iliiiliiiilill iii m W^WM ttWji'iiijiiffiiitijiiixiiii i.ut;;Ii',5r.,i,i;i,i iiiiil 'Mnni'^ ^^- EXPERIMENT STATION LIBRARY IRICULTURAL STATION N. R . .;, Bulletin 249 L>ECEMBER, 1929 ROADSIDK MARKFTISG • in NEW HAMPSHIRE By M. Gale Eastman Sometimes a bear serves as both adver- tisement and customer. AGRICULTLTIAL EXPERIMENT STATION UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DU-RHAM, N. H. NEW HAMPSHIRE °'t » g a y» Ml LES :>» Legend "<: 9 ^^(^M GHOHN PfJODUCTS MORE THAN 33 PtRCCNT Of SALtS O PaRm grown products not MORI THAN 33 PtROCNT OF 5^LES_ • Home madi propucis - padtry, candy, icr cbcam. rugs, etc + merchand15f0 products - candy. ice cfleam. soft brinks, and u5uallv gas and oil ^ Tea Room gift shop, etc ♦ Overnight Accommodations •« DOORYARD Sl&N ONlt - "Er.OS.' RuG3.' "MaPLE SUCAR"." ETC. ^ *Z* Ga5 and oil only ' ^L.. -— ^^ y I* / WOOOSVI L L F / 0/02 »* Ifap showing the location of nearly SOO places selling at the roadside. Only the roads canvassed in this survey arc shown, about 1000 unties in cdl. No ac- count was taken of tea rooms, gas stands, etc., in the cities and villages, hut only such -places as were found on farms or in localities where farming might be done. ROADSIDE MARKETING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE By M. Gale Eastman The selling of farm products from the field or dooryard is not a new undertaking. At least one roadside market selling mostly farm pro- ducts has been operated in New Hampshire since 1850; and even since the present owner began selling gas and oil, the greatest change in business has resulted from the opportunity to sell increasing amounts of farm products to a larger group more widely scattered. The bulk of the State's roadside stand develoi)mcnt, however, has been rather recent as indicated in Figure 1. Some 78 percent of the 103 places for which such data were obtained had been started in the previous six 5'ears. Many New Hampshire farms have handicaps such as hilly topo- graphy, rocky and shallow soils, a short growing season, and the re- sulting curtailment in variety of farm products. Any enterprise that adds another, or a better, source of income is welcome, and may for some families be the determining factor in balancing the advantages between countrv and city life. It was largely with the idea of gaining In fiome cases at least, children become of economic value in tending a road- side market. It is good training, too, if properly initiated and not overdone. The ones surveyed showed no signs of being abused. U. OF N. H. AGRI. EXP. STATION [Bulletin 249 information as to the size of business possible at the roadside market that this study was undertaken. Does the wayside stand serve merely as a supplement to the waning success of the poorly fa\-ored farm? Or can a roadside market absorb the mental and physical ability of the personnel on even the best farais and become the major objective of its activity? EXTENT OF THE SURVEY Through the cooperation of the county agents an attempt was made in the summer of 1927 to locate all the farms in the state which were selling any appreciable amount of produce at the door. From two to six of these were immediately found in each county, some thirty-five places in all. This group was visited and asked to keep a few simple records. The first conception of the study was to confine it entirely to such people as were attempting to sell agricultural products. The paucity of such undertakings in the state, coupled with the inexperience and lack of volume often incident to a new undertaking, led to the early conclusion that an adequate study could hardly terminate with these few. There seemed to be quite as many rural people interested in mer- chandising soft drinks and gasoline as in marketing products from their own gardens. In fact, judging from numbers found on the high- ways as indicated in Figure 2, this latter undertaking would seem the more popular in the ratio of about five to one. So the attempt was za IS I fo |5 7a% D/STfilBUTION OF /03 ROAD&IDE 5rAf^OS /Af R£LATION TO T/M£ 5 