ROAD TRANSPORT FOR THE FARMER.
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What Can Be Done by Motor Manufacturers to Ascertain the Transport Needs of the Average Agriculturist.
AS time goes on it will be found that transport will prove one of the most important factors in the solution of the present problem of depression in farming, which requires more practical and less theoretical suggestions for a solution. The real problem is one of marketing, and although there are other things to be considered, the marketing problem cannot be approached without the provision of adequate transport arrangements.
Now, the depression that is prevailing is not of the nature that some of the daily newspapers make one believe. There always has been a certain slackness in British agricultural marketing methods, and because of this many farmers can only be really well off when there comes a period of downright good trade. They are then able to prosper in spite of themselves. It is not meant to infer that farmers are bad farmers. Quite the contrary. It might be stated, indeed, that in no country are farmers more fit for thtir task of' farming than in Britain. On the whole, the Englishman is a good farmer and it scarcely behoves outsiders to attempt to teach him his own business.
The Differences Between a Farmer and a Trader• At the same time, marketing is rather a different matter. It comes more within the province of the trader than of the producer. The farmer is essentially a producer. The trader understands the market. Immediately a farmer becomes a trader be often ceases to be a farmer or producer in the strictest meaning of the term.
To put the position in other words, farming as a productive enterprise is one man's job and the farmer has become more proficient in this than he has in trading, which is more a thing apart. But good marketing is absolutely essential to success in production. And although farmers generally do not appreciate this point, it is the pivot upon which hangs the future prosperity of hundreds of those people who are engaged in the industry.
Marketing requirements are not well understood, but the Ministry of Agriculture has done much creditable work in collecting and providing valuable information on the subject. This is as much as any Government Department can do. If' the material upon which to work is provided, it is the farmer's business to use it.
In any modern system of marketing the provision of ample transport facilities is a rock-bottom essential. The farmer, as a rule, is not good at handling transport problems and at best he is a bad engineer. The agricultural transport problem is one upon which the farmer needs the help and advice of experienced men of the motor world. . The men to do this should be provided by the motor trade, and the type to deal with the tenant farmer or the occupying-owner would not possibly be the best to sell my noble lord a Rolls-Royce. As a rule the latter are salesmen pure and simple and would not be able to help thelarmer with his practical transpor4difficulties. in any' way. • The fal'isier wants to know what :type of vehicle would suit him best. He cannot answer the question himself. He wants to arrange his .transport plans with a view to future development, but he cannot do • this unassisted. He wants to see suitable types of vehicle, but how he is to do this if .the appliances are not there?
What Can Be Accomplished by the Motor ,Salesman.
The agricultural industry provides -wide scope for the motor trade, yet strangely enough motor salesmen seem content to-leave everything to chance. In the matter of agricultural engines, machines and implements, the farmer is well looked after by the agricultural implement agents and engineers. But these people do not, as a rule, handle motor vehicles. Some motor manufacturers have been enterprising enough to put on the. market _vehicles suitable, both in regard to chassis and bodywork, to their needs, but these !are not brought to the notice of prospective buyers as they should be.
The same thing happens in regard to exhibitions. Even at the agricultural shows Sufficient attention is not paid to the varied but actual needs of farmers, and very little is done to get into real touch with them. More attention should be paid to the agricultural industry with a view to discovering its needs. The transport question requires handling from the viewpoint' of the farmer. Greater knowledge of farming on the part of the motor trade would be of considerable value to the -industry, for it is not easy with insufficient knowledge and experience to advise a farmer on the choice of a vehicle. It is not enough to secure -an order. Those who wish to be competent. in the agricultural world must be in a position to -tell the farmer in an absolutely unbiased way what is needed.