The Green Forest tribune., 1910-09-16
FARMERS UNION IN INDIANA
Agents of Organization to Deal Difec' With Commission Men and
 Grain Dealers.

Grain peaiSFSs
 Within a sho9t time paid organizers will Be in all parts of Indiana Ill all effort to organize Indiana farmers Into union devoted to seIt-lLtefest. steps have been taken to raise a fund TOT the disposal of millions of dollars w0rh of grain from a central depot in Indianapolis, and elevators ana otn' CT buildings are to be erected ac- cording to the plans. and from these 1 agents of the farmers will sell theiI products direct to shippers and con- sumsrs.
 The first object is to secure mae pendence in the handling of products and the second is to get rid Of the middlemen and retain the proilt they are presumed to make. There IS to be no individual dealing with com mission men and grain dealers, Gut the agents at the big storehodses anu elevators are to deal with these men for the advantage of all the farmers whose interests are intrusted to their charge.
 The plan is much the same as that adopted by tobacco growers in Ken lucky and other states, and the farm CTS interested in it believe that It will be quite successful.
 Whether a man is deyoting himseH to the raising of wheat, corn and oats' or whether he is fruit grower or stock raiser he is eligible to member ship, and whatever he produces is to be disposed of by men who ere to be selected for the purpose. These men are to represent the brains of the or ganization and will be selected because of the success that they have had Ill managing their own affairs.
 It is expected that the site for large storehouse will be selected at h. dianapolis ill a short time and that the capital of $1,000.000, made of of shares of five dollars each, with which buildings are to be erected, will soon be subscribed.
 Some of the largest raisers of wheat are still holding their crops and many of them have said that they would not sell except through the farmers agencies if the project was so pushed that there was a certainty of begin ming business by the first Of the com ing year.
 It seems that committee of the l Farmers Educational and Co-opera- tive union has been investigating quietly for the past year and that it has reported conditions in respect to the market that is giving decided impetus to the movement for dispos- i ing of all crops through their own agents and from a central point, with branches perhaps in other parts of the state. It is said, for instance, that l the growers of strawberries in south ern Indiana were able to realize only about five cents quart at the home | place of shipping. after going to the expense of picking and crating, but l when the berries reached Indianapolis they sold readily for from 12 to 20 cents, according tc the supply on the market. In respect to raSpberries and other small fruits the same facts are alleged to have been found-the grow CTS having all the trouble and ex-
 
 and the consumer getting all the profit.
 It is claimed that this is true, but hardly to such degree, with all farm products, the producer never realizing the market value of the place of sale because the place of shipment Is dis tant and he cannot deal with the con l C11r in of the sale of large quantities of wheat to millers, who in turn sell large Quan- titles of flour to bakers, and it is said that the profit lost in the passing of the grain through the local buyers, the city elevator and the miller. who is the consumer so far as the farmer is concerned, is about S3 1-3 per cent.
 The million-dollar company that Is being organized proposes to save this profit by dealing with the miller him. self. So it proposes to deal with the grocer, the marketer and others who sell direct to consumers in the matter of fruit and vegetables.
 It is proposed to put the peach crop and the apple crop upon the market through the hands of men who are not interested in beating down the price to the producer and boosting it to the consumer.
 It is denied that the new organiza- tion is actuated in any sense by the sentiments of trust or that it pro- posed to work along trust lines. Prod ucts are not to be kept in cold stor- age, it is declared, when they are in season and until the season passes and high prices can be demanded, but everything is to be sold when it is ready for market and for prices that will increase the profit of the producer and at the same time reduce the price to the consumer.