The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1915-01-16
ORGANIZATION OF FARMERS
cooperation Is Team Work-Hitehed
Together and Working Together
for Each Others Good.

-ooLo'iouS is cooperation. lney
are organized for working together,
writes John c. Lawrence in Western
Farmer. Cooperation is simply team
work. 1t is being hitched together
and pulling together. II is more than
team work. 1t is good team work.
Strong team work A big team hitched
together. A big team of big horses
all pulling together. 1t is more han
that. 1t is many teams of many
horses hitched to work together and
actually working together all pulling
together. 1t is no childs play. Boys
cannot drive such team. 1t is a man.
size job and it takes an experienced
man, many experienced men.
The driving of single horse is not
| so difficult. A team of two horses is
not hard to manage. A one-armed
man can do that Four horses are not
so hard after you are used to them.
An energetic young man car drive
such team with one hand while hav-
ing an arm around his best girl. Six
| horses require more care. You have
! the leaders, the wheelers and the
swing team and each must move
promptly in place. But thirty horses.
properly hitched and worked on COM
bine harvester, the driver needing
only pair of lines and bean shoot
er, guiding with the lines and urg-
ing on with the bean shooter or air
gun, this is team work.
| In 90
among the farmers, there is a definite
purpose. There are certain things to
be done. Loads are to be moved.
They can be moved only by organized
effort, team work. What are the loads?
The burdens which the farmer has to
carry which he ought not to bear. He
does not receive the full value for
what he produces. He has nothing to
say about the value. Another man
who has nothing to do with farming.
except farming the farm, fixes the
price the farmer is to receive. Even
this fellow does not fix the price. An
other man or set of men fixes 1t for
him. He takes out his slice of profit
and lets it go at that. Who finally
fixes the price? Not the consumer?
No. he pays a price fixed for him.
Somewhere in between the farmer and
the consumer there is an unseen power
that fixes the price the farmer is to
receive and again. in turn, the price
the consumer is to pay. The differ
ence is very great. The producer and
consumer are both dragging a useless
load.
Cooperation will do away with this.
Cooperation in selling. This is the
biggest problem. The first load to be
removed One alone cannot do it, Two
cannot. nor four nor six. Thirty makes
big team. but thirty cannot start
this load. How many? All there are.
Big, little, all must be hitched to this
load. The balky must be dragged along
until, after awhile, warmed up, they
will be good pullers. The blind must
be guided by the pulling of the other
horses. The fractions must be held in
check. The skittish, nervous ones must
be refined in and held in place. The
lazy must feel the lash and after a
while, all will be pulling together.
Some need binders, they brighten so
easily at every little thing. Suspicion
here; distrust there. A tumble weed
of doubt is set rolling by the other
fellow to scare the team until it will
run away and pull apart. This one Is
snorting and that one is kicking over
the traces.
The harness for this team must be
strong: organization. The lines must
. be made of good material: honesty.
The driver must know his direction:
=, leadership. The whip must have a
good lash: energy. Everything must
be in place and working together.
: How easily the load is moved. Once
in motion 1t is carried on almost by
its own momentum until it is out of
. the way.
Almost the same experience is had
in buying supplies for the farm and
: the home. The farmer does not fix
!, the price he is to pay for what he pur-
: chases. Another does that for him.
The person of whom he buys does not
: fix the price. Another is before him.
That other person does not fix the
price, for he does not make the article
Somewhere between the manufacturer
:. and the farmer there is the ability to
pile up added burdens Of cost which
= the farmer must bear and suffer the
penalty of the high cost of living him.
self and bear the blame of the high
cost Of living for others. He can rid
e himself of this burden only by the
d same team work, cooperation.