The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1902-12-19
A FARMERS EXCHANGE.
Successful Enterprise on East
ern Shore Of Virginia-Bet-
ter Prices for Produce What
the Exchange Has Accom-
plished for Farmers and
How it is Managed-Also
Yields Dividends.

n snort time ago Il SpcCldl us
patch from Onancock, Va, stated
that the Eastern Shore of Virginia
Produce Exchange had Just de-
clared a dividend of 20 per cent.
The fact that concern away
from a large city could do thing
like that caused widespread at
tention and has led to an investl-
CATION of the busineas methods OF
the exchange and of the men who
run it. These men, like the goods
they handle, are products of the
Eastern Shore, and are proud of
it. The men whom they repre-
sent are their friends and neigh
bors, farmers of Accomac and
Northampton counties, and their
exchange is one of the best posi-
BILE examples of farmers Organi-
cation. 1t grew out of a diSas-
trouS condition of affairs. 1t re-
verSed these conditions and has
! brought prosperity in the place OF
depression, and showed that in
spite of all the statements to the
! contrary farmers could organize
for the protection of their inter
estS, stick together in spite OF dis
couragementS and maintain their
organizations
The territory which the eX-
change claims for its own are the
two Virginia counties at the end
of the Maryland Delaware PENN
sula-Accomac and northampton.
The population according TO the
last census was As, $40 that OF
Accomac being 81, 40 and of
Northampton 1870. 1t is 10
miles long, an average of IL wide
and contains 900 square miles.
It's population is almost entirely
American, and until about 20
years ago the two equities We're
without railroad communication
with the outside world. 1t has
great resources and natural adj
vantayeS in its thousands of acres
of oyster and fishing grounds, on
both the sea and the bay side. and
and in its fertile lands. Many
inletS and CREEKS make in from
the Atlantic and the Chesapeake
down both coast lines. In these
hundreds of thousands of bushels
Of oysters have been planted,
from which millions of fish are
caught annually. These indus.
tries Of themselves support IA large
part of the population.
The exchange is combination
OF bout 100 of the most success
lul farmers of .Acc0mac and North
amptOn counties. BY special
provision Of its by laws. which
permit tenants of stockholders to
market their products through the
exchange it has the patronage
of about 900 growers.
Its organization was brought
about Ivy the ruinouS prices at
which the staple crop Of the pen
insula-Irish and sweet potatoes
had sold for several Years prior to
the organization of the exchange.
The thoughtful realized that
something had to done to better
the condition of the truck grow
ers, whose success or failure so
vitality touched the interests of
all business men of the lower pen,
insula. The condition of the
farmer was deplorable His pc.
tatOes were selling at % cents
barrel, and he was in a quandary
as to how to pay his rent, his fer
tilizer bills and to clothe and feed
his family. A discussion of these
matters resulted in the holding of
mass meeting at Onley, Va, in
August, 1899, at which a commit
tee of II influential citizens was
appointed to recommend some
plan of marketing the products of
the farms.
This committee, after several
meetings, drafted working plan
for an exchange to be run on Mr..
Morgan's community -of-inter-
ests" plan.
This report was unanimously
adopted by convention of farm
ers and business men which met
at Onley in October Of the same
year. Its chief officers were
elected and solicitor put in the
field to secure subscriptions of
stock and to organize the farmers
into separate local divisions.
Thus was put into motion the
force which has practically revo-
lutionized affairs of the farmers
on the Eastern Shore and has ac-
complished results of which the
, most sanguine never dreamed.
A charter was secured from the
! Virginia Legislature in January
of 1900, and by the Goth of June
in that year, when the crop of
Irish potatoes was ready to be
marketed, IA local organizations
had been completed and were in
working shape.
A general outline of the plan is
as follows: The farmers and those