438 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



How orf^anization and co-operation works out to the advantage 

 of the farmer was illustrated at this same meeting where a farmer 

 gave the following account of a co-operative association in Kent 

 Countv, Ontario, Canada. 



"Some few years ago," said Mr. Laird, "the farmers of our section 

 of Kent were being paid a very much lower price for their beans 

 than was being paid in Chatham, and for grain the prices were a 

 long way below that ruling in London. A co-operative association 

 was formed with an authorized capital of .|35,0(J() and |14,0()0 paid 

 in. The co-operatives erected a building through which arrange- 

 ments were made for handling produce in co-operative way. That 

 was five years ago. In the year ending the first of August last the 

 Association handled 6(),()0() bushels of beans, 135,000 bushels of 

 barley, 149,000 bushels of oats and 70,000 bushels of wheat. That 

 was a total of over 400,000 bushels. The figures represent the 

 average volume of trade carried on in the last five years. On the 

 average farmers have obtained for the grain and beans so handled 

 at least six cents a bushel more than they would have obtained 

 without co-operation. That is equal to |24,000 per year. This 

 means that in the five years they are, with an investment of |14,000 

 1120,000 further ahead than they otherwise would have been. That 

 is not all. As an additional result a private firm of grain dealers 

 has been compelled to pay the same price in the same neighborhood, 

 and as this firm has handled as much produce as the co-operative 

 association has done, the farmers in that section are really over 

 $40,000 a year to the good as a result of the organization of the 

 co-operative company." 



How lack of organization and co-operation works to the dis- 

 advantage of both producer and consumer is well illustrated b}' a 

 Canadian Agricultural Newspaper man. ^Ve give his own words. 



^'The expects to have one hundred Farmers' Clubs 



organized in Eastern Ontario before the end of January. No move- 

 ment started has created more widespread interest than the one 

 being agitated at the present time advising the farmers to put their 

 heads together and do their business in a co-operative way. Dis- 

 cussing this matter with a representative of the other 



day a big wholesale dealer said: 'If the farmers become organized, 

 it simply means that many of those blood-suckers will have to 

 close their doors.' 



"A truer statement than the above was never uttered. There are 

 far too many middlemen doing business in this country. They 

 live on the best and wear the best, and the poor farmer keeps them 

 up. If there were not so many grafters and sharks between the 

 producer and the consumer the farmer would get considerable more 

 money for what he has to sell, and he would be able to buy what 

 be has to purchase at much more reasonable prices. 



''For aigument sake let us d(^al Avilh a consignment of butter. 

 The other day the merchants in one of the thriving villages here 

 in Eastern Ontario were paying the farmer 22 cents per pound in 

 trade for butter. As a result of having to take trade the farmer 

 did not actually receive more than 20 cents per pound. The 

 merchant in turn sold the butter to another middleman for 2.3 

 cents per pound. The middleman in turn sent the butter to a whole- 

 sale house in Ottawa and you may bet your last dollar that he got 