TARTU) /2 /3 '/4 '/5 '/6 '/7 '/a 19 BO 21 ZZ 23 24- '25 26 27 Fig. 1. Of the 103 businesses for which detailed information ivas obtained in this survey, 78 per cent had been organized since 1921 made to learn something about the status of several kinds of roadside establishments. The only limiting factor imposed has been that they must be on farms, or m localities with such a semblance of farm con- ditions that they might be similarly operated by farmers. We have carefully avoided including any business which is near, or otherwise over-dependent on, a city or village environment. On about 1,000 miles of the main highways were found 791 sellmg Dec, 1929] ROADSIDE MARKETING 5 locations of all kinds and descriptions from those indicated by single- word signs tacked up on a tree in the door-j'-ard to the most elaborate individual organizations comprising refreshment stands, gas stands, dining-rooms and overnight accommodations. A variety of things is sold ranging from gifts to goose eggs and from aspirin tablets to old- fashioned furniture. The usual run of farm products, home cooking, liomemade rugs, and such merchandise as the carbonated beverages, ice cream, candy, tobacco products, frankfurters, gasoline, motor oil, etc., predominate. Some attempt was made to classify the stands, and the results are shown in Figure 2. There is such intermingling and overlapping of enterprises by chance or design that any grouping must suffer inconsistencies. Different symbols on the map on page 2 depict something of the distribution of these same classes geographically. The striking thing is the predominance of the merchandising tj'pe selling purchased products. Doubtless this can be accounted for by the ease or organization and development rather than by excessive remunera- tion. From the map a concentration of stands in general through the southern part of the state and along the more heavily travelled roads may be observed. The number of automobiles passing daily is one of the most important factors in increasing sales.* Consequently the Daniel Webster highway from the Massachusetts state line to Concord with its daily traffic of from 4,000 to 6,000 automobiles and trucks is a decidedly more attractive location than the Keene to Nashua road with only 1,000 to 1,600 cars passing daily.** Roads through the Na- tional Forest in the north end of the state are not available as sites for roadside stands. The presence of more markets for farm products in the southern part of the state is due to an additional advantage in gro^^^ng a better ^'ariety of produce throughout a longer growing season than in the north, and to the proximity of more nearby cities to supply local trade as well as to the general advantage of more travel on the roads. The 77 locations selling homegrown produce are shown separately on a map, page 15. There is also evident from the more inclusive map on page 2 an actual and proportionally larger number of overnight accom- modations in the mountainous part of the state. This is due perhaps to less competition in price from the local hotels as well as to the ab- *Per cent determination of total sales bj^ the average number of cars passing daily, distance to nearest village, distance to nearest stand of similar kind, hours open per day, and weeks open per year. (101 Locations) Factors Per cent Average number of cars and trucks passing daily 33 Distance to nearest village 01 Distance to nearest stand of similar kind 02 Hours open per day — -01 Weeks open per year — -02 Total .33 R 1.23456 = .569 **Report of a surv^ey of transportation on the State Highways of New Hamp- shire 1927, by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads and the New Hampshire State Highway Department, Page 78. 6 U. OF X. H. AGRI. EXP. STATION [Bulletin 249 Table I. — Prices 0/ lodging and meah at roadside stands Number of places Average price Range Price of lodging 27 $1.19 $1.00 to $2.50 Price of meals: Breakfast 20 0.68 0.40 to 2.00 Dinner. 11 1.09 0.50 to 2.00 Supper. . 