farmers' CO-OPKRATIVE elevators in MINNESOTA 



and more successful co-operative elevators are those which pay patronage 

 dividends. 



It will be remembered that only 55 per cent, of all the patrons of ele- 

 vators are stockholders. In the case of many elevators this percentage is 

 much less, several of them reporting their non-stockholding to be far more 

 numerous than their stockholding patrons. When in such a case a large 

 stock dividend is declared -- as happened in several instances — the re- 

 txirns from products handled for patrons are not distributed in strict ac- 

 cordarce with co-operative principles. 



Table V. -- Dividend Rates for Elevators paying Patronage 

 Dividend to all Customers. 



f) Gross Margins. — The average gross margin between price paid and 

 price received for products handled by all elevators reporting on this point 

 is 5.3 per cent, of the gross receipts, the proportion varying from 8 per 

 cent, in the case of elevators having gross receipts less than $50,000 to 4 

 per cent, in some of the larger classes. For all the reporting elevators the 

 gross margin is almost equally divided between profits and expenses, 51 per 

 cent, going to the former and 49 per cent, to the latter. For the three 

 classes which have the smallest volume of business, however, the expense 

 constitutes over one half of 'the margin ; for all but two of the other classes 

 less than half the margin. In the case of elevators having gross receipts 

 over S 275,000 the expense forms only one third of the margin and the pro- 

 fits two thirds. It is evident that co-operative elevators having a small 

 volume of business must find it more difficult to compete with non-co-ope- 

 rative elevators than those having a large volume of business. Because their 

 expenses are relatively higher, and because they must seek a larger ratio 

 of profit on sales, their gross margins must be materially higher than those 



