STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 79 



is it not necessary to separate the producing from the selling 

 force in agriculture? The farmer is a specialist in production 

 and generally not skilled in marketing. 



COOPERATIVE PLAN. 



A new faith has developed on the part of the American 

 farmer, that the cooperative plan of doing farm business is 

 the most satisfactory method. In fact, the American farmer is 

 being driven to cooperation by necessity. While we hear con- 

 siderable of the extent to which cooperation in the marketing 

 of agricultural products has been carried on in foreign countries, 

 such as Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Denmark and others, from 

 investigations which have been carried on by the Office of 

 Markets and rural Organization, it has been found that there 

 are over 8,000 organizations in this country which are coop- 

 erative or owned by producers engaged in the marketing of 

 agricultural products and in the purchasing of farm supplies. 

 Over a billion dollars' worth of products will be marketed by 

 these organizations this year. From this it will be seen that 

 American farmers are beginning to realize that by selling coop- 

 eratively they will not only be able to offer a standardized pro- 

 duct and reduce the cost of marketing, but they will be able to 

 furnish this better article to the consumer at the same, or even 

 at a lower price, thus stimulating consumption. In fact, any 

 system of marketing that does not give better service or better 

 prices to the consumer and at the same time secure for the 

 producer a greater net return, is founded on improper princi- 

 ples. 



WORK OF AN ORGANIZATION. 



Cooperation in the marketing of agricultural products include 

 the establishment of grades and standards and, where possible, 

 the adoption of brands and trade marks, the securing of capital 

 and credit, proper advertising to encourage consumption of the 

 meritorious but little known product, discovery of new and 

 extension of old markets, securing information as to crop and 

 marketing conditions, the equitable division of profits, adapt- 

 ing production to meet market requirements and the utilization 

 of by-products, securing cold and common storage facilities, the 