19 0.75 0.50 to 2.00 Merchandiszd Products -Candy, /ce Creani,5oft Dr/nks. Ga5,Ojl.etc. '^^^ ^^^IHIHHIHHJHIHH^HI ^^-^ Ovrf?N/GHT ACCOMMODA TIO/\JS J45 HH^I^^H /S.4 Tea Room. Gift 5hop, etc. Q/ IHH io.37o ^rm6^own Products - Vegetables, F/furrs, Eoos. Milk, etc. Doom^D 5I0A/ only-"Eoo5;'"Ruos," "maple Sugar] etc. Gas and Oil Only 45 BH ^-^ ^ //OME'MAOE Products -Pastry, Candy, /ce Cream, Rugs, etc. 2/ I Z.77o Fig. 2. Classification of stands in New Hampshire by leading enterprises. (791 stands on 1000 miles 0/ road.) sence of year-aroimd city facilities so much more numerous farther south. The average price of lodging at country places was $1.19 per person with a range of from one dollar to two-fifty as shown in Table 1. There was only one place, however, that charged the higher figure, and that was for double beds in rooms that afforded the privilege of being occupied by two people at the same price. There is much vari- ation in the hospitality and appearance of the different rooming places. Everything is found from the small but numerous "porches", to large spacious rooms in old-fashioned colonial dwellings; from courtesy and solicitation to indifference; and from the clean to the otherwise. Par- ticularly undesirable places are in the minority. For the transient, it is a bit difficult to make appraisals from the outside, but every pro- prietor of the more desirable homes was found courteous and willing to offer an opportunity for inspection. Dec, 1929] ROADSIDE MARKETING Table II. — Average sales at each stand (207 stands for which total estimated sales were obtained) Most obvious enterprise Number of stands Average sales Farm-raised nroducts, vegetables, fruit, milk, ee£S, etc 50 $3144 Home-made products, pastry, candy, ice cream, rugs, etc 13 1350 Merchandised products, candy, ice cream, soft drinks, gas, oil, etc. 88 1554 Tea room, eift shoD. etc. 20 2367 Overnight accommodations 21 957 Gas and oil onlv 3 833 Dooryard sign only, "Eggs," "Rugs," "Maple sugar," etc 12 596 Total number of stands and average sales for all stands 207 $1878 GENERAL RESUME OF FIGURES Estimates for total sales per stand for the summer, or year, of 1926, more or less compared for accuracy's sake with current conditions during the survey period in 1927 were obtained at 207 places of busi- ness. The average sales were $1878. An attempt was made to classify these places according to the most obvious kind of business in which each was interested and the results are shown in Table II. There was no conscious attemjit in the interviews to pick out the stands for any one reason, such as amount of business done, or size of house, except that no place selling appreciable ciuantities of fanii jiroducc was purposely omitted. All farm products markets suggested by the county agents as well as others discovered and interviewed dur- ing the summer travels are included in this group. There were 55 in all, but only 50 at which such j^roducts constituted a major enterprise. The five selling relatively less important amounts were classified under other headings. For the whole state there were only 77 locations re- corded in Figure 2 that sold any home-grown products at all and some of those were of insignificant size and were not interviewed. On the other hand there are represented in the 88 merchandising stands less than one-fourth of those in the state. The significance then of Table II is in showing the average sales for all stands surveyed and the ap- parent predominance in size of business for the first group, raising farm j^roducts, as expressed in average sales of $3144. The next high- est group is the one called "Tea room, gift shop" with an average of $2367, while the merchandising group comprising 88 locations is third with average sales of $1554. There are also many lots of corn and green beans and tomatoes sold beside the road that escape special no- tice because of their very temporary nature, and these sell insignificant amounts, in most cases from one or two dollars worth to ten or twenty perhaps. 