St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1916-02-09
A Warehouse Necessary.

In the case OF LEl6 MOTOR Lruck, as
we have found with the trolley freight,
that produce necessary to satisfy the
local demand is carried direct from
the producer to the municipal or
farmers market where the farmer
will receive the retail price. or it will
be taken direct to the retailer there
by eliminating all other middlemen in
cidental to the present system. Con-
corning that surplus to be sent out of
the state we have the produce prop
erly graded and packed and trans
ported to the railway station. Now
only third step is necessary to make
the first two available to their full
value. It simply involves the erection
of a storage warehouse convenient to
the steam line where provisions can
be made for the storage of the various
products from the farm. The coop
erative association or associations
having access to the market center or
shipping point in question would erect
the warehouse and be responsible for
it's maintenance and operation. In
case of the warehouse being erected
by only one association then the board
of directors and manager of the asso-
citation would control its operation.
But in case several associations have
a joint interest in the warehouse then
the central board in control would be
composed of representatives of the
several associations, possibly with a
central manager in charge. The ware
| house should be in the immediate
charge of responsible paid agent Of
the association or associations, who
shall devote his whole time or such
time as is necessary for the perform
ance of the duties involved. Here
the small contributions of the indi-
vidual farmer will be deposited by the
motor truck and consolidated into the
| profitable carload unit for shipment.
| Through the medium of the trolley
/ freight and motor truck we have seen
| the seemingly divided function of the
cooperative association happily
merged into one. The single agency
has been shown to serve a double
purpose. For by these new agencies
we are able, at a decreased cost in
haulage, to build up the home mar
ket through direct selling, while by
| the same agencies, the farmer is en-
abled to employ the carload as the
unit of quantity for the shipment to
the more distant market.
A Summing Up of Trolley and Motor.
Let US then sum up in general the
features of the trolley freight and
motor truck that make their possibili-
ties loom up so favorably as the means
of simplifying our present complex
distributive system. Frequent stops
at small outlay enable them to stop at
the convenient neighborhood points.
Tapping regions inadeQuately served
by other carriers they widen the
sphere of the farmers activity. They
| insure lower cost of haulage and as
| nf
of production. The individual pro-
| ducers are able to consolidate their
| contributions into the carlot. The
output of the Vermont farm is carried
| direct to the Vermont consumer in the
home market, thereby providing the
| consumer with a better product at a
lower price. Through the assumption
by the association of the larger part
of the function of the middleman the
profits usually resulting from the per-
! Torrance of the function are largely
/ diverted into the pockets of the pro-
Queer. And, finally, these new agen-
cies are the means by which we shah
| have effected the solution of our mar
keting problem, namely, cooperative
effort coming to effective expression
in such a manner as to allow shipment
in carload quantities to the distant
market and, at the same time, make
possible the development of direct
selling to the home markets of the
state.
Make Rural Life Worth While.
| But we have previously intimated
that the solution of the marketing
problem, in itself, does not reach to
the real core of the rural problem.
Rural life must be made worth while
from the standpoint of living. Better
marketing facilities will increase the
income of the farmer; but there re-
mains the problem of making country
life sufficiently attractive that the
young people will be satisfied to re-
main on the farm. The best life
blood of the country must not be al
lowed to flow into the great factory
centers to be absorbed in the chan
nels of industrial life. Rural Vermont
needs the services of her noblest man
hood and purest womanhood.
Cooperation i'm Buying.
We have seen how, through the
medium of the trolley freight and the
motor truck, the gates of each and
every Vermont farm will swing out
ward to send an increasing volume of
farm products to the home markets
of the state. But that is not all.
These same gates in their reverse ac-
ton will not come to their mere eQui-
librium and remain closed; on the
contrary, they will press on and
swinging wide inward will allow the
entrance of goods and supplies from
the nearby city. Should these agen-