Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-03-04
Hov Co-Oberat;Oe Marketing
Saves Time, Money, Trouble
. My Superman could cOmblne WIth1n
J himself the functions Of producer,

IL himself the functions Of producer,
salesman, merchant and financier Yet
all these responsibilities have been shouldered
upon the farmer, under the old methods of
crop disposal and when he has failed to carry
them with success, he has been called ineffi-
cient. Cooperative marketing, as exemplified
in the Oklahoma Cotton Growers Associa-
ton, relieves the producer of these burdens
and distractions, so that he is free for the
important and absorbing business that is
properly his-the business and the art of
farming. The result is that he fares far bet
ter in the way of profits, since he is represent
ed by specialists who give their whole time
and talent to the sales end of his interests.
Furthermore, all commemorative buyer, the
consumer, the commonwealth-are better
served in consequence of standardized prod
ucts and elimination of wastes.
This is made clear in the fourth Of Ralph
Smiths valuable series of articles now ap-
pearing in The Journal. From Oklahoma
City, where he is studying the cooperative
system at first hand, he write: farmer de-
livers his cotton to the railroad. 1t is billed
to the Associations order and shipped to the
nearest compress point. The moment the
farmer receives the bill of ladipg, he has no
more to do with the actual handling of the
cotton. Of>course, he takes the bill of lad1ng
to his bank and gets an advance of ten cents
a pound, which advance is charged to the AS
sociations account. But he has no more
bother about the marketing. The Association
ton from the time it is delivered to the rail-
road until it's final sale to buyer" 1t man
ages them, moreover, with an EXPERIENCES
which the individual with other matters con-
tinually pressing for attention, could never
acquire. It sees dangers of which he would be
unaware, and opportunities which he could
not develop. It saves him time, saves him
money, and leaves him free to work without
interruption or anxiety in the one great
realm which he knows best and where his
labor counts for most.
If the Association did nothing but grade
and classify the growers cotton, doing this
his representative and with an eye vigilant to
his protection, it still would have rendered
him an invaluable service. But it does much
more. "The compress, upon receipt Of the
cotton" writes Mr.. Smith, pulls a sample
from each bale and forwards these to Associa-
ton headquarters in Oklahoma City. When
the cotton has been graded and classed as per
sample from the compress, then each sam
pie, bearing an Identification tag number, is
placed with others of the same grade and
staple, and the lots thus formed are known
as pools. When the Association finds buyer
he is shown the samples of several pools; and
if he wants quantity of cotton of the same
grade and staple, as is usually the case, he
finds the Association ready to supply him in
even-running lots" Such facilities and such
methods appeal to large buyers who are in
terested in cotton not as mere spectators,
but as consumers. Knowing that they can
procure wholesale quantities, of guaranteed
quality, from a growers association always
to be depended upon for fair and efficient
dealing the mill men and exporters will nat
urally cultivate such an opportunity.
Fair dealing and efficient dealing these are,
the key principles Of the cooperative associa-
ton. Not to hoard cotton for extortionate
prices, but to market it in orderly measure as
demand arises; not to pit the interests of the
producer against those of the consumer, but
to develop system of buying and selling that
will conserve the rights Of both, as must be
done if either is permanently to prosper; not
t. claim undue privileges for the farmer, but
to see that he is accorded simple economic
justice-these are the purposes Of the coop
erative marketing of cotton, thus far re-
vealed in The Journals investigation.