Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1923-12-07
IMPORTANT THAT FARM
ERS STUDY COOPERATION
Growing, Marketing And How To
Work Together For Benefit
Of All.

Time was when the farm was an
economic unit unto itself. Practically
everything grown on the farm was
utilized on the farm, and the products
of each individual farm supplied the
major portion of its needs. The farm
er on his farm was an individualist
He boosted of his independence and
glOritied on the fact that he could
rely upon himself along for his needs
and his family needs. AS population
increased he began to produce more
than his needs. This surplus he bar
tered for goods that he did not pro-
duce on his own farm. Cash sales and
cash purchases gradually took the
place of barter and the art of market
ing farm produce was born. The needs
and wants of the farm family increas-
ed. 1t became more economical to pur-
chase clothing and shoes than to make
them on the farm. Specialization of
manufactured articles grew apace.
The farmer found himself an impOr-
tant factor in the purchase of the
worlds manufactured articles as we'll
as an important factor in the produc-
ton of the worlds raw products. His
farm became wider than it's boundary
lines, his little empire was passing
away and he became a gear wheel in
the great machine of supply and pro-
ductiOn for the worlds wants. His
wheat went to far countries over the
sea. The beef, pork and mutton that he
grew, found its way into strange
places. The vegetables that he grew
found their way into cans that ulti-
mately found a resting place on many
a rubbish heap in wilds far from civ
ilizatiOn.
The material in the shoes that he
wore came from the far corners of the
earth. His rubbers had their genesis
in the forests of the Amazon. The
coffee he drank came from Brazil. His
working clothes were born in the sun
ny south. The farmer was no longer
a unit unto himself. He was a world
factor in consumption and produc-
ton. What effected the worlds mar
kets has it's reflex in his daily life.
He even dropped out of the class of
general producers of raw products
and became a specialist in produc-
ton.
Yet, with all this great change, in
his status he fondly believed himself
to be an individualist, sufficient unto
himself. He thought and many still
thing, that he could move the world by
the strength of his own back. He dis /
tanned the lever which was handed
him to accomplish his aim of better
life and better living.
The lever is cooperation. Its foun-
dations are the golden rule and the
brotherhood of man applied to bust
ness.
The old individualistic idea must go
into the discard if there is to be pro-
gress. "In unity there is strength"
The farmer is and must of necessity |
be largely an individualist in prOduc- |
ton. That is, however, no reason why |
be should persist in being an individ-
lalist in buying and selling.
Cooperation will in time do away
with the old feeling of distrust of
each other and others which has been
he curse of progress in agriculture.
Cooperation means working together
.oWard common end. To be truly CO.
operative means often times the sub
ection of ones private view to the
,ause of the common good.
This is the age, or rather the be-
ginning of the age, of agricultural CO.
operation. Shall Delaware lag be-
lind? Sound cooperative Organiza-
ion among farmers means that they
conduct their business with the same
Efficiency as prevails in big manu-
acturing plant. Cooperation for far
ners, means more efficient business
Methods, it means greater efficiency
n production and distribution of food
nd raw products from the farm. Co
peration among farmers is funda-
mentally sound. It should redown the
God of people in all lines of work.
ound efficient cooperation is the
ever whereby the farmer may lift
imself out of the slough Of financial
The above is a statement by Prof. G.
j.. McCue of Delaware University, adj
ressed to Delaware farmers.