INFORaiATION KEI^ATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 3I 



UNITED STATES. 



I. THE CO-OPERATIVE PURCHASE OF I,IVE STOCK IN WISCONSIN. — Article by 

 Howard I. Wodl in The Banker Farmer, Vol. IV, no 2, January 1917, Champaign, Illi- 

 nois. 



In order to improve the quality of milch-cows and secure the general 

 inspection of their milk some banks in Marinette county, Wisconsin, form- 

 ed in 1915 a Co-operative Cattle Buying Association. The members 

 of this organization are business men, farmers and the eleven banks of the 

 count}'. In 1915 it bought only one car-load of cattle for the farmers, 

 who showed a disposition to await further results before doing more. 

 But every farmer supplied with cattle was satisfied, and in 1916 confidence 

 had been established. During 1916 fourteen car-loads of cattle, aver- 

 aging thirty head to a car, were imported from various parts of Southern 

 Wisconsin ; and a large number of good animals were also bought from 

 dealers in the count}' and sold to farmers who wished to build up their 

 dsLiTy herds. 



The organization is very simple. The eleven banks advance money 

 for the purchase of pure-bred or grade Holstein or Guernsey dairy cattle, 

 and allow buyers to pay for them at the rate of from S3 to $5 per 

 month a head, paying interest at the rate of 6 per cent. Payment can be 

 made at the bank nearest to the home of the purchaser, who gives the 

 necessary security. When enough orders have been accepted to make up a 

 car-load the bu5^er of the association goes to some locality where he can ob- 

 tain an entire car-load in one lot at favourable prices. Expenses of transport 

 are thus kept low. Hitherto the cattle delivered in Marinette county have 

 cost only $9 a head more than the price at which they were bought. The 

 buyer has alwa^^s had without charge the services of an expert dairy cat- 

 tle buyer from the university of Wisconsin. 



A small percentage is laid aside for a sinking fund in case losses due to 

 unsatisfactoriness of the bought stock have to be made good. But for 

 the fifteen car-loads, costing altogether about §40,000, there have been 

 only two or three minor cases of taking money from this fund. 



The number of cattle bought and the amount of money spent give 

 only a meagre idea of what the association is doing. Besides the actual 

 addition to the value of the farms, an entire county has been brought to 

 believe in the value of dairy farming. Bankers have been taught what a 

 dairy cow is worth and what it ought to produce annually. It has become 

 easier for all dairy-farmers to obtain credit in the banks. A practical 

 proof of success is the fact that ten new cheese-factories were opened 

 in 1916. 



We reproduce a series of questions and answers which show the asso- 

 ciation's skilfid method of explaining to farmers its procedure and the 

 advantages it offers : 



" Question. How much do I have to pay down when I get my stock ? 



