September 13, 1924 



The niiaoM Asricultnral AMocMttJon Record 



;i:-^.-.-:lf.:^-- lilH^ 



Pai* 3 



KANKAKEE FARMERS FIND 

 ^ PROFIT IN CITY MARKET 



Several links in the cbaiu of 

 middlemen, wtio each adds an 

 "expense plus" profit to the ulti- 

 mate cost of most every man- 

 made commodity, have been re- 

 moved by the farmers around 

 Kankakee who make up the farm- 

 ers' market of that city. And, 

 in doing so, they have put a "big 

 business" practice into effect; 

 that Is, "the customer is always 

 right," the maxim upon which 

 Marshall Field built up what is 

 probably the world's greatest 

 link of the chain of middlemen. 



The removal of those links 

 seems to hav^ resulted in more 

 cash to the farmer-marketer with- 

 out causing strife or friction 

 with the city merchants — a point 

 worthy of some consideration. 

 Those merchants who have been 

 more-or-less displaced by the 

 direct-to-the-consumer farmers' 

 market apparently look upon it 

 In a broad sense. 



On the last Saturday of August, 

 44 farmer-salesmen who had com- 

 modities to sell that day, took in 

 over their booth-counters an av- 

 erage of $48.20 each. About 

 1,100 people visited the market 

 during the day; Kankakee is a 

 city of around 17,000 population. 



Fonr Years Old 



How the farmers around Kank- 

 akee got Into the direct-to-the 

 consumer marketing business Is 

 almost a yarn in itself. Four 

 years ago, several farmers got 

 together and were selling along 

 the curb, but curb markets are 

 unsatisfactory for several appar- 

 ent reasons. There is the dirt, 

 the ever-flying dust, the flies, pub- 

 lic handling — and other condi- 

 tions which are not conducive to 

 the selling of produce in a sani- 

 tary manner. 



There came an offer by a local 

 merchant to sell his three-story 

 brick building to the Kankakee 

 County Crop and Soil Improve- 

 ment Association, in other words, 

 the Kankakee County Farm Bu- 

 reau under a name of 1912 vint- 

 age. The merchant wanted $18,- 

 000 and he got it. Not long ago 

 the Farm Bureau was offered 

 $27,000 for the building. 



It was a surprise to the mer- 

 ebants when the farmers bought 

 the building. Seventy-two booths 

 approximately six by six feet 

 ■quare were divided off and an 

 Indoor farmers' market was be- 

 gun. The farmer-merchants pay 

 50 cents for a booth on Wednes- 

 days and $1 on Saturdays. None 

 but Farm Bureau members can 

 participate. 



The two upper floors were 

 rented out for storage and the 

 basement was converted Into stor- 

 age spaces for the farmers who 

 had some products left over from 

 time to time. Then, too, the 

 storage space made It handy for 

 farmers to haul In their stuff 

 any time during the week and In 

 large loads. 



Brings Out Co-K>peratton 



Last year, 1923, an average 

 of 94 farmers sold produce on 

 the market each week. In 1920, 

 the first year of operation, an 

 average of 18 sellers constituted 

 the market. In 1921. there were 

 40 and in 1922, six more per 



week availed themselves of the 

 selling advantages offered by the 

 market. Now the building is 

 paying for Itself and a nice reve- 

 nue comes to the Kankakee Coun 

 ty Crop and Soil Improvement 

 Association. 



"We have found that this mar- 

 ket is a good place to bring out 

 the co-operation there is in a 

 man or woman," said John S. 

 Collier, the farm adviser, and 

 who has been therei in that ca- 

 pacity for 13 years — the longest 

 continuous period of service of 

 any county agent In the United 

 States. "For example, one farmer 

 voluntarily helps sell a dozen 

 pounds of his neighbor's butter 

 who Is in another booth doWn 

 the aisle. In return, the neigh- 

 bor takes a few dozen eggs and 

 each man is sold out sooner. 



"Customer Is .Always Right" 



"Our market is meant to func- 

 tion on the principle that the 

 customer is always right," he 

 added. "We keep a set of scales 

 in the center of the market floor 

 where anyone who pleases can 

 weigh what he buys after he 

 buys it." 



"Who establishes the price for 

 each day's market?" he was 

 asked. 



"The evening before each mar- 

 ket day," he replied, "a range of 

 prices on the commodities in sea- 

 son is compiled in accordance 

 with general market conditions. 

 It is merely a suggested range for 

 prices — nothing compulsory. But 

 we try to sell within that range. 



"Last Saturday, 1,100 people 

 visited the market. Cars were 

 Jammed iu the streets; they al- 

 ways are on market days. But 

 August Is not our busy month; 

 from November to .\pril Is our 

 busy season. 

 They Have Their Troubles, Too 



"But don't get the Impression 

 that everything is always lovely," 

 he said. "We have our troubles. 

