Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1913-03-14
REASONS FOR FEW FAILURES
Former Dairy Commissioner Of Kan
sas Tells Why Some Cooperative
Enterprises Failed.

Mr.. Dallas S. Burch. recently state
dairy commissioner of Kansas, offers
some suggestions as to the reasons
for the failure of cooperative enter
prises In some localities, while the
same sort of organizations achieve
brilliant success elsewhere. His let
ter follows:
l have watched the success or fail
ure of score of cooperative organi-
cations during the past five years,
and have come to definite conclusions
as to why things don't always turn
out as we think they should. l have
found that many of the reasons for
the success of cooperative enter
prises are not as important as former
ly thought. and In the debris of I'M
successful projects l invariably found
something had not been looking for.
Being something of a dairyman. |
am interested in cooperative cream
cries and in breeders associations.
In Wisconsin about a fourth of the
creameries are successfully conducted
on the cooperative plan, while in
Kansas not a single cooperative
creamery has been able to make a go
of it.
The Kansas farmer Is fully as in
telligent and Industrious and wealthy
as the Wisconsin farmer, but he can't
i make a cooperative creamery run
probably. Take breeders associa-
Citations as another example. Wis
consin is full of them, and Kansas can
scarcely develop enough enthusiasm
to keep alive the few that institute
workers have started.
The natural conclusion is that Wis
consin farmers will cooperate and
Kansas farmers will not, but that the
DRY is wrong. Kansas farmers have
their farmers unions, their good
roads clubs and their wheat and corn
clubs. cooperative enterprises, and
good ones. Yet they can't, or won't.
or don't get together on dairying.
This is the reason: People do not CO
operate successfully on side lines to
their main business. In Wisconsin
dairying is the chief source Of In
come to the members of the co-opera-
tive creamery associations, while In
Kansas wheat and corn are the main.
stays of the farmers belonging to the
wheat and corn organizations.
When a farmer gets over half his
income from one source. you can't
permanently sidetrack his interest to
something else In which he is only
casually interested-for example
dairying In Kansas. But as soon as
he gets interested In his cows and
the market for his dairy products he
, will spontaneously develop the CO
/ operative spirit along the line of dairy
associations.
J OF course, good management and
: liberal support are necessary to the
, success of any enterprise, but the,
: are the natural results of interest anC
enthusiasm along any line. Organiza
, tons follow every form of industry
: they do not create the industry. TIT
3 the eastern milk shippers associa
. tons, breeders organizations and al
i similar enterprises are a direct out
{ growth of interest In a main source o
8 income. Such organizations succeed
n Those which are based on side line
y generally fail, regardless Of the mos
b favorable circumstances under whic
+ they are organized. My conclusion
e is, Don't pin your faith to a co-opers
+ tive project unless It represents tn
J. principal source of income Of those In
4 terested. Cooperation as a side-lin
8 generally fails"