Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1917-05-31
COOPERATION AMONG

some of my reasons.
said l believed the farmers were
using their full working power, and
[ believe we are all working as hard
as we have any business working,
but are we all working to the very
best advantage at all times? No; of
course not. We all make mistakes,
and many of us are making mistakes
that our neighbors have made before
us. If we had q good live farmers
club in each school district and would |
all attend it's meetings and give each |
other our experiences many of these
costly mistakes might be avoided.
A little good practical advice now
and then is good for the wisest of us,
and at the Farmers Club is a good
place to get it. 1t will beat the farm
adviser route nearly every time.
The farmers at their club meetings
can plan and perfect better methods
of conducting their business of farm
ing, just as the merchants devise bet
ter means of conducting their stores,
at their commercial club meetings.
If you don't believe a commercial
club is a good thing for town just
stop and take special notice of town
"before and after taking" And if
commercial club helps a town why
wouldn't a farmers club help a
farming community? 1t will If it has
the right kind of members.
1t is fact that the farmer has
little or nothing to do with fixing
the price of his own products. This
| is not as it should be and is one of
the conditions we hope to better if
we ever get the farmers organized
we'll enough. Not that we expect to
go on a big strike, we do not like
strikes and wish to avoid anything
that looks like a strike If possible.
But perhaps we can get at it in some
better way, and it will take time and
patience to do it.
So, until we can have something
to say about the prices we shall re-
ceive it behooves us to keep down ex-
penses as low as possible, and here
is where the farmers club comes in.
Don't you believe that if you could
buy your seed a little cheaper it would
reduce your planting cost? That If
you could buy your Irvine a little
cheaper it would reduce your har-
vesting cost? That if you could buy
your coal cheaper it would reduce
your threshing cost? That if you
could buy your mill feeds and hay
cheaper it would reduce your feeding
cost and leave you more profit or
, your hogs, cattle and sheep? Ant
, don't you believe that by cooperating
, with your neighbors and buying these
things and many others in large guam
titles you can buy them cheaper? Il
you don't just stay with me little
9 longer and will show you that We
are doing it. The more members VIZ
can get into this countrywide anC
Statewide organization the larger
becomes our buying and selling pow
ers and the larger becomes the saw
4, ing.
. The larger the quantity we cal
handle the nearer we can go to tn
. fount of supply to buy our supple
and the less handling expense Their
C will be to pay.
The same is true of selling. TIL
: larger quantities we can assembl
, of any farm product the better maj
= ket we can find.
n In other words, by organizatio
/, we expect to shorten the route froI
% producer to consumer and make
# profit for the producer and a savin
10 for the consumer, no matter on whic
g side of the fence we are.
~ said that l would show you tia
10 we are saving money for our men
NJ bers. Well, here it is: On Wedne
day, May End, we organized the Dy
District Farmers Club, and the fir
saving we made was on cane see
Dealers were all asking $3.50 p,
It. bushel. We bought all the club nee
&c ed GO bushels) at $500, saviI
to $3.50. Then we bought our twin
ne 1,4OO pounds, at one-fourth cent lie
g. per pound than we could possib
tn have bought it singly, saving $S.5
IS Next we bought our threshing coz
1000 bushels, at IL IL cents deli
ed cred at our station. Figure it at Il
tt, present retail price, 81 cents, al
NJ there is saving of $S5, and if '
he were not organized most of us wou
as probably have waited until threshil
IL time and paid more yet for it.
There is saving of $1,000 t