 Any group of farmers planning to 

 start such a market should make 

 a careful survey of local condi- 

 tions. They should. And out from 

 first hand inquirie(( from buyers, 

 sellers and competitors Just what 

 each thinks of the farmers' mar- 

 ket." 



They sell almost every con- 

 ceivable product grown by farm- 

 ers. One lady, Mrs. Wm. E. Tan- 

 ner, happened to bri«g in a bou- 

 quet of flowers from her garden 

 one day, and someone offered her 

 a quarter for it. That gave her 

 an Idea. Now she bring* in 18 to 

 20 bouquets and sells them all. 



Lots of pies, cakes and other 

 home-baked goods are brought In 

 for sale. Besides the usual mar- 

 ket offerings of fresh vegetables 

 and such stuff, several farm wives 

 have developed a paying clientele 

 among the city-folks for country- 

 made cottage cheese, butter and 

 buttermilk. Fresh country milk 

 and cream sell well. Honey, 

 quartered beeves, mutton, pork, 

 dressed chickens, cooking apples 

 and what not make up the aggre- 

 gate offerings to the buyers. The 

 dairy products all come from 

 cows declared free from bovine 

 tuberculosis. None other is al- 

 lowed. 



And the customers are loyal. 



TAX HGHT RAGES 



IN PEORIA COUNTY 



Last Chance To Buy 



WOOL BLANKETS 



Going Fast 



Only 280 left 



These blanket*, made up for the 1. A. A., are pure 

 wool, 6-Ib., double blanket*, 72 z 84 inches. 



Colors — Gray and White diecks. Blue and White 

 checks. 



These blankets cannot be duplicated on the open 

 market today. 



TO FARM BUREAU MEMBERS $11.00 



TO NON-FARM BUREAU MEMBERS . $13.00 



Send your order now, through your cotnty Farm 

 Bureau. Cash must accompany order. Tliese blankets 

 will be sold out inunediately. No more to be made by 

 the I. A. A. 



I. A. A. LIVESTOCK MARKETING DEPARTMENT 

 608 Sooth Dearborn Street, Chicaco 



ThlH trvphy la t* be vlvc« hj the 

 I. \. A. to thr rarweni* ahlpplM* ■*- 

 dorlatlon In llllmotii HOBtalnlMir tke 

 nninlleiit Iomn on live Mtork Im tranalt 

 durlnfc thr mIx niuntliN' period from 

 July I to Dec. :tl. 1»1M. Uarlnur thin 

 lime a minimum of 20 parm of Mtoek 

 mumt be shipped to Prodttrer* to 

 qnallfr a nhlppera* awioclatlon for 

 the eontent. 



One iady has about 25 pounds of 

 her own makt^ ufi butter to sell 

 each Saturday. It's so well liked 

 that it's ^oue iu practically no 

 time. They line up for it! Two 

 thousand pounds of butter are. 

 sold there every market day, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Collier. 



One man grows broomcorn on' 

 his farm, harvests his crop, makes 

 brooms and sells *em on the 

 Kankakee farmers' market. He; 

 sold 900 last year. 



Another man. Armand J. Pal- 

 lissard of St. Anne, has developed 

 a small packing plant on his 

 farm because he sells so many 

 butchered hogs. He sold 102 

 last year. He did his own butch- 

 ering, too. 



Meat Market Like* It 



A talk with variouH tUy mer- 

 ohnnta indlcatt-d that moat of them 

 think wt^li of tht- farmtra' market. 

 Many of them think U'h an asset to 

 their business. 



A meat market man with whom 

 the farmers' market t*omp**t«*(i quite 

 keenly, looked at the proposition 

 broailly. He said he was in favor 

 of the market, although it actually 

 competed witli him. 



•"Farmers have a riicht to sell that 

 way. why should I ohject?" he said. 

 "Kven if I do lose some tra<l*-. I 

 have the satisfactioh of knowing 

 that farmers hereabouts are fretting 

 a taste of the problems of butcher- 

 ing and sellinK meat. They trust 

 me more; they understand my trou- 

 bles more, st-e? That's something. 

 Then, too. when more people are In 

 town, we get ours. In fact, we look 

 forward to Wednesdays and Satur- 

 days as better business days than' 

 the others. 



A groceryman was not so favor- 

 able toward it. 



*'Olu the farmers* market, you 

 mean? Oh. yes." the Rroceryman 

 said, "Ix)ts oC farmers have started 

 in on It. but when they find out 

 about all the detail work they drop 

 out again. They have to buy wrap- 

 ping pappr and string and be on the 

 job and do a lot of things they never 

 thought of before. Then they have 

 to do something with their perlsh- 

 ahles. you know. That's the trouble 

 of it. When they soo they ean't sell 

 all their stuff, they begin to cut 

 pric-es. That's wliat hurts us. And 

 it hurts them. That's had stuff, you 

 betcha. Yeah, it hurts my business, 

 all rlfpht. And my vepetablea are 

 Just as fresh as theirs, but people 

 won't believe it. Ain't that funny?" 

