Norwich bulletin., 1914-08-01
HOW UNITY OF ACTION LIFTS PRICES

,F (written Specially for The Bulletin)
 Last summer an American commits sion spent some months traVeiilns over Europe to study agrleuiturai conditions. and see what suggestions they could get which might De or service to American farmers. One ol the members of the commi ss1on, III recent address at New York declared that what impressed him most was the extent to which European farmers had learned team play.
 When a pair of horses harnessed to- aether are pulling, the one north py east and the other ousou' west, the average farmer would call 'em pretty dunn poor team. When base-Daii nine or a football eleven play, each one solely for his own glory and according to his own whims, they never bring home any pennants. But when pair of horses settle their two necks into their collars and dig their toe-Sor into the ground and heave away to- gether, side by side,-then the load mas got to start or the harness to break. When the base-ballers and foot-ballers play. not each on his own hook but each in combination with the others, all the members acting together not simply for what each one happens to think at the moment but for what the coach sees will be to the advantage of the club all around. then they've at least a fighting chance. It's team play" which makes winners, whether in sports or in other things.
 # has long been notorious that the farmers abroad were years ahead or us in their shrewd acceptance of this law of the game. They began working along that line fifty years ago. They have grown into an acceptance or II which is now almost universal in all A,~f1 r1,Nr- "a ing is carried on to any extent. It IS no wonder that summers observl- ton of them, working together in this way, should have strongly impressed an American farmer, accustomed to the excessively stand off-ish customs of his fellows.
 But it isn't the farmers alone, nor the farmers chiefly, who need to be lectured on team play, right here and now. It's the farmers customers, the consumers of farm products, who quite as much need to be awakened up to their opportunities and their du- ties. Team play among the farmers would be a magnifcently fine way for them to improve their prospects and better their conditions. But team play" between organized farmers and organized consumers would be su- premely fine thing for the whole coun- try,-for everybody connected with the big game in whatever capacity.
 And the greatest good of the great est number is always more important than any good to a smaller number
 Several months ago the Missouri Pacific railway, dissatisfied with the rather dubious quality of the eggs it was gettiDg for it's dining-car service began buying direct from the farmers along its route. It wanted good eggs and it U aG vvillinC tn Qnnd nripac if it could be assured of getting them. @o it sent a man out to intervi aw farmers along the line and see what could be done. He found the farmers not only willing to listen to him bat eager to join hands in play that would be. for the advantage of the whole team, the railway, the dining public, and themselves.
 There was no attempt on either side 10 hog all the advantage. It was promptly agreed that it was a case of "give and take" wherein each was to take some extra trouble or pay some extra money for the certainty of a common gain. After general discus sion the road agreed to pay consid- erably bigger price for the fresh eggs 1t was to be furnished than the farm CTS could get anywhere else.-That's where the farmers advantage came in. Then the farmers agreed to follow a certain set of rules. Here they are.
 1. Eggs must be gathered daily, preferably before o'clock in the afte~- noon.
 2. Eggs must be kept in dry. cool place
 3. Eggs must be clean without hav- ing been washed. (That means clean neste.)
 {. Eggs must be infertiIe. (That means the killing of all roosters.)
 5. Eggs must be protected from ex- tremes of heat and cold.
 6. Eggs must be delivered at least twice a week in summer and once a week in winter.
 The railway Iea4ed each farmer for fifteen cents rubber stamp bearing the label Fraternity Eggs-ABC" the "ABC" standing for the farmers in itials. Each carton had to be sealed on the farm and stamped with this label. It must be- delivered with seal un- broken. By this means the dining-car service was made absolutely certain of setting extra quality eggs. or of being able to trace the bad egg straight back to the man who slipped it in his