260 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



facture. This has been one of the results of the modern development 

 of cheap transportation. Before the time of the railroad the products 

 of any agricultural district were largely consumed in that district. Each 

 district also aimed to produce as many of the products there consumed 

 as practicable. The export money crop was often a concentrated one 

 which would bear expensive transportation charges. However, at the 

 present time the entire range of the United States, and for many prod- 

 ucts, European countries are available as a market for the output of 

 a given locality. Thus the cheese of Wisconsin goes to all quarters of 

 the United States and parts of Europe. The cotton of the South goes to 

 the mills of the world. In consequence of this situation special co- 

 operative associations are advisable for the marketing of the money 

 crop or crops in a definite district; and such an organization may be 

 exclusive rather than broadly inclusive. But even where this is the 

 situation the farmers have other products; they also are consumers as 

 well as producers, and there is therefore the need of a cooperative 

 association which buys other than the standard crops and which sells 

 as well as buys in order to furnish the farmers their necessary supplies. 

 In some instances the work of the special and general associations 

 may be merged, in others separate. Thus the work of buying and selling 

 from the point of view of bettering the circumstances of the farmer may 

 require that the cooperative buying and selling shall be through a 

 single association in some districts, in others through several associa- 

 tions; but the essential point should be insisted upon, that the advantage 

 of the cooperation should not be confined to the farmers alone, but 

 should be shared by the consumers — that is, that the cooperative associa- 

 tions should permit membership of any one who wishes to do business 

 with the association. If this be done the surplus of profits beyond the 

 limited amount which goes to capital would be divided between the 

 men who did business with the association in proportion to the business 

 done, producer and consumer being exactly on a par in this respect. To 

 illustrate: If the producer contributed $5,000 worth of material, and 

 the surplus which could be declared beyond the necessary reserve at 

 the end of the year amounted to eight per cent, he would receive in 

 addition to his original selling price $500. Similarly, the member who 

 had purchased $1,000 worth of goods would get a rebate of $80. If the 

 same man did both of the above he would get $580 at the end of the 

 year. Non-members who did business with an association might be ex- 

 cluded from sharing in the profits of the cooperative enterprise; or, on 

 the other hand, they might participate to a less extent — say fifty per 

 cent. This latter is believed to be the better plan, since it would result 

 in extending the business of the association and thus increasing the 

 profits. The method of cooperation above advocated has the great merit 

 that all who have any relation with or necessity for the articles handled 

 will be in favor of the success of the movement. The consumer shares 

 in its benefits as well as the producer. In order to complete the program 

 of cooperation it will be necessary to correlate with the above a system 



