State Dairy Association. 281 



superstition, and, as her home here at this College is a monument 

 to the enterprising intelligence of our State Board of Agriculture 

 and the wisdom of these grand men who are preparing your 

 boys and your girls for their life work, let her home on each 

 Missouri farm be a monument to the intelligence of Missouri peo- 

 ple, and may each Missouri home indicate prosperity and happi- 

 ness, all through the influence of the Missouri dairy cow. 



ORGANIZATION AND CO-OPERATION. 



(By Mr. A. J. McDowell, President Ozark Dairy Association, Fordland Missouri.) 



This is an era of organization. We find organizations in every 

 branch of business and every field of labor. Why, then, should 

 not the farmers be organized? There are many farmers' organi- 

 zations which have been and are doing much for the farmer, but 

 in many cases they have been wrecked through lack of cohesion — 

 the power to stick together. 



Owing to the vast natural resources of our wonderful country, 

 the American farmer has had a much simpler problem before him 

 than has the European farmer. In fact, he has been able to pros- 

 per in spite of the many parasites which have been preying upon 

 the agricultural body. But conditions have changed and the day 

 has dawned when the American farmer must awaken to his con- 

 dition and demand a fairer share of the products of his labor. 

 These conditions have come slowly but steadily and with such 

 stealth that the average farmer does not realize their presence, 

 although he keenly feels their sting. 



The most successful way to meet these new conditions is 

 through organization, and one of the greatest lessons for the 

 farmer to learn is to stick to his organization. If mistakes are 

 made or abuses creep in, he must learn to correct them through 

 the organization, not through the abandonment of it. 



Perhaps the nearest to ideal organization among farmers is 

 to be found in Denmark, where it is only through it that the 

 Danish farmer can prosper. There is no trouble in holding their 

 organizations together, as every Danish farmer seems to know that 

 they furnish the only solution of their intricate problem of making 

 profits from agriculture. All, or nearly all, of their products are 

 marketed through co-operation and by that means sold direct to 

 the consumer, thus the producer receives the highest possible price 

 without increase of cost to the consumer. 



I am told by a former banker of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, 



