Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1914-04-22


farmer calls upon cooperation to sell
him his supplies. He asks it to mar
ket his eggs and his butter. It dis
ills alcohol out of his potatoes and
Hakes wine for him out of his fruit.
Everywhere in Germany you will find
cooperative elevators and warehouses
for storing grain, cooperative soci-
cites for improving the breed Of live
stock, cooperative banks for furnish
ing loans to members, cooperative in
surance companies for 1nsuring
against every imaginable damage. Co
operative societies are formed to meet
the needs Of agriculture at every turn
--producing the raw material, convert
ing the raw material into salable form,
and placing the finished product upon
the market.
Agricultural cooperative societies
have become so numerous I'm Germany
as almost to jostle one another. There
are at the present time more than &c.
900 Of them" These are the words Of
Henry Wolff, the great authority upon
agricultural cooperation, and we have
found his statement true. These 26,-
900. societies have nearly two and q
half million members. Over half Of
these societies are credit associations.
which have working capital Of over
$400,000,000. Moreover, the number
Of societies and the number Of men,
bers are constantly increasing. The
German farmer who in his way is an
individualist and as Independent as is
the American farmer, has learned that
cooperation is his salvation and be-
lieves In al1ying himself with his neigh
bors for the common economic de-
Tense.
How German Farmer co-operates.
Everything the German farmer does
he does comparatively. If he wishes
to purchase farm he gets a so or 60
year loan from Landschaften bank.
When he finds It necessary to buy
implements or live stock, or seeds, he
uses money borrowed from co-opera-
tive credit society, making short time
loans. He gets his equipment Of CO.
operative store which furnishes him a
guaranteed article at the lowest pos
sible price. For when cooperation sells
to the farmer, everything from garden
seeds to threshing machines Is guar
anteed. II he wishes to insure his
property he goes to q cooperative in
surance company, which will insure
his crops against loss by hail or wind !;
another cooperative Insurance agency
insures his house against fire, while
another insures his live stock against
sickness, accident, or legal destruc.
ton, following the discovery Of tuber-
culOs1s or other contagious disease.
His stock cattle come to him from q
cooperative breeding farm. From CO.
operative associations he gets his sci
entitic instructions as to the care OF
his cattle, as to the best feeds, as to
the cure Of animal diseases, as to the
valuation Of crops, as to fertilizers
His milk and cream he takes to q CO
operative creamery, from which It IL
sold comparatively. His very hens
lay cooperative eggs which within an
hour after they are laid may bear the
stamp Of cooperative organization
Even the farmers wife has a ten
dency toward cooperation and is al
alive to its advantages as is the farm
or himself. Everywhere we find thu
women intelligent and conducting
their domestic affairs as scientifically
' o. do the men their farms.
Water Supply Companies.
One form in which cooperation ha,
evinced its efficiency In Germany i,
q rather unique one, and is one which
1t least in some parts Of the United
States Is worthy Of careful study b!
American farmers. Scattered through
out Germany there are many co-opera
tive societies for supplying water t,
It's members. There are In the prov
1nce of Hanover alone, for example. 81
such companies. Whether the commu
nifty has been large or small, thes
supply companies have generally sue
ceeded.
The advantages Of cooperation Il
attacking the problem Of water suppl
have been thus summarized: by &C
operation a sufficient sum of none
can be raised to enable a source Of va
ter to be tapped, unquestionable ~ +