8 U. OF N. H. AGRI. EXP. STATION [Bulletin 249 Out of the 207 locations just discussed, detailed estimates, checked with all available records, were obtained from 103 proprietors in re- gard to each kind of produce or merchandise handled. This was done to get more accurate data in regard to total sales, as well as other in- formation of interest. This accounts for the two groups of data, one of 103 and one of 207 records, in Table III. Here the records have been sorted into classes according to the total amount of sales at each stand. It should be noted that the smaller group of detailed estimates has a tendency to include the larger businesses and to drop out more of the smaller ones. This results quite generally from a conscious effort all the time to focus attention on the places selling farm products, and this type tends to be larger than the others. For example, every Table III. — Distribution of sizes of stands as measured by total sales 103 WITH DETAILED ESTIMATES OF BUSINESS Including 104 with estimates of sales only Stands Average sales Stands Total sales Average sales Sales No. Per cent No. Per cent Over $10,000 5 4.9 $12,721 5 2.41 $63,606 $12,721 $5001 to $10,000 . . . 7 6.8 7,247 10 4.83 63,777 6,378 4001 to 5,000 . . . 6 5.8 4,444 7 3.38 31,664 4,523 3001 to 4,000 . . . 12 11.6 3,380 12 5.80 40,565 3,380 2001 to ■3,000... 17 16.5 2,447 22 10.63 55,132 2,506 1501 to 2.000... 10 9.7 1,773 18 8.70 32,980 1,832 1001 to 1,500... 17 16.5 1,226 33 15.94 43,399 1,315 501 to 1,000... 21 20.4 720 54 26.09 41,971 777 Not over $500 8 7.8 332 46 22.22 15,561 338 Total or Average . 103 100.0 $2,714 207 100.00 $388,655 $1,878 proprietor in the first group is definitely interested in raising and sell- ing farm products, and the man who sells the least of the five happens to be handling $2,000 worth. Also, while there were 46 stands out of 207 which had sales not exceeding $500 and which averaged only $338, there are only 8 of this range in the 103 group and their sales averaged $332. Consequently the average total sales at each stand for the group of 103 is $2,714, in contrast to $1878 for the 207. There are large numbers of very small merchandising stands; pos- sibly so many that it is difficult for anyone to do a large business in this class of goods. On the other hand it does not seem at all impos- sible to develop a roadside market for farm products of appreciable proportions. Out of the 103 proprietors, 18, or 17.4 per cent, showed sales over $4,000 and practically 5 per cent made over $10,000 worth of sales with an average of $12,721 each. Surely if a man could sell at the door even $4,000 worth of farm products largely the result of Dec, 1929] ROADSIDE MARKETING his own family's efforts he would probably be marketing iiis labor at a fair price and at least have something worth-while to do. Records of 24 general farmers from all counties of the state who sent in their account books to be summarized by the University Extension Service for the season of 1926 showed average total gross receipts at each farm of only $3996,* and these are necessarily selected farms, undoubtedly much better than the average. We shall go on to consider in more de- tail this group comprising 103 locations. Table IV shows a summary of the stands most carefully studied. The total sales for this group were something over a quarter of a mil- lion dollars, or $279,515. The total sales of farm products either raised or purchased were $67,659. It is perhaps safe to assume that nearly a million dollars' worth of business is done at the roadside stands Table IV. — Total sales and sales at each stand for selected groups of commodities (103 locations) Total sales Average Sales All stands Stands Selling Amount Per cent of sales Num- ber Amount Per cent of sales Farm products produced on place .$53,957 . S524 19.3 55 S9S1 31.1 Farm products purchased 13,702 133 4.9 18 761 17.5 Home prepared food, etc 49,752 483 17.8 69 721 27.2 Purchased food, candy, etc 57,040 554 20.4 69 827 24.1 Gasoline and oil 83,332 809 29.8 51 1.6.34 41.1 Overnight accommodations . . . . 