Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-01-11
FARMERS BUYING STOCK
CONTINUED from Page y

p
dition with fine prospects for increaa-
ing It's membership during the coming
year, campaign for which has been
launched along lines which Mr., Wright
described In an interesting talk, Dur
ing the meeting itself ll5 farmers re-
newed their membership,
The report OF Treasurer Dickerman
showed a total of $4,000 handled during
the year, and in addition to this there
was government appropriation Of
$1,000 making the total cost Of the con-
duet Of the Farm Bureau, including the
Home Demonstration Department,
about $1,000 for the entire year, The
cash on hand January |, 1917 was S453,44
and on January !, of this year the bal
ance was Sl53,ll,
The County Agents report reviewed
the work of the year 1917. Lack Of
space torbids printing 1t In full here,
but it covered the ground thoroughly
and showed the great amount of work
done and results accomplished. The
work was on project basis, Among
the big items were a membership cam
paign, which brought the membership
NJ 10 576; organization,of tb" Farmers
Exchange; cooperation with oranges
and farmers clubs; establishment Of
home economics department; demon
stration plots Of soy beans, alfalfa,
etc, and boys and girls club work,
Among the recommendations for the
coming year are pushing the Farmers
Exchange, more attention to sheep and
poultry; encouraging growth Of soy
beans and corn and growing Of better
corn, and emergency work generally.
Joseph +. Carigan, Assistant State
Leader Of County Agents spoke on
County Agent work ana explained the
cooperative buying and selling idea.
He said that Addison County had the
right idea in its farmers organization
with the Association standing out in
prominence, while the County Agent
worked in the background toward fur
thering its objects He was firm be-
lever in cooperative Exchange and
was certain that il would be success
here.
b njamin o. Wales of Weybridge,
President of the Exchange, explained
its purposes and said that the buying
and selling comparatively could be eX-
banded just as largely as the farmers
here desired.
One of the notwithstanding addresses
of the day was at the afternoon session
when Field Manager j. A. Scheuerle of
the Eastern States Agricultural and In
dnstrial Exposition spoke. He told
how the big Eastern exposition had
grown out of just such county organ
ization as Addison County now has, and
of the great benefit it had been. Under
the auspices of the Exposition manage
ment several bureaus had been estab-
lished including a purchasing bureau,
through which quotations on seeds and
other farm needs were wired daily to
all of the different counties of the New
England states giving farmers the best
opportunity to buy in a wholesale way
at the lowest market prices. Upon re-
ceiving orders from the individual
county exchanges the orders were for
warded by the central bureau to the
west and trainloads were shipped with
out passing through the hands of any
middlemen.
Zone trouble with Vermont farmers,
said he, is that they have not advertised
enough. They had been struggling to
get ahead individually, but when it
came to broader lines it seemed that they
had not as yet begun to show them
selves what they could do, to say nothing
of having advertised their ability to
otiH1s". First, said he, we must show
OURSELVES what we ourselves can pro-
duce". Massachusetts, for instance,
was importing tons Of hay from Missouri
simply because the Massachusetts farm
ers did not know there was hay to sell
in Vermont. The west had made its
success largely on cooperative buying
and marketing and cooperative adver-
Using, and this he believed would be
the way that the New England states
would ultimately find their greatest
success. He proposed, for one thing,
that next fall Addison County should
have big show at the Eastern States
Exposition. Even big stack of hay
would make a desirable exhibit, and he
assured the farmers that if they could
be on hand with some such exhibit they
would take many big orders right on the
ground for the people would know and
see that Vermont had something to
sell.
He told of the Farmers Exchange
which the Eastern Exposition main
tanned as sort of clearing house for
the smaller exchanges, and he urged
that Addison County should be repre-
scented in it with two members from the
ocal exchange.
He discussed the advantage that
dairy farmers held in owning their own
milk plants. AS long as the milk deal
ers owned both the can and the plant
the dairymen would always be at the
mercy of the dealer.
He found in Denmark remarkable
instance of what direct contact between
the farmer and consumer meant to the
farmer. The Danish farmer, he said,
got 81 per cent Of the ultimate selling
price of farmers produce to the con-
sumner, while in this country the pro-
portion which the farmer received
would amount to only 35 to 45 per cent
An equally interesting address was
delivered by George D. Groat, professor
of economics at the University of Yer
mont, on the subject of price fixing
Professor Groat confessed his fear that
the war would not end for years. Every
action would have its bearing on the
winning of the war, and he believed
~. Al. Of