Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1927-02-17
Leading States
in Cooperation
Increase Seen in Every Sec
ton of Country With
Few Exceptions.

prepared by the United States Department
of Agricuture1
Although agricultural cooperative
marketing In the United States from
1915 TO 1925 increased considerably
more in some parts of the country
than In others, ten states that were
we'll in the lead at the beginning of
the period held approximately the
same positions at Its close. These
states were Minnesota, Iowa. Califor-
mia, Wisconsin. Illinois, North Dakota,
Kansas, Nebraska. New York and
Michigan.
increase In Associations
In the ten-year period the ten states
had an average of 63 per cent of the
number of active associations In the
country. Their association member
ship averaged 40 per cent of the ma
the cooperative business done by
farmers In the decade was done by
associations In these states. This APP
pears the more remarkable In view oe
the great increase that took place
from 1915 to 1925 In cooperative ac-
tivity In the South. Eight South Gen.
trail states. where comparatively little
cooperative marketing was done In
1915. Increased their association mem
bership more than 700 per cent In the
ten-year period.
In the ten years ending with 1926
agricultural cooperation increased In
every section Of the country except in
few remote corners. says the United
States Department of Agriculture.
which has assembled the foregoing
information. In nine groups of states
cooperative association membership
more than doubled, the greatest gain
being recorded In the South Central
states and the least In the Pacific
Coast states. Approximately 81 per
cent of the countrys cooperative
membership at the close of 1925 was
In the West North Central states, q
per cent was In the East North Gen.
trail states, IL per cent In the East
South Central states. and 10 per cent
Business increased.
Volume of BUSINESS, as measured In
dollars, increased even more than
membership. Business handled coop
eratively for farmers In 1925 In the
West South Central states. the East
South Central states. the South Allan
tic states and the New England states,
was more than 1000 per cent greater
than In 1915. For the East North
Central states, the recorded business
gain was $40 per cent, and for the
Rocky mountain states GAG per cent.
Grain marketing associations were
the most important commodity group
In 1915 and still held that rank In
1925, although their relative domi-
nance was less. Their volume of
business increased 159 per cent In ten
years. Associations marketing dairy
products handled 500 per cent more
business at the end Of the ten years
than at the beginning. There was an
Increase for the ten-year period OF
more than 1000 per cent In the num-
Der of active live stock shipping as
sociations.
Although there were fewer cotton
and fewer tobacco cooperative asso-
Citations In 1925 than In 1915, the mem
bership and business Of these organi-
cations increased enormously. Each
of the two groups had gain In mem
bership of more than 1900 per cent,
Business handled by cotton co-opera-
tives increased 9,887 per cent in the
ten-year period, and that of tobacco
marketing associations increased near
ly 1900 per cent.