Seventy-Third Annual Report 1167 



vide for the organization of such companies. The intention is to 

 prepare a law by which farmers may — not com^^el them — or- 

 ganize nnder the term coojierative the same as men may organize 

 in bnsiness. 



The President : Let me snggest, ]\[r. Ward, that yon are 

 opening np a great topic and we have addresses coming along this 

 afternoon and again tomorrow, and as this topic develops we shall 

 be able to see onr way ont. 



We were to receive this afternoon the report of the Committee 

 on the Development of Agricultural Eesources. I was very sorry 

 to receive a telegram from William Cary Sanger, chairman of that 

 committee, stating that by reason of illness he would not be able 

 to be here this week. The rest of the committee, I believe, will 

 prepare something to give to us tomorrow. 



In the absence of that report we will proceed with our program 

 and listen now to an address on "A Successful Local Cooperative 

 Movement, by Honorable Seth Low, Bedford Hills, N. Y., Ex- 

 president of C^olumbia University. 



A SUCCESSFUL LOCAL COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT 



Seth Low 



It may be a surprise to some of you, who have known onh' of my 

 w^ork in the city, to learn that I have been invited to address you 

 on a subject so important to farmers, as " cooperation." The fact 

 is, however, that in the autum of 19U5, I bought a farm of about 

 200 acres, in the town of Bedford, Westchester County. Since 

 then I have been conducting a general farm. When my present 

 superintendent, Mr. G. D. Brill, a native of Dutchets County, and 

 a graduate from the four-year agricultural course at Cornell Uni- 

 versity, came to me five years ago, he said to me : " Mr. Low, it 

 will take five years to place this farm upon its feet." When I 

 closed my l)ooks, at the end of October, 1912, the farm had become 

 entirely self-supporting, by which, I mean that it had earned enough 

 in cash to meet all charges, including the salary of the superin- 

 tendent and of the bookkeeper, and to pay, on account of my taxes, 

 insurance, and painting, at the rate of $360 a year. The farm 

 also pays one-half of the maintenance cost of my electric light and 

 power plant and of my water system. The indications are, that, at 



