vice will be furnished at cost to me. I can afford to 
give you the service at what it costs me if you patronize 
my mill. You get the feed at its true value and the 
cost of whatever service you desire will be added. 
This plan is fair, the credit system is not. The feeder 
pays for what he gets and no more. The dealer doesn’t 
collect from one customer to pay for services rendered 
to another. In doing business with a credit store the 
ness days to a year. Again taking $1,500,000 stock, 
expenses, say $15.00 per day, turn your stock once 
a year on a 100 per cent, profit and you would have 
$1,500.00 gross profit for the year. Your expenses 
would have been $4,500.00 and hence you will have 
suffered a loss of $3,000.00 for the year. Then take 
have the courage, to treat all alike all the time, day by 
day in every way, or the plan will fail. 
On all accounts paid in thirty days you receive 12 per 
cent, interest and get your money or a good note 
drawing 6 per cent, if not paid prompt^. Accounts 
(Continued on page lf55) 
