52 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



will not work out on theory — that theory never can transcend experi- 

 ence, and that when you have had some experience, you are not always 

 so sure of 3'our theory. 



The first and great problem of Co-operative Marketing is not the 

 problem of handling the fruit. Many think that this is the great thing, 

 but I tell you that it is the smallest jiart of the program. The real 

 problem is handling the men and women who produce the fruit, and the 

 men and women who buv them. 



I have been officially connected with two different co-operative or- 

 ganizations, and I will discuss the problem as evolved from my ex- 

 perience with these organizations. I may say, however, that our ex- 

 perience in the North is different from the experience in the South, 

 along this line. And it is also true that our exi)eriences are different 

 in the West, from those in the East. For some reason or othe'r, the co- 

 (>perative bug does not seem to thrive very well in this state. Whether 

 it is due to the culture in which the germ is developed, I cannot say, but 

 one thing is true, that it is not so thrifty here as in other sections^ of the 

 United States, and some not very far distant. 



About five years ago I became interested in this matter, while en- 

 gaged in ministerial work. I felt that the country church had a mis- 

 sion towards the horticulture condition of the country that was not be- 

 ing developed. And as the salary of the minister depends quite largely 

 on the success of the farmers, it was a very easy thing to just step over 

 the line into this field of activity, and it was not long until the Minister- 

 ial Association, called me to account for my course of action. 



There is nothing out of the way when I say that the average human 

 heart of the farmer is possessed of about the same degree of goodness as 

 the rest of the people, — I thought they were a little better. And when 

 we had a certain number of persons banded together for mutual benefit 

 t'o themselves and their community; when they agreed to do certain 

 things, I thou.ght there was no (juestion but what they would do it. It 

 never occurred to me, even, that any kind of contract would be neces- 

 sary. It was wholly a matter of moral suasion; if one hundred farmers 

 all agreed or promised to do a certain thing, I thought Ihat was all 

 there was to it. And it was on this basis, and with this idea in mind, 

 and with this faith in the farmers, that I went into the work. And 

 right here I may say that on a capital of only fl.GOO.OO we ran our bus- 

 iness for three years, acquired a ware-house, got the railroad to put on 

 ice service, and marketed some 100 car-loads of jjroduce. Just how 

 we did it I do not know, but we did it. As I said, I thought that all 

 that was necessary to the strict carrying out of the co-operative idea 

 was for those interested to promise or agree to do a thing and it would 

 be done; that there was no necessity of a contract to hold good citizens 

 together. 



I learned to my sorrow that human nature could not stand the strain ; 

 that if we wanted to insure a certain thing being carried out, we had 

 to have a contract. 



I happened then to be connected with another exchange, the Grand 

 Traverse Fruit & Exchange, which was doing business under the Public 

 Act 398, 1913, which really makes a co-operative law. But I am sorry to 

 say that our experience has shown that their human nature is no more 



