Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1920-06-16
Farmers Exchange Meeting.

The annual meeting of the Orleans
County Farmers Cooperative Ex-
change was held at Irasburg June 3.
with both forenoon and afternoon ses-
sions. There was very good attend
ance, although many were kept at
home on account of the seasons work
During the forenoon session the re-
ports of the officers were heard. Il
w. Shay of Newport, the manager,
reported S91 ,961 business for the year
and that with the exception of feed.
every line showed an increase over
last year. Practically no feed has been
handled for three months on account
of the railroad situation and conse-
quently the total volume of business
for the year was less than that of last
year. G. w. Richmond, the clerk, in
his report stated, however, that the
outlook Tor the work of the Exchange
was never better than at present. In
these days when every part of society
is apparently trying to get all it can.
such an organization as this can be of
assistance to the farmer in working
toward real adjustment Today IL
mas over 600 members and it's real
strength lies in the loyal support of
| these members.
The work of the manager has been
made extremely difficult at times bv
the limited amount of capital and aft
ter considerable discussion, it was yot-
ed to instruct the directors to sell an
the unsold stock and to issue more as
they see flt. Upon the report of the
nomination. committee the followjns,
men were elected directors of the Ex-
change for the coming year: j. H
bartlett, Orleans; c. NJ Borland. West
Glover; A. M. Clough, Irasburg: E. A
Dutton, Craftsbury; c. w. Richmond.
Newport; E. S. Kelley, Bloomington:
j. A. Griggs, North Troy.
In the afternoon session Howard w
Selby, manager of the Eastern States
FARMERS Exchange of Springfield.
Mass, spoke on the work he repre-
sents. He briefly outlined the diff
cuItles caused by storms, embarpoes
strikes, lack of freight cars, and Grip
pied equipment which made the fertl
ilzer which was due in January arrive
IN May, almost too late for use. In
view of these difficulties he advised
forwarding all orders at least three
or four months in advance of the time
needed.
4 He declared that we are reaching
a new normal and that the prices OF
farm produce must rise to the new
normal. Until that time the farm
business is unstable and it is going te
NC SAIiSHlSly HdTu IOf the farmer Le
survive the changing times, though
he thought that the better times cDns-
ing would fully pay those who could
weather the changes. The $92, 600
business of the last year does not rep
resent the full value of the exchange
, ldeclared Mr.. Selby as every farmer
whether a member of it or not is in
debted to the Exchange for actual
savings while the benefits derived
! from working together are becoming
increasingly evident
In conclusion, by using a few illus
trations of work actually accomplished
Mr.. Selby drove home the lesson that
it is dangerous for the farmers by CO.
operating to try to get all they can
from the market. The farmers must
try to show the consumer that they
are in sympathy with him, even though
the consumer has often failed to meet
the farmer half way. The speaker de-
!. clared there is nothing in common be-
tween the Exchanges and organized
labor, but that each must be willing
to grant the other better conditions
without trying to gain all the advan-
tages for themselves. With these
principles guiding them, he looks for
a great future for the Exchanges To
market farm products as well as In
; purchasing SUPPLIES.