The daily times., 1922-01-17
MIR. POE REPLIES
TO COL. WEBB.

operative MARKETING u tOUdCCO III
your paper, and asks me to send you
a reply.
If 1 had time and you had space,
, there are a great many incidental
points raised by Col. Webb that I
would discuss. But after all as I un-
derstand it, the real question is
simply whether cooperative market
ing is or is not a good thing for the
tobacco farmers of North Carolina to
adopt.
Fortunately, this question does not
have to be settled on a theoretical
basis. 1t is susceptible of very practi-
cal proof and 1 wish to submit four
or five concrete bits of evidence.
I. The Country Which Has Tried CO.
operative Marketing Longest
OF all the countries in the world,
agricultural cooperation and coop
erative marketing have reached their
highest development in Denmark.
had the pleasure of visiting Denmark
nine years ago, and can say from per-
sonal observation as well as from the
testimony of all other authorities,
that in proportion to the natural ad-
vantages and the size and fertility of
their farms, the farmers of Denmark
are probably the most prosperous on
the face of the earth. In the last 40
years in our own country the proper
tion of tenancy has increased SO that
whereas in 1880 only 1 American
farmer in was a tenant, today prac-
tically in 5 are tenants, In Den
mark, on the contrary, under the
development of cooperative market
ing the proportion of tenants has de-
creased from AZ per cent to 10 per
cent.
III. The State Which Has Tried Co
operative Marketing Longest
But perhaps it may be said that
Denmark is very far away. All right,
let's take our own country. In the
United States the greatest develop
ment of cooperative marketing has
been in the state of California-and
if there is any state in the Union
where farmers are making more
money, I don't know it,
The United States Government
through it's Census Bureau has just
issued a statement naming the fifty
richest agricultural counties in the
United States-the fifty counties
where farmers are making most
money.
The very first or richest one of all
VISA one of the California co-opera-
tive marketing counties. So was the
second richest. The fourth, seventh
and eighth richest were also CalifOr-
MIA cooperative marketing counties.
| In other words, of the eight richest
farming counties in America, five
were from CALIFORNIA; cooperative
marketing counties. And of the en-
tire list of the fifty richest American
farming counties, thirteen were from
California
! No wonder the California Bankers
Association at it's recent meeting
recognizing how greatly cooperative
marketing has increased the farmers
bank deposits, officially declared
through it's agricultural committee
"Co-operative marketing of farm
products of all kinds is undoubtedly
the ideal method. Banks can wei
afford to encourage any organization
created for this purpose. Any banker
who is against cooperative marketing
is opposing one of the saving factor:
of agriculture
In California both bankers ant
business men see how greatly coop
erative marketing has increased thu
farmers prosperity and are as strong
for cooperative marketing as thu
farmers themselves. If anybody is in
clined to doubt this, let him write
to DR.. 3. w. Kilgore, Director Agri
cultural Extension Service, Raleigh
for copy of hi sbulletin on cooper
of scores of California business mer
and bankers.
III. Maryland Has Tried COOPERATIVE
Marketing of Tobacco.
But perhaps it may be said tha
granting that cooperative marketing
has made Denmark one of the mos
prosperous of agricultural counties IL
the world and California the mos
prosperous of agricultural states
still California and Denmark had no
tried it out on tobacco.
All right, then, let's see the reports
from some states that have tried CO
operative marketing of tobacco.
"Co-operative marketing is th
way out for the farmer With ou