TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII 517 



tive association, we must be prepared in spirit and in action to sacrifice 

 a good many of our personal notions to the majority interest. In truth, 

 we, in co-operation, pay out a certain percentage in order to get a larger 

 percentage in return. We give up some things to get others more desir- 

 able in the future. 



In forming and executing a co-operative society, we must first decide 

 whether or not we are willing to pay the price for the prospective advan- 

 tage sought. If the goal is, in the individual's opinion, not worth the cost, 

 then the prospects for true co-operation are still "on the rocks." 



Let us discuss briefly some of our individualistic problems as cattle 

 feeders and meat producers before taking up our "co-operative" problems. 

 I take it that in the future our biggest co-operative ventures will be along 

 the lines of financing, buying, selling and transportation, with some em- 

 phasis placed on the securing of deserved recognition and protection, 

 political and social. 



Individualistic progress lies mostly along the lines of specific per- 

 sonal actions as contrasted to those co-operative ones which are done in 

 the collective sense. Even with co-operative buying and selling organiza- 

 tions established, the individual feeder must in major manner decide what 

 to buy and when to buy, so that his home production unit, the farm, will 

 work most efficiently. He must also decide in large measure how long 

 to feed and how fat to make his stock, and also when to feed. 



The co-operative movement in buying and selling ventures should 

 really aim to control and do those things which are most difficultly or 

 Impossibly done by the individual, the general aim being to give to indi- 

 viduals as much freedom of action as possible — said freedom to be con- 

 sistent with the success of the co-operative enterprise. 



In home production problems, the individual reigns supreme. There 

 is plenty of opportunity between markets for him to exercise and capi- 

 talize his talents. Some problems in home production are: 



1. Shall we raise our own feeders? Hardly! We, of the corn-lands 

 country, can not compete with economic success with the cheap western 

 ranges. Our Ames investigations have shown that calves could be bought 

 on the market at a lesser figure than the raising cost. The pure-bred 

 man must, of course, raise his own calves, but he has no choice. The 

 feeder doesn't have to. Furthermore, the feeders may not want calves, 

 being steer men. If we have considerable rough, cheap pasture land on our 

 farms, it is generally better practice to buy most of our calves or older 

 cattle, and not breed them. If the owner likes to milk, well enough — he 

 may find the dual-purpose Shorthorn business— combined milk and baby 

 beef — to his liking under such conditions; but even then he must be sure 

 of his grain land for silage and for concentrates in feeding. 



2. How about the silo? The silo has come to stay. Iowa is not a 

 good hay state just now; hence we must depend on the corn plant for 

 roughage as well as grain. The cattle feeder will find the silo a good 

 investment, providing, of course, that he feeds enough cattle to justify 

 the investment, and further providing that he can enlist the community 

 in the project, so that a ring for owning the silo-filling machinery, and 



