Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1920-11-04
WOOL MEN TO WORK
TOGETHER AND WAIT
Theodore MackIin Discusses I'M
portant Changes That Are
Coming in Marketing
Methods.

IF you want to XIII cooperation,
sell your wool when the jobbers want
to'break up farmers pooling efforts.
eff you want to prove the strength
of cooperation as power to CONSOLE
date and systematic hitherto ineffi-
cient marketing of wool, either wait
for the wool to be sold by cooperative
associations or groups, or finance your
own marketing by borrowing"
These notes of warning are being
sounded by Theodore Macklin, special
list in agricultural marketing of the
University of Wisconsin.
There are at the present time two
principal methods of marketing wool.
According to Mr.. Macklin the less
efficient Of these two methods has been
employed in handling the product; and
in consequence there has developed
over a period of years diSSatisfactlOnS
which have recently resulted in eX-
periments of profound Importance.
These experiments were conducted by
farmers during the past two years and
are being continued for them for the
1920 wool clip. Naturally successful
outgrOWth from these experiments
would upset the marketing machinery
which previously handled the wool
clip.
Opposition Not Justified.
"That there should be opposition to
any change is to be expected says
Mr.. Macklin. 'But in this particular
case there is no justification for OPP
position against farmers plans to COM
prehensively market wool. The very
fact that there is such widespread OPP
position is proof of the resistance
which inefficient marketing agencies
and methods put up against the intro
duction of more efficient methods, or
even agencies"
"TO the usual farmer wool is an al
most insignificant source of income.
Being side-line issue on most farms,
the farmers have had but small guam
titles to market. They have had to
devote their attention to other mat
tiers so much that it has not been
worth while to try improving an I'M
systematic and expensive method of
marketing wool. But at last the farm
ers have found a way to stimulate i'm
prOvement by their own efforts. The
very failure of private marketing con-
Germs to build up a comprehensive
wool marketing system has obliged the
farmers to try to make improvements
themselves This they could attempt
to do only by actually doing the mar
keting themselves. In order to estab-
fish long-needed improvements which
many years ago were introduced into
the more important marketing meth
DDS, farmers needed facts. These
were obtained and indicated wherein
the old method was weak and eXpen-
sive and Just what needed to be done
to give improvement.
What Experiments Have Shown.
The outstanding facts may be con-
cisely stated as follows:
q. 1t was found that wool was a
side line production on most farms
and brought in a very small fraction
of farm income as rule.
''2. Being a side line output, wool
did not constitute very large vol
ume of business either in quantity or
value for the single community, or
even county.
80. Owing to small volume of wool
to be marketed at a shipping point, !
no middle1nan, handling only small
quantity, could afford to become very
expert as a local wool dealer. Con-
sequently he rarely knew wool grades,
had unreliable information as to the
real value of wool that he handled,
and therefore had to play safe by pay
ing the minimum prices that farmers
would accept Besides, his costs we're
excessive on account of the small vol |
ume handled and the lack of facilities
for proper handling.
81. These evils, inherent in small
business, constitute the problem which
farmers can eliminate by pooling their