Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 119 



operative Association of Olathe, Kan.; the Lyons stores in Iowa, 

 and the chain of stores operated under the Public Welfare League 

 of Minnesota and Wisconsin, with headquarters at Minneapolis. 



CO-OPERATIVE SELLING OF PURE-BRED SEED AND STOCK. 



It would be very beneficial, indeed, if a larger proportion of 

 our farmers produced pure-bred live stock and grain. The great- 

 est single obstacle in, the way of this accomplishment is the un- 

 certainty and difficulty of finding a suitable market for the output 

 at a price that will justify the extra labor and expense incurred. 

 At present only the largest breeders, with much stock to sell, can 

 afford the expense of extensive advertising and of exhibiting at 

 the fairs to attract buyers from a distance. The small breeder 

 has only the immediate neighborhood for a market. The general 

 farmer, when in need of a sire or of seed, does not know where to 

 turn except to the man who advertises or exhibits. This means 

 that the small breeder sells to poor advantage, and the most ex- 

 tensive breeder is required to make a large outlay to get customers 

 for his wares. It would be comparatively easy to bring the buyer 

 and the breeder together, greatly to the benefit of both and to the 

 benefit of the stock and crops of the country. 



The Agricultural College could keep a list of the available 

 pure-breed cattle, horses, sheep and hogs for sale. A competent 

 officer of the college could inspect the animals offered at a very 

 nominal cost to the breeder and give to a prospective buyer first- 

 hand and expert information regarding the merits of the animals 

 and the quality of their pedigrees. This would enable the buyer 

 in any part of the State to purchase good animals at a reasonable 

 price and yet leave a satisfactory profit for the breeder. All of 

 this now is done by the college for the grower of pedigreed seed 

 wheat, corn, milo, oats, etc. This service should be extended to 

 the stock breeder. It is this sort of service the college could 

 render to all the farmers of the State. 



Another way in which the breeders might co-operate to great 

 profit would be to lay aside their prejudices and breed one class of 

 stock in a community. That is, instead of one farmer in a com- 

 munity breeding Shorthorns, another breeding Herefords, another 

 Angus and another Galloways, let all concentrate on a single breed 

 of each class. If this were done, there would be enough Short- 

 horn cattle, for example, produced in the community that special- 

 ized in this breed to establish a reputation throughout the State 



