Gunnison news-champion., 1923-01-26
The Ranetuoman
Says
She speaks her mind on many
things. She will have some
thing Interesting To say from
week to week


to be the paramount issue this year.
Are We going to jump into the Co
operative Market band wagon, or play
by ourselves on our own garden tract
The air has been SO completely sat
urated the last few weeks with news
of prospective legislation favorinG the
organization Of Farmers Cooperative
Marketing associations that it wouldn't
have occasioned one whit of surprise
IL big truck had plowed thru the
snowdrifts right up To our very own
garden gates and unloaded a pile Of
crates in which To pack our next sum-
mer's tomato crop.
anatinE from the Cspper farm bloc
crowd urging an enlarged credit sys-
TEN. and the supporters of the Co.
oper.tive Marketing plan was 70
voluminous, Il threatened to crowd
out the news Of the French invasion
of Germany. In fact, one Of our
neighbors did say only yesterday that
he hadn't heard anything at all about
the French fare-up until we mentioned
it lin the same breath he asked il
we thought Il was going TO raise the
price Of spuds)
From Denver came vibrations from
Governor Sweets hopeful message to
the farmers that he was heart and
soul with them In working out an eff
fective and up-to-date cooperative
marketing plan-a plan just as good
as that Of California or any other
state. Then right on top came the
inspiring talk Of the California mar
ket expert Aaron Shapiro, given be-
fore the Legislature and various mems
clubs Of the city. telling how they
did things in the Golden Gate country.
Just as we got thru digesting these
wonderful uplifting suggestions, we
received letter from the Colorado
Agricultural College, signed by Direct
or McCanh, In which he pictured q
xoseate future for q cooperative mar
keting plan-if-- -
For, just as we began to think that
in the future the whole marketing
proposition was going to be heaven
ly experience, Mr.. McCann throws
dash of ice water over our soulful as
pirations by telling us that cooper
ative marketing is going TO be a big
job and If we expect the millennium
the minute the law is put into opear-
ton, we are going to be woefully dis
appointed, and suggests further that
the plan may. If properly managed,
bring a near-millenium in time. 1t
won't do SO this year, nor even next
year. In fact, he infers 1t may be a
number Of years before we can sit
blissfully enthroned in our own little
Eden-like gardens and hear the golden
harps play market symphonies.
Now, let's "listen in" on this newly
devised cooperative market PROPOSE
tion. The men Of the state are said
to be seriously considering every
phase of II and the women should
make it their business to know all
about it, too. For when put into ef-
feet the plan may seriously concern
our especially allotted part of the farm
produce that we endeavor to sell
every year for pin money.
Say! Didn't we have time last
summer trying to sell our garden
stuff while the men were specializing
in alfalfa? You remember hearing
Of our friend up Paonia way
whose disposition was-well, who
could blame her? She counted on
selling those tomatoes to get some
extra pin money. And her local groc-
er wouldn't buy them, nor even take
them in trade. He said he bought
from q regular" produce company;
couldn't buy from her because her
goods weren't graded by certain mar
ket standards or packed in crates.
She was irate and said right then and
there that she was going to figure out
some way to sell to that produce COM
pany herself this year SO that grocer
would have to buy her tomatoes.
Expert Shapiro said in an interview
that individual marketing in California
had proved a dismal failure and that
the plan was wrong in any state, for
the system makes one farmer compete
with another, while under the cooper
ative plan all get the same price. He
declared further that the whole aim
Of the cooperative system is to do
away with the dump"
Now, here's where we ''listen in"
Wonder il he knows how much the
ranch women Of Colorado had to do
last year with salvaging the garden
dump? Oh! The things we canned and
the things we jammed, which we really
didn't need, but we felt we had to
save them. While with many Of us
it was an over-supply of potatoes
which we had to let freeze because we
didn't know how to can them or Jam
them. And the dump of our Paonia
friend consisted Of tomatoes that
she could not market Wen remem-
Der seasons when this dump has been
20 big We couldn't even give the stuff
away.
Mr.. Shapiro oKers timely sugges-
tion on TIE dump proposition BY say
ing - en- d avny With IL entirsly
raising only what4 H. market demands
and Bringing this petput mp to the re-
Qnlnd bfandsrd, t1asto rise Ia I'd
- Only 49, thsf fAmilyI Ivill; ;aetual-
~ lcooao1pa $50
i Miss ~ - 1n1ny sansAsS 30
dnes to- maeAsSAtN astfA. Caa It