8,347 81 3.0 32 261 9.4 All other, miscellaneous 13,515 130 4.8 10 1,352 24.7* Totals $279,515 Si;2,714 100.0 *A few large amounts from such items as leasing tennis courts and selling old-fashioned furniture, groceries, and weaving and sewing which were not classified elsewhere make this group appear abnormally large. in tlie rural communities of this state mostly by farm people, although not as much as ten per cent of that amount would be represented by farm products. The mere merchandising of farm products purchased in the city or from others at a distance, and resold from a stand out of doors — a jiractice which has called forth considerable protest from both produc- ers and consumers in other states — ^is most conspicuous by its absence at rural farm markets in New Hampshire. Perhaps the deception would be more obvious in this state than farther south where a longer growing season favors a much greater variety in farm production; possibly, merchandising under New Hampshire conditions is found to entail less risk when confined to less perishable wares like soft drinks, ♦Unpublished data on file in office of Station Economist. 10 U. OF N. H. AGRI. EXP. STATION [Bulletin 249 candies, cigarettes, and what not; doubtless there is less temptation here than in communities where larger and more numerous cities are distributed; and, finally, the traffic on our main highways may pro- vide a less attractive vantage ground than more heavily travelled roads in other states for the emplojinent of city funds and talent in such an undertaking. Table IV shows that less than 5 per cent of the average sales per stand were purchased farm products, and as a matter of fact these few purchases were made locally, practically with- i out exception. " It is of interest to note that as classified here, farm products, in- cluding the 4.9 per cent purchased for resale as well as the 19.3 per cent raised, represent 24.2 per cent of the total sales. They are ex- J ceeded only by gasoline and oil which represent 29.8 per cent. The I big groups, representing roughly between 18 and 30 per cent of total 1 sales, are gasoline and oil, farm products, merchandised commodities like candy, ice cream, and tobacco, and home prepared food. Over- night accommodations and miscellaneous represent only 3 and 4.8 per cent respectively of total sales. There is obviously a difference be- tween buying and selling gasoline on a gross margin of 5 to 15 percent and selling farm products which one has raised largely with his own labor and with little direct cash outlay. The proprietor of a merchan- dising place cannot get anything more out of a product than the gross margin — the difference between what he pays for it and the price for which he sells it; and he too has His fixed costs of rent, depreciation, taxes, insurance and repairs. The farmer may have to pay out cash for feed and fertilizer, but the main difference is one of labor and management involved. The cost of production for these crops and animal products is beyond the scope of this study, and we can only suggest that in so far as the difference in margin between selling farm products and merchandising others is one of hours of work the road- side stand should be a desirable way to market some farm labor. We talk about "the farmer's thirty cent dollar," meaning that out of every dollar paid by the consumer the farmer gets less than one third for producing the product. Surely if he sells at the roadside he is taking the place of some middlemen and may hope to get a part of their pay. For example, the cost of marketing apples at 12 represen- tative stands in Michigan, as compared to selling them through the regular channels, indicated that the grower's portion by the latter method, was only 19.4 cents out of the consumers' dollar while at the roadside he got sixty cents besides being paid fifteen cents for his ex- tra labor.