Evening star., 1930-06-22
C0-0beraHUe MIX HANDLING.

The growth Of cooperative marketing in the
last decade 50 has taken place without
much fuss or feathers yet has reached so great
proportions that it is estimated now that 40
per cent or 1926, ,000, ,000 Of the milk produc-
ton Of this country is handled through two
associations
The Dairyman's League of New York alone
did $S5 100000 in business during 1928. HutzeI
Metzger, agricultural economist of the Depart
ment Of Agriculture, in discussing the growth Of
the co-operatives said:
The sale and distribution of fluid milk bv
the producer to the consumer was one of the
earliest forms Of fluid milk marketing and Is
still the practice in many of the smaller towns
With the growth OF cities each farmer could
not so well have personal contact with his GUS
toners, and the practice of selling his milk to
distributor grew up. Moreover, sanitary regu-
lations in some cities made necessary a greater
investment and the purchase of more elaborate
equipment than was profitable for small fam
lily business.
In almost every city many of these small
distributors began to operate each with a busi-
ness somewhat larger than the family unit but
not distributing large proportion of the total
supply. Gradually the more efficient increased
their business and consultations took place. At
present there are many cities in which one
distributor sells more than half of the milk
marketed
The object which the producers had in mind
IN forming most of the earlier cooperative
marketing associations was the retail distrib,I-
ton OF milk. They felt that the distributor was
getting more than his share of the consumers
dollar. BY retailing the milk used for f1uid
consumption and processing the remainder they
reasoned that they would not only receive the
same wholesale price that they received Under
the private distributor system but would obtain
the distributors share Of the profits which thew
believed TO be exceptionally large
"TheSe cooperative marketing associations
which were established principally in the small
or medium sized cities, operated a plant and
distributed milk on regular routes The opera
taons were usually a small scale and milk
came from close-in territory. This fact made
IL easy for the producers who we're as a ruI.
personally acquainted to get together in CO.
operative effort and rendered elaborate oreant.
zation unnecessary
In other cities, particularly the larger ones
where greater amount Of capital was neces-
s@ry 70 enter the distributing business the pro~
oucers came together in a cooperative organi-
zaeion for the purpose of determining what
"ouio De their terms of sale and OF obtaining
power TO negotiate with the distributors as, t0
prices. This type Of producers co-operatjvH
organization became known as the barvaintns
association 1t owned no facilities for and ba6
nothing to do with physically handling the milk.
Because the bargaining association had NO cr-
1ectave method Of enforcing its demand in case
the distributors refused to accept its terms soma
groups OF producers who wished to Wholesale
Chen milk but not to distribute it established
Faculties for receiving the milk in the country
and city. They constitute another class us,aaIlv
termed the operating or marketing associations"