Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1911-05-31

The system OF cooperation wnicn
has been worked out by the most
progressive Of the farmers elevator
con- ?anies insures TO the farmers ev-
cry cent that their grain Is worth. The
manager buys as close to the markets
as he can with safety. At the close OF
the year any accumulated profits are
divided among the members Of the as
ISOLATION in proportion to the business
they have done The aggregate saving
that has come to farmers through these
cooperative associations can hardly
be estimated.
This saving has enabled the farmers
their farms It has brought them to-
gether and developed a community
spirit Cooperation has been extended
to other things. The elevator COM
panies usually handle coal, -four. lum.
Der. etc. They are coming to handle
wagons and farm machinery.
Cooperative creameries have been
organized throughout all the dairy dis
trictsxef the country. These have been
able to compete successfully with CEN
tralized plants. and the competition
has compelled the centrnlixers to keep
prices up Even then the cooperative
creameries handle most Of the cream
from their territory. A typical Co
operative creamery in eastern Iowa
may be taken as an example Of the
value Of these creameries to the farm
ers. This creamery saves about $1,000
each year to its patrons.
The fruit growers Of Michigan and
California have been very successful
in cooperative marketing. The condi-
lions which led up to this were much
the same as those In the grain belt BE-
fore cooperation came to the rescue.
In the live stock industry co-opera-
don Is a comparatively new thing. but
already It b accomplishing resultA
Two years ago the woolgrowers Of
Wyoming formed q cooperative wool
storage company. Large warehouses
were built to hold the product. and
instead Of all being dumped on the
market at once It was sold gradually.
and the usual break In the market
was avoided. BY this means more
than a million dollars was saved to
the Wyoming woolgrowers In one year.
The Corn Belt Meat Producers as
ISOLATION has In mind the establish
ment Of a cooperative packing house
This Is practical way Of bringing the
beef trust to terms and win be
thousand times more effective than all
the meat boycotts ever devised.
In many more ways cooperation II
helping the farmer to market his prod
ucts. Cooperation has never failed
except when It has tried to limit pro-
duction and force up prices artihcially.
as has been the case at times In the
tobacco and cotton districts Of the
south. But this IL not true coopera-
ton. 1t h monopoly. and It u better
that II should fail. True cooperation
seeks rather to increase production
than to limit It II makes tn profts
by cutting down the expense Of mar.
keting rather than by raising prices
above their normal level Natural
conditions Of supply and demand. II
not interfered with BY trusts and COM
binations, can be depended upon to
regulate prices % that they VIII Be
fair to both producer and consumer.
Cooperation u also solving the mon
ey problem for farmers. Pennsylvania
has number of successful cooperative
bantD. In the middle west many such
institutions are doing . successful busi-
mesa. These banks are safe, for they
are usually backed by all the assets Of
the farmer stockholderA They are run
on business principles
One other great problem confronts
the farmers In this country which CO.
operation has solved In Germany. That
IL the problem OF landownership. A
permanent, prosperous agriculture Is
possible only where the majority Of
the farmers own the land they culti-
vate. The proportion Of tenant farm
ers In the United States Is steadily In
creasing. From Is per cent in 1850 1t
Increased to SO per cent In 1900. The
1910 census will show In all probable
lty that nearly half the farms In the