* Something of the gross margins on merchandise handled at the roadside are shown in Table V. This table is based on a few averages. It does not attempt to emphasize sufficiently the wastes and losses incident to the handling of such materials. ■ In Table VI the records were sorted by the proportion of sales repre- sented by farm grown products. The distribution of sales among the different classes and something of the relation of family receipts from other sources to that from the roadside marketing business is included. The distribution of the classes of products sold would appear to be ♦Agricultural Experiment Station, East Lansing, Michigan. Special Bulletin No. 185, Roadside Marketing in Michigan. Dec, 1929] ROADSIDE MARKETING 11 mostly a matter of clumce. The forty-eight stands^ that sold no home- grown farm produce show total sales averaging $2209 each. This is low compared to the average for the whole 103 and means that the 55 selling some farm products must average over $3000 each. A sig- nificant figure is that denoting the proportion of total family receipts whicli is represented by the total sales at the stand. This averages 67.9 per cent for the 98 places where "other income" could be secured by the enumerator. There were 19 of these which obtained their total family receipts from roadside market sales, averaging $3,169. In order to get some idea of the probabilities in the different classes of sales as found in the group surveyed, five records were selected from the whole 103 that showed the largest sales in each class. The aver- Table Y. — Average gross margins at stands as estimated or recorded by proprietors Commodity Number stands Unit and average margin Per cent Gasoline 46 2A5i gaUon 12.8 Ice Cream 20.0* Tobacco 17 2.85fi can or pkt. 26.3 Cigars 17 2.47^ each 30.4 Cigarettes 26 3.65ff pkt. 33 8 Candy 16 1.67^ 5c piece 50.0 Frankfurters 16 4.20fi each with roll 82 4 Motor Oil 38 12.01 f^ quart 92.0 Soft Drinks 41 3.76 p bottle 110.0** *Ice cream margins were practically impossible to get from the present exper- ience of roadside stand operators. A few had raised the question of profits in their own minds and a very few had attempted to get some check on the differ- ence between costs and sales. One proprietor checking up carefully found a i'we gallon can netted him sixty-eight cents after paying for cones; another got a gross margin of thirty-five cents on a three gallon can and iced it for himself; still another got thirt.y cents on a three gallon lot which was iced by the com- l>any; and finally one who kept very accurate records on all his business had a margin of nine dollars for the season after paying $247.30 for ice cream, $18 for .salt, and $50 for ice. These represent margins of from three to ten per cent, but doubtless are not typical for the group as a whole. Some assumed they were making reasonable profits, while several had discontinued handling ice cream altogether; the majoritj' were selling it regardless of profits and without question as a matter of ser\ice. In the few cases where a gross margin figure has been used in this study 20 per cent is assumed to be the best approximation possible. A survey of dealer profits for 58 drug stores merchandising ice cream since made by Boston University [Boston University, Bureau of Business Re- search, Dealer Profits on Ice Cream, Jan. 28, 1929] showed an average gross profit of 24.7 per cent on sales. This was figured on a cost of $1.30 per gallon. The average cost to 32 roadside stands was $1.38. Making and adjustment for this difference their gross margin on this cost would be 25 per cent, assuming that they sold at about the same price. But doubtless the methods of handhng and storing at roadside stands in regard to temperature and dipping practices would be conducive to more shrinkage rather than less. **Soft drinks usually involve considerable expense for icing and often some loss of empty bottles. 