 Hardware Man Hay" It*« FIb' 



The hardware <Iealer was sure it 

 brouKht more trade to town. 



"We get our share, and that's all 

 we ask." he said. "More people 

 come to town and up town on mar- 

 ket days and when they come to 

 market, they're in a buying mood. 

 It's all right with us. My mother 

 buys over there. She likes the fresh 

 cream and vegetables. But she sayfl 

 she's got to watch her step, or the 

 first thing she knows she'll be buy- 

 ing last week's cream. 



"I think the market's O, K.." the 

 hardware man continued, "because 

 it brings me more business. Of 

 course, it doesn't compete with hard- 

 ware selling much anyway. But 

 bore's an illustration of how we get 

 our trade from it. That man who 

 sells so many hogs over there, Mr. 

 I'tllissard, has bought about $50 

 worth of butchering equipment from 

 this store. I wouldn't have had this 

 business if all the people in the city 

 had bought meat butchered In Chi- 

 cago, would I? It makes more local 

 trading, see?*' 



A harness dealer said that th* 

 market brings more people to town 

 and he couldn't sell harness with 

 the farmers out in the country. 



"I notice a little better business 

 on market days." the harness deal* 

 er said. 



And so the queries went; where 

 the goods sold by the farmers com- 

 peted directly with the city mer- 

 chant, excepting In the case of the 

 meal market man. there was som* 

 little feeling. Otherwise, there was 

 universal acceptance of the fann- 

 ers' market as a good thing for 

 business, the city and the farmers 

 participating. 



(CoQtInued fron PM* D 

 tavfB. though jnost of it would come 

 in such taxes. 



In view of the obvious fact that 

 his figures were in question, and of 

 the equally obvious fact that the 

 Farm Bureau would question the 

 purpose of the Board of Review In 

 checking over his figures. Mr. Wat- 

 son withdrew his offer, which had 

 stood until that time, that the 

 Board of Review could examine all 

 of th»* material and data whi<h had 

 been compiled by the Farm Bureau 

 and the Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation. 



('•mmlttee «• (-et Facta 



PointiufE out that the Board of Re- 

 view ought to desire to get the facts, 

 regardless of what they are. he sub- 

 mitted a new offer which would 

 avoid questions of motiv»-8 and would 

 secure substantial agreement as to 

 th*- far!:*. His offt-r was that the 

 Boanl ol' RfVi*-*- ask the Peoria 

 Association of Commerce to appoint 

 a rfprest-ntative. the Farm Bureau 

 to appoint ont-. and that the Board 

 itstir appoint one. thf thret- repre- 

 seniativts thus t-hosen to dt-termine 

 und«-r ruli'H of thfir own choosing, 

 adopted before beginning their 

 work, the average percentage of 

 actual selling values of farm lands 

 and town and city tots now used In 

 valuations of the same for taxation 

 purposes, and that all elements rep- 

 resented in the investigation agree 

 to abide by the result. 



The chairman of the Board of Re- 

 view. Mr. Klrcher. whose fairness 

 throughout the controversy la rec- 

 ognized by the Farm Bureau, re- 

 plied that the Board would consider 

 the offer. As yet the Board has not 

 state<l its decision. 



Want n%mmr* Deal 



The Farm Bureau has no desire 

 to increase taxes on city property. 

 It asks for no advantage or favor 

 for farmers over other people, but 

 it demands and will continue to de- 

 mand that any disadvantage suf- 

 fered by farmers In the assessments 

 of their property be removed. It 

 asks that the facts be determined 

 in such a way as to convince all 

 elements of Peoria county peei>le. 

 and that any corrections be made 

 which may be necessary to put all 

 property on a substantially uniform 

 basis of valuations, as the laws of 

 the state and the courts require. 



Such a program will secure justice 

 for smaller, property owners in the 

 city of Peoria and In the smaller 

 towns and villages for their prop- 

 erty also, as the investigation re- 

 veals, and is admitted by the Peoria 

 County Board of Review, is assessed 

 at a much higher average percent- 

 age of selllnfc values than larger 

 and more valuable properties. 



Tri-Party Parley 



To Be In Chicago 



On Sept. 2fi there will meet In 

 Chicago in Joint conference repre- 

 sentatives of the .American Farm 

 Bureau Federation, the AKrlcul- 

 tural Service of the Federal Board 

 for Vocational Education and the 

 Extension Service of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. 



