Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1914-09-18
ON COOPERATION
A Sound Business Organization
Necessary to Success.
A Paper Read at the Summer Meeting
of the ST. Lawrence County Pomona
Grange by Charles S. Phelps, Mama
ger of the County Farm Bureau.

ger of the County Farm Bureau.
1t has seemed to me that the first
move toward the accomplishment of
further cooperation on the part Of the
oranges was to find out what was be-
ing done at present and what in the
judgment of some Of the leading Off
GERS of the various oranges was most
needed in the way Of cooperative buy
ing and selling. In order to get facts
bearing Oh these questions have had
prepared and mailed to each subordi-
nate grange a series Of questions re-
garding what cooperative buying or
selling was being done already and
what, i'll the judgment of the master
or other officer answering the ques-
tons. would be the most useful form
of cooperative buying and selling to
the particular grange for which the re-
port was being made The response to
these circulars has been quite general.
as twenty-five oranges out of a total Of
thirty-tour in the county have reported
more or less definitely on the questions
asked.
OF the twenty-five oranges reporting
seven report the cooperative buying Of
commercial fertilizers. seven report the
buying of some form of stock feeds
ten report the buying of seeds. six re-
port the buying of groceries and one
reports the buying of farm nipple
ments. Under the heading Of the ques
ton. What products have been
!
ports any cooperative selling Under
the consideration of the question.
What articles, in your Judgment.
would be the most needful ones to buy
or sell comparatively 10y members Of
| your grangeT of the TWENTY-FIVE
oranges reporting fourteen recommend
| the purchase of commercial fertilizers,
seventeen the purchase of feeds. eight
the purchase Of farm seeds, six the
purchase of farm implements and five
the purchase of groceries. Under the
heading Of cooperative selling four
oranges recommend cooperation i'll the
selling OF dairy products, and two
oranges recommend in favor of the
selling Of some other farm products.
The facts bearing on grange cooper
alton, gathered by this partial survey
of the present situation in the county,
seems TO indicate that the oranges. as
a rule, are very much more strongly
in favor Of cooperative buying than
| OF cooperative selling. Under the
heading of the most useful articles TO
purchase, fertilizers and feeds stand
about alike and are the two products
most generally recommended for CO.
operative purchase. Seeds and imple-
ments also stand nearly alike in the
humber Of oranges recommending them
and are advised for purchase by about
half as many oranges as in the case
of the other two classes of materials
just mentioned.
On the whole, IT seems to me that the
reports do not indicate that the desire
for cooperation is very highly de-
veloped among the grange members
of this county. OF the twenty-five
oranges reporting only fourteen, which
is little more than half of those re-
porting. have reported any form Of CO.
operative buying.
Why more actual cooperation has
not been put into effect is difficult TO
explain. because where cooperative
buying has been practced there is
ample evidence of a large saving Of
money Perhaps the chief reason for
the failure to cooperate is the prev
alent overcautiousness which farmers
in general possess with regard TO max
ing investments i'll advance of their
absolute needs. In some cases, of
course, the failure to have at hand
ready cash to put into investments of
considerable size, for products needed
in advance, is a condition that it is
difficult TO overcome
However, there is no question but
that many farmers have money at
interest which is bringing them only
about per cent. which, if used in
buying feeds or fertilizers for cash in
cooperation with others, might easily
be made TO earn 10 to 10 per cent.
Another reason why cooperation has
not been more generally practiced is
because there has been no good system
of business machinery through which
the work might be accomplished. Most
oranges nave dppoluttu pulNldSlhS
agent, but he oftentimes has to as
sumo large personal responsibility in
ordering goods and frequently gets no
commission, but often severe criticism
for assumed or possible mismanage-
} ment
The speaker is decidedly of the opin-
J ion that grange cooperation on a sound
business basis will not grow very much
among the oranges, or any other organ
ization or class Of people. until it can
be brought about through a sound bust
ness organization. Fortunately such an
organization OF n very simple nature is
J available through new law passed by
the legislature of New York state.
which provides for cooperative asso-
J Citations, unions or clubs with limited