Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 73, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 December 1910 — MODERN METHODS OF BUYING ON THE FARM. [ARTICLE]

MODERN METHODS OF BUYING ON THE FARM.

Average Farmer Prefers to Buy His Goods Direct and Have Them Delivered at His Door. The average farmer of todaj- feels that he has as much right to have his goods delivered at his door as the party who lives in town, and as time goes on the tendency in the farming communities is more towards buying their supplies direct and having them , delivered right, at their doors. As a result of these conditions in all the enterprising farming communities you will' find the grocery wagdn, tea and coffee Wagons, meat wagons, modern medicine wagons, etc. There is no getting around the fact that these institutions for the convenience of the farmers are here to stay. One thing that is particularly noticeable is, that the sale of domestic medicines, stock remedies, flavoring extracts, spices, toilet articles, etc.,’ ■ through the medium of the modern medicine wagons driven by up-to-date salesmen of today has grown to an enormous proportion in the last 10 or 15 years. Of course, all manufacturers are right after the farmers trade and as a result- of this competition there has been a great improvement in the quality of the goods handled by these wagons, and our farmer friends tell us that it is a

■ recognized fact in the farming communities that a superior line of goods is handled by these wagons, compared with .similar goods usually sold over the counter in town. The idea is right here, that these j medicine companies do not go to the i expense of much newspaper adver- ! tising, and as a result they are enI abled to give a large package of su- ( perior goods at a less price than the ; manufacturers who market their ' goods through ether channels. To illustrate the high quality of these i preparations it is only necessary to I mention the fact that the most of these medicine salesmen practically I leave their goods on trial with their '• customers and ask no money unless the goods are satisfactory. This I plan of selling naturally appeals to the farmer and as a result most every farmer buys at least a part of his supplies from the medicine wagons;. There was a time.before the enactment of the pure food laws over the country that there were a lot of old peddlers of fake nostrums traveling about the country marketing an entirely different line of stuff, but the enactment of the pure food laws ! seems to have driven this undesirable class of venders out of the field and it is very doubtful if one of these ! old time fakirs could go into the average farming community and do j enough business to keep goinsr. The farmer of today demands the best goods because he has the money to pay for them. Times are not what they were 25 years ago when grain and stock were selling at a low price and every larm had a mortgage upon it. The farmer of today is the most independent person on earth. They are- independent and they know it, and woe to the pprson who tries to dictate as to how and where they shall spend their money.—Duluth Telegraph-Herald, May The W atkins man gives this kind of service described and has the largest and finest line on the road and offers the fairest and squarest terms, a fair trial first and a guarantee of satisfaction or no pay. —V. M. Peer, “the Watkins Man.”