The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1914-04-10
| Co Operative Farm
Products Marketing
4 HoW IL Is Done in Europe and May Be Done
i i'm America to the Profit of Both
i Farmer and Consumer
COOPERATIVE GERMANY.
BY MATTHEW S. DUDoEoN.

operation ensures extreme economy in
maintenance and management; 8. Co
operation enables the smallest commu-
nifty to provide itself with really
good water supply"
1t is not impossible that there is in |
this German experience suggestion |
for the irrigation companies in western |
America, where mismanagement and |
graft seem to have prevailed. Ger
tainly a truly cooperative association
ganized upon the one man one vote
plan, freed from all motives of Excess
sive or speculative profits, and man
aged with the efficiency that is tradi-
tional in cooperative concerns could
never have made shipwreck of SO
many fair prospects as have some of
the irrigation companies in the west
ern states
Flowing by Steam.
The owners of the big wheat farms
in the northwestern parts of the United
States might sit up and take notice of
some of the cooperative power pillow
companies which are operating in Ger
many At present there are 46 such
societies. The entire power equipment
| is owned by the society, and its mem
bers, even though they occupy COM
paratively small farms, are by this
/ means enabled to have the benefit Of
| the improved and cheaper work of the
| power pillow. Experience here shows
that the power blowing plant. consist
| ing of a set of plows, tackle and steam
or electric power, cannot be main
! tanned economically unless it has
something like 1000 acres upon which
to operate. The concerns are most care
fully managed. A good machinist is
always in charge of the outfit. In ad-
dition to his salary he is allowed a
commission upon every acre plowed.
He has entire charge of the operations
and requires all members to remove
all distractions before work Is under
taken. The rates are carefully graded
according to the soil, the depth and
the accessibility. In some cases, also,
less charge is made for plowing DUR
ing the slack periods, the price being
raised as the demand for services OF
the equipment increases.
Cooperative Automobiles.
It is said that every well-to-do Amer,
lean farmer has an automobile IN
Germany, where the acreage is small
and the farmer has less capital TO IN
vest in his equipment the farmer joins
with his neighbor to purchase an auto
mobile and large number of coop
erative motor societies have beer
formed. These machines, however
are not the touring cars and runabouts
that are ordinarily used by the Amerl
can farmer, but are the most prosale
! utilitarian motor trucks which car
: move immense quantities of produce
: over the hard level roads of the Ger
man provinces.
German scientists and inventors
have with great ingenuity produced
! machinery that accomplishes with III
: tie effort almost everything which II
$ wears past called for hard labor. TIT
; demand for power is consequent.
great and growing constantly I'M
has led to the organization OF elec
!. trical supply works in connection VIII
L other agricultural cooperative organ
S izations. OF these there are oll
L which are purely cooperative a
e though there are in Germany owe
g 600 companies which furnish NOR
y a. less electrical power to those intel
asted in agricultural pursuits.
Cooperative Societies Federated.
IS The cooperative spirit has nc
is ceased when it has led the farmer !
h co.operate with his neighbors to lori
d . local cooperative concern. The &c
" man genius for organization has ie
h. n 4 most elaborate system OF coo
a. AVIATION between the various local G
% lucrative associations. For exampi
v az, co-operative diaries within pro
IS ince will be united together IN cel
u tral association which uniiies and ma
10 r,onizes the work of all the local 0
q carnations. These central proyinci'
societies are in turn in an emplr
! yv;da federation with headquarters
~ berlin. You viii therefore IN tn
:. city lind several central concern
!. each of which is allied with hundre'
- az local societies. This eentralizatle
n scheme has many advantages II pr
=, - yides for SUI s, ris:o2 inspection, Al