12 U. OF N. H. AGRI. EXP. STATION [Bulletin 249 CO Si =0 ■T3 o FQ -4J cc §'^'S. lira 2< 1-H Tf< 00 l> (M O CO < •5 S'l 1— 1 I-H I-H I-H (M 1-H CO ■*. ^. H -fl °^ o C d I-H ci d d d ^ cc I-H CO 1-H (M' d 1-H O r^ P^ O H ^11 (M 00 t^ (M 1-H 00 q < c T— 1 T-H d co' '^ ■^" H a^ PL, > Ch °2 00 (N o> CO lO CO CO Tjl (M 1-H o 1-H ^ 0? H -3 0) 1 03 6^ + 05 + fe5 + o o CO [V. O 03 (h :S CO >o b- I-H P, Ph a c 1-^ o o 5 o o o 00 O -a "a 00 Dec, 1929] ROADSIDE MARKETING 13 CO e -3 5J so v. S C S o _) pq < Per cent receipts from stand 00 CO CO X o X CO CO 05 1 q X CO C5 X CO X Total family recei])ts t-H T-H X o T-H X o" T-H CO CO X CO 1^ T-H T-H Other family receipts 05 CO T-T 3> CO 3^ T-H CO o o T-H CO 1-H Total sales per stand 05 05 CO T-H CO CO X X co__ T-H CO o C<1 § CO o d o ^H Other mis<'ella- ncous protlucts »5 0; C 2^ o CO CO 2 o o CO 0) e o CO 00 Over- night acco'mo- dations 4© CO o o T-H o 1-H a; c o CO 1-H C5 CO T-H q CO f-H CO T-H c o 'A CO T-H T-H o T-H o X_^ T-H CO CO x__ T-H CO CO (N Pur- chased food, candy, etc. X CO CO CO CO T-H o 05 CO T-H X T-H CO X CO q^ T-H q id T-H Home prepared food, etc. X T-H X X T-H CO (N T-H CO ?j c-f X T-H co^ t-h" o 1-H Farm jirodiicts pur- chased T-H m c: o X X CO X (M CO Farm products raised X CO CO T-H T-H T-H T-H CO >-H T-H CO §8 T-H q T-H 0} CD U Farm products raised on the place, $4,063 Farm products purchased, $2,439 Home prepared food, etc., .$3,731 Purchased food, candy, etc., .12,697 t^ o CO" "o c3 a; _c "o 03 Overnight accommodations, $684 . . . other miscellaneous, $2,560. . . . Average for 35 stands 6 •^ 0) oT "3 02 "5 o o c CJ Ih 14 U. OF N. H. AGRI. EXP. STATION [Bulletin 249 ages of each of the seven groups then are given in Table VII. The five largest producers of farm products for the roadside market aver- aged to sell $4063 worth of these goods. They sold other things, such as $1658 worth of home cooking; $2156 worth of gasoline and oil; $825 worth of merchandised food materials, like candy and ice cream; and less amounts of the other classes, making up total sales per stand of $9479. The largest sales of farm products purchased averaged $2439 for five places. A group of five similarly selected in respect to home prepared food products averaged $3731, and for merchandised food, candy, etc., $2,697. The gasoline and oil group showed the largest sales of any, both in the product by which selected and in total sales, $6074 and $10,438 respectively. But it should be borne in mind that the margin of profit on gasoline is small, without accounting for evaporation and other possible shrinkage. Overnight accommodations, including a few meals for the lodgers as well as room rent, amounted to $684. This group depends on sales of home cooking $2293, farm products mostly raised $1228, merchandised food $618, and gasoline $104, to make up total sales per stand of practically $5000. The sell- ing of old-fashioned furniture, groceries, hand-made baskets, sewing and weaving, auto tires, and similar articles, uncommon to roadside marketing in general but representing an appreciable amount of busi- ness in a few individual cases, made it possible to pick out five records with average sales from miscellaneous, so-called, of $2560. Perhaps The variety at farm produce markets ojien ranges from vegetables to balsam pillows. this condition suggests that almost anything may be sold at a roadside stand under opportune conditions. Some of the averages for the whole group are of possible interest, showing the total sales as $6902, which represents 86.8 per cent of the total receipts for these 35 homes. As would be expected, where a road- Dec, 1929] ROADSIDE MARKETING 15 side business gets larger it tends to absorb more of the family's atten- tion and to limit tlu> income from other sourrcs. THE FARM PRODUCE MARKETS Table VIII gives considerable de- tail relating to the 55 stands out of the 103, each of which sold home- grown farm i)roduce. The records are arranged in groups depending on the size of business as measurecl by total sales. There is evidence in this distribution of more diffi- culty to be ex})erienced in getting into the larger groups. There hap- pen to be five in the $10,000 class and only four in the less than the $500 class; but there is a tendency for more records to fall in the low- er half of the table than the upper, indicating, as would be expected, that it is easier to develop a mar- ket selling from $500 to $3000 than one selling from that amount to $10,000 worth or more. In the range from $1 to $5000 there are 47 records while the greater range from $5000 to $10,000 and over comprises only 8. In the percent- age distribution, we note that the proportion of the family receipts derived from these sales is high with the larger businesses and tends to decrease rather consistently as the groups decline in total sales. In other words, those families that have sales of $4000 or better from their roadside markets, are disposed to get a small amount of income from other sources. As a matter of fact there were only four families which got their entire receipts from the stand and eight others that got as much as 85 percent. Nine of these twelve were in the upper three groups. Total sales for this whole group of 55 averaged $3154 for each place. Of this amount 31.1 per cent was made up of farm products raised, 29.7 per cent of gasoline and oil, 15.3 per cent of merchandised food materials, 10.9 per cent of home iireparcd food, 7.8 per cent of farm products purchased, 3.5 per cent of miscellaneous and only 1.7 per cent of over-night accommodations. Farm products raised and purchased made up, then, 38.9 per cent and with the addition of home cooking re- presented just about half of total sales, or 49.8 per cent. There seems to Map shoiving the location of 77 places where iarm produce is sold at the roadside. The solid circles in- dicate that farm products represent at least 33 per cent of total sales. The rings suggest that farm pro- ducts are a less important propor- tion of total sales. 16 U. OF N. H. AGRI. EXP. STATION [Bulletin 249 o &5 S5 CO S o o CO s e O fa. s o CO o S 3 g o 00 s CO I > r, i« I-H 00 t— 1 o '^ ^ 00 00 * S^ Ci< c3 00 »c t^ •o t^ t>. on r» -* 00 o S'S 1— H c^ CO (M C5 CO CO t^ 00 o t^ ^-i Q 00 TJH TjH CO CO CO (N (N ■* 1 ;. >.5 ?^ '^ f^ . -* CO 00 ^ -* IQ * q;::3 O- c3 o co C5 CO t^ lO -* •^ 00 •5 a's »o «o lO (M ■* -^ I-H CO rf n 1-H I-H 1-H I-H I-H CO (N T-H 1-H m Pi P 05 c3 o CO o rt* o o o (N CO o » i-H '^ . . 1-H « *^ ^ ci o lO »o T-H u O-gfl Q I-H • O "2 o3 ^ , o o i-H o I-H . CO 1^ CO o lO C3 I-H . . lO s O Q t— 1 • '^l • Cr3 m Q ;a o cS (M r^ • lO 00 CO «o CO . 00 o_ CO o • CO t^ CO 05 1-H CO 1? o (N IC I-H CO Tt< I> 1> 00 o o »o ■^ 00 O Q Oi t^ 1— r TJH »o (N • TJH CO el's CO a h-T3 c3 o CO tH o Oi o o CO -* ^^ S o CO 00 Tj< lO t^ I-H (M CO ■^ > p. O I-H CO (M y—i CO (M T-H • CO 03 a 02 < t3 C<3 t^ 00 lO 00 o IC TjH ai >o « CD CO CO 00 o (M I-H ■^ > o Q i-H o »o (N O) lO t^ CO rfH I-H T— 1 «o ) lO O) 00 O Q 05 co" CD^ 1— r t^ CO 05 Tt< CO -* CO a> ^ I-H tH 00 t> ^ O CO -* CO ^ '^ ?? (M I-H t^ lO CO CO o lO o lO •+J «i t^ 00 (M CO ^ 00 CO t^ -*l 1-H Ol3 o Q 1-H t^ •* CO (M T-H I-H CO t< 03 a; <» -° S^ S-5 lO CO (N t^ o lO OS o Tt< lO § a I-H I-H »o ^•s -sj Si^ S^„ §3 Ph 1 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o lO o > o o iO '^ CO !M I-H 1-H «^ o m t-i s# > o t4 o o o o o o o p o o o o lO o lO -^ > o ^ CO (M 1-H I-H o o Dec, 1929] ROADSIDE MARKETING 17 o < "^ -kJ >-i rr, C Per cen of famil receipt! rom sta 1— 1 CO q o 00 CO co' CO 00 !>' o d d o d 00 OS o 1—t CO CO IC Tt< IM 1— ( CO -~- 1 •fcs a; 1— 1 Tt^ l-[ q (N lO :S S o o M< lO Od' ; CO *^ CO PLi r-l 05 rH CO 1—1 «-- -^ o .S'S o OC' 00 CO' q 1—1 d O O • d »— < 03 C u (N o CO (N (N T-H 1—1 (M n ^CS fS based od, y, etc. q oo' CO CO CD d CO H p ca ;-! i-H 1—1 CO i-l C^ I— 1 1—1 O P-( o 01 <1 Pi P4 U V. a P-l o CO 1-1 lO >* OS o q • Oi fe - S o CO ci lO I> t-' d d t^ d o3 &! o ^H 1—1 1—1 1— ( 1—1 1—1 1—1 Pk ^1 -ti -u Ph 03 -*^ Farm roduct raised 00 ^ I— 1 1—1 00 1—1 o ^ 1— t CO 05 oi ci od O t-^ 1—1 CO (N T-l 1—1 CO SM ^ O Q o o O o o o o o o o o o O o o o o p'^ ^ 1—1 1— t T— t ^H T-H 1—1 1— ( l-H T^ r^ E-i «= o I— 1 iC a o 1—) Tt< -^ "^ ^ a * s, o d o d d d d o c3 tk- <" o f^ o o o o (h o o" o TtT co" o of i-h" q_ 1— r 43 > 03 Rang total ! I— < 1 c 1 1 1—1 o 1 I— ( o 1 1—1 q 1 1—1 1 1—1 o 0) > o O "3 o TjT CO '.!, ■'.. ■- i- ,. Tr>A cj 630.72 1104338 060 Mtl. ii^» ^^^ ^^m ill It'iil! 1 ; ill iliiilll ill! ilffi li^^