Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-01-30

ditions in Dunglow are improving. /
never knew an organization to do SO
much for a community as the Temple
crone Cooperative Agricultural soci-
ETY. is doing for Dunglow. The so
ciety started in little one-room cot
tage on farm where lived. We be-
gan by buying manures and later d
few groceries, We had fierce opposi-
tion at first from the gombeen man
and traders, as fierce as any communi-
ty ever had. Some of the members
were in debt to the gombeen men and
had to come into the cooperative quar-
ters at night and over the back walks
in order to conceal from the gombeen
man that they were members. If
the gombeen men found out that any
one trading with them was trading
with us they refused him credit and
issued writ il he owed them"
A Little Democracy.
I'VE wish no one any ILL., We do
not do business that way. We have
simply demanded the right to attend
to our own little affairs. We meet in
our little parliament here to discuss
our business. We have given some
entertainments which have brought
the people nearer together and given
them good time This year we or
ganized an industrial show in which
we exhibited everything which we pro-
duced here, including lace and knit
Ir ac al r,f Fov
products. We did this to encourage
others to make these things, Now
I'VE are looking around toI get some
little local industry started We need
something Of the kind badly 30 that
more money can come into the COM
munity. Lace making, knitting and
work of that kind is important, too,
for every little helps here. We are
willing to work when we can.
On the UPGRADE.
The boys are learning to farm bet
ter than their fathers farmed. We
are raising better cows, and pigs and
chickens, and producing better eggs,
poultry and meat than we ever did
before. Through our little co-opera-
tive society we have a steady market
at good prices for all we can raise
We are not rich, for this is not a
rich country, and never can be. There
are too many stones and bogs in DON
egal for that. But we are doing our
best, and we are going to reach a
point soon where every man can go
up and down Dunglow and say that
he owes no man anything. Co-opera-
| tion has brought US together, and we
are all good friends. We are not
| fighting with each other any more.
| We are helping each other. We are
/ still doing business on a very small
scale, of course. We are poor people,
and we must always be that. There
is no chance for wealth in a five or
! six-acre farm. We raise little patch
| of oats for oatmeal for our family.
Most of us get enough potatoes off
our little places to last US through the
year We couldn't live without pota-
toes. You know the great famine OF
1S4s, when so many died in Ireland,
was caused wholly by potato blight
/ The children around here are almost
/ brought up on potatoes. They get
mashed potatoes, with little milk in
it, before they are weaned They grow
up on it and sometimes have little
else. Cooperation has helped us to
/ sell what we have. and we are doing
! first rate.
Cost of Living.
by purchasing goods direct from
original sources, this society has made
7, it possible for the poorest farmer to
fertilize his potato patch and in
crease the crop which he raises. The
seeds which, come through it are test
ed and guaranteed as they never were
before. 1t has lowered the price and
improved the quality of tea, Indian
meal and sugar. In one case, for ex-
ample, where a rival trader was charg.
ing $3.07 for seven stone of flour we
were offering the same -four at $2.25
for the seven stone
You may be interested in knowing
about what an average family here
has for an income, where he gets it
and what he has to eat have made
out a little statement SO you could
! figure that out. To begin with, every
farmer has his own potatoes and oats
/ Besides this, his income is something
like this:
Eggs and poultry, per week, about
! i've shillings ($65 per year,.
Butter for about 1S or 20 weeks ir
summer, one to two shillings (s7 pei
year,.
Sale of cattle possibly II pounds
each year (s60 per year,.
Sale of sheep, one pound (s5 pei
year,.
"A total of s137 per year.
i i"Besides this, the women earn {
little something by knitting sweater!
and making lal,e, etc.
Marketing Eggs.
i You will notice that eggs are oui
staple product. The average poor
farm family around here gets eacl
year from II to Is pounds out of theil
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are the gifts Of the fat man only
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