118 



Tennessee. — Grainger : As to co-operation, there is nothing of that here ; we 

 are too tar behind the times for that ; the people here do not know that it is necessary 

 to bring the plow, loom, and anvil together; time will cnre this. Giles: We buy 

 machinery, seeds, agricultural implements, &c., at a saving of 25 to 50 per cent. 

 The building of flour and cotton mills, and other manufacturing establishments, is re- 

 ceiving attention, and strongly, by our best jdauters and agricnllural press. We have 

 recently had No. 1 flouring-mills' and factories for manufacturing wool established 

 near us ; formerly our wool was sent to Bowling Green, Ky., or to New Albany, Ind. ; 

 we not only tiud it a convenience, but a great saving to have our ])rodncts manu- 

 factured at home. Without specific data, I would say that at least $100,0U() were saved to 

 my county last year by co-operative efforts. It is the only time during my life (fifty- 

 three years) that the larmers had any concert of action or co-opei-ative movement. 

 Greene : Efforts are not yet matured for co-operation in selling products and purchas- 

 ing su}»plies ; but a determination to do so was sternly manifested, and has been so 

 rapidly organizing that, outside of any co-operation, supplies can be purchased at a 

 reduction greatly below prices prevailing a very few mouths since ; reduced prices are 

 attributable more to proispeciire co-operation than to any as yet in practice. Haywood: 

 One cotton-mill has been erected at Brownsville the past year, with 100 looms, and the 

 very best improved machinery, which promises to do well and is a step in the right 

 direction. Bedford: Commenced organizing in our county last fall, and are just now, 

 this year co-operating in the purchasing of supplies and farm-implements ; they are 

 making a saving now of 25 to 33 per cent. Monroe : There is no co-operation among 

 farmers here yet. Flouring-mills are plenty, but do not grind more than one-fourth 

 of the wheat-crop, (". e., the surplus, for the want of capital. No woolen-factories in 

 the county, but parties at Sweetwater are endeavoring to get up capital to erect a 

 cotton and woolen factory. Sumner : We have already had decided gains in the pur- 

 chase of many articles, but they have not assumed proportions sufficiently definite to 

 base a reportupon. They will work good if they have not too much steam for the 

 burden to be propelled. Washington : Something has been accomplished in the way of 

 co-operation in buying and selling. A few of our neighbors bought salt and plaster 

 last season, and on a car-load saved thirtydollars. At another time they bought mo- 

 lasses at 44^ cents per gallon, that would have cost them 90 cents to $1 if bought at 

 retail. Montgomery : The system was begun at the latter part of the year. In one in- 

 stance the farmers saved .§200,000 in storing their tobacco. Grundy : Several efforts 

 have been made during the past year to form different co-operative establishments, but 

 so far as I am aware they all died on the start. Fayette : In the sparsely-settled South 

 it is much more difficult'to obtain concert of action than in the Northern States. The 

 negroes are also a drawback; they are all engaged in agriculture, but have as yet 

 neither the means nor the inclination or ability to assist such movements, neither 

 have they the inclination or the brains to improve. We are working and hoping and 

 praying that before another twelvemonth will expire we will have better news to 

 communicate. One large flouring-mill recently erected in the neighborhood, but the 

 wheat is brought from abroad. 



lu the Western States, however, the cooperative movenieut has 

 beeu general and active, involving nearly every county, and, in its eco- 

 nomic aspects, decidedly beneficial. The saving by association for pur- 

 chase of supplies has been large; the benefits of combination for sales 

 of products have not been so positive. If wisdom and calmness con- 

 tinue to rnle the efforts of farmers to secure the benefits of association 

 the results will be cumulative and beneficent: diversity of production 

 will obviate extreme fluctuation in price ; manufacturing industry will 

 compete for surplus hibor in agricnltural districts ; the legitimate profits 

 of producers will not be eaten up by locust-like hordes of non-producers, 

 and agriculture will prosper. 



West ViRGixiA. — Wayne: The only co-operative system practiced here is between 

 the farmer, his hogs and his cattle, when he hitches up his team and drives through 

 his corn-fields after they are ripe, and gathers a part of the crop, and then the 

 hogs come in and gather the remainder ; after them the cattle follow, and such of 

 them as can subsist during the winter on the fodder that the farmer and his hogs have 

 left standing. JRandoIjjh : There has been no saving either in selling of products or 

 purchasing of supplies. No efforts have been made toward improvement. No flour- 

 making except for home-consumption, no pork-packing, no woolen-factory, and all 

 for want of intelligence and skill, enterprise and capital. Xicholas : Nearly all our 

 products are manufactured here at home and for home-consumption. 



Ohio.— Logan : I estimate that 28 per cent, of thefarmers of this county have joined 

 co-oijerative'associations, and that they have realized a considerable saving. Cham- 



