Polk County news-gazette. (Benton, Tenn.) 190?-191?, 1914-04-09
Co. Operative Farm
Products Marketing
How IT Is Done in Europe and May Be Done
i'm America to the Profit OF Both
Farmer and Consumer
THE GERMAN FARMER SELLS HIS BUTTER IN THE CITIES
BY MATTHEW S. DUDeEoN.

Bayfield,, WIS, is IN the MIDST OF
new fruit country. There they have
a high-grade of cherries, strawberries
and other small fruits. A small local
cooperative society is marketing all
their stuff in Minneapolis. We asked
the manager why he did not sell in 9th
er cities-Milwaukee, for example,
where the retailers should be willing
to pay good prices for good fruit His
reply was that he had been utterly
unable to find any Milwaukee retailer
who would take his fruit because they
said that they must deal only with
those who handled a full line of
fruits; that if they bought cherries
and strawberries of him they would
find themselves unable to buy the
other fruits which he did not handle,
such as bananas, peaches, pineapples
and the like. The same condition ex-
lists everywhere. The retailer will
not buy in small quantities nor will
they buy of those who cannot sell
them a full line of supplies. A repre-
sentative of the Society of Equity OF
Wisconsin went to Chicago to work
UP a trade directly with the retailers
of that city but gave up the plan in de-
SPAR. He concluded that either the
cooperative marketing concerns must
combine upon broad lines in order to
be able to protect the retailers who
bought of them, or else the consumers
must combine and buy comparatively
of the producer In short, the Ameri-
can farmer cannot, unaided, invade the
larger cities. Even the smaller coop
erative organizations find themselves
too weak to go into the city markets.
Federates TO Invade Cities.
But here in Germany, and in fact
in many other countries, the farmer
does successfully invade the cities,
large and small He does it through
the federated association Of co-opera'
tive societies which thrive everywhere.
These organizations do tremendous
business They are enormous con-
Germs, capable of taking big contracts
and making good on them, fully able
to hold their own in competition with
privately owned concerns. The Ger
man retailer knows that when he deals
with such a concern or organization
he can get all that he wants whenever
he wants it.
We have just been investigating the
methods of one of these federated sale
societies, the United Pomeranian
Diaries. a concern which represents
thousands of farmers. We found the
manager a most businesslike indiXdu-
al with an amazingly wide knowledge
of all matters connected with the mar
keting of the products handled by him.
He has at his tongues end the an
swer to all questions, whether they
have to do with the technicalities OF
the product itself or with the business
methods of the concern. The retailers
do not hesitate to deal with this con-
Germ for they can rely upon it to sup
pIy ell of their needs, all of the time.
1t markets the butter and cheese com
ing from over half a million COWS ana
supplements this when necessary with
imported products. 1t is through insti-
tutions such as this that the German
farmer invades the German city.
Union Of Cooperative Concerns.
This is an association Of associa-
tions," the manager stated 1T is not
connected with any Landschaften or
Reiffeson bank. Our associations are
formed solely to aid the farmer in mar
keting his produce. In fact, nearly all
the shares are held by farmers. We
have over twenty thousand separate
members. There are 10 associations.
We are marketing our product through
fifty.six stores
This is a cooperative concern in the
true sense of the word. All our con-
Germs are operated upon the "one man
one vote plan, as are all Of the coop
erative societies in Germany. The
small farmer has as much influence as
the big man. Everybody connected
with us participates in our profits and
IL responsible If we, pave. losses, Ev-
erybody votes, nobody votes more than
once. We charge about three per
cent. on the turnover to pay the ex-
penses involved in marketing. What
is left goes to the members who sell
through u.s."