The idea of calling this confer- 

 ence originated at a Joint confer- 

 ence between the heads of the 

 .\erieultural Division of the Fed- 

 eral Board for Vocational Educa- 

 tion and the department heads of 

 the Farm Bureau. .\t this meet- 

 ing ways and means of co-ordi- 

 nating the efforts of the two 

 groups were formulated and the 

 coming conference was suggested. 



The purpose of the meeting 

 on Sept. 26 is to more closely 

 correlate the work of the three 

 groups so that each may have an 

 intimate understanding of the 

 work of the other two. 



Present Directors 

 Ask Old Timers In 



All ex-executive committeemen 

 of the Illinois .\gricultural Asso- 

 ciation are invited to attend any 

 executive committee meetings. 

 Whenever any of the 29 old ex- 

 ecutives happen to be in Chicago 

 during a meeting, they are cord- 

 ially asked by the present execu- 

 tives to come into the meetings. 

 The date of the next meeting is 

 set for Oct. 3. 



This year the rhanipioa cora 



buskers of the corn belt are to 

 have a chance to win their spurs 

 in a state and an Interstate con- 

 test. The contests in Illinois and 

 Indiana will be sponsored by 

 Prairie Farmer. Wallace's Farm- 

 er will conduct a similar contest 

 in Iowa, Nebraska Farmer in Ne- 

 braska, and The Farmer in Min- 

 nesota and South Dakota. 



The winners in these state con- 

 tests will fight It out In a big in- 

 terstate contest, with liberal 

 prizes, moving picture machines 

 grinding away, and perhaps with 

 a running story of the contest 

 broadcast by radio. 



U. 8. D. A. I * mm t ! ■ f Ar Jmir show 

 >t,4Jl cattle In 4.041 Illinois herds 

 were given the test for tuberculo- 

 sis, with U!I2 reacting. 



"SPEND A WEEK IN 

 DAIRYLAND," IS CRY 

 OF SHOW MANAGERS 



Annual Ezpodtiaa b Witbin 



Readi of Illinois Farmers; 



Plan Trip* Into Wiaconain 



Daily Refioiu 



If 'present plans materialize 

 there will be a general exodus of 

 Illinois dairymen into Wisconsin 

 for the National Dairy Exposition, 

 the annual premier event in dairy 

 circles of NortB America, which 

 is scheduled for Sept. 27 to Oct. 

 4. at the state fair grounds in 

 Milwaukee. 



This is the first time in several 

 years that the Dairy Show has 

 been held within reach of Illinois 

 farmers, and with this fact In 

 mind the dairy marketing depart- 

 ment of the I. A. A. and other 

 organizations are making special 

 arrangements for Illinois Day at 

 the show, Wednesday, Oct. 1. 

 Farmers and dairynen from all 

 over Illinois are arranging to 

 make the trip to Milwaukee In 

 groups with their farm advisers, 

 either by train or automobile. 



The dairy cattle show will be 

 the headliner attraction.- Illinois 

 farmers who attend the show will 

 see there the best the United 

 States and Canada have to offer 

 in beautiful and productive dairy 

 cattle of the five major dairy 

 breeds. The dairy Industry In 

 America is comparatively new but 

 in the few decades that dairymen 

 of this country have been breed- 

 ing they have developed many 

 qualities in dairy animals that 

 their fellow breeders in Europe 

 have failed to bring out in cen- 

 turies. 



One of these qualities is refine- 

 ment and beauty. A second is 

 excessively high production. At 

 the National Dairy Show these 

 two qualities in dairy cattle can 

 be seen, combined, in the b^t 

 show herd animals in the world. 



Other major attractions will be 

 the National Dak-y Catrlemens' 

 Conference: the National Dairy 

 Judging contest for college stu- 

 dents; a conference for creamery 

 men: a Farmers' Dairy Judging 

 contest; National Junior Dairy 

 Judging contest and a grade cow 

 Sale. 



lisaders to Cipeak 



The National Conference of 

 dairy cattlemen is to be held on 

 the Exposition Grounds. Wednes- 

 day. Oct. 1. This conference is 

 to disseminate and develop a na- 

 tional understanding of sanitary 

 requirements for moving cattle 

 between states and to develop 

 rules of integrity governing ex- 

 change and sale of dairy cattle. 

 Every state wherein dairying is 

 now an important branch of agri- 

 culture will be represented at 

 this conference. 



Some of the leading dairymen 

 who will be on the dairy confer- 

 ence program are: Ex-Gov. Frank 

 O. lyowden, who will talk on cow 

 testing records and how they 

 affect permanent records of the 

 dairy industry; J. R. Mobler, 

 Chief of T. B. Education Division. 

 Washington, D. C, who will ex- 

 plain federal rulings on cattle 

 transportation; Prof. H. H. Kll- 

 dee, Iowa, speaking on uniform 

 Judging of dairy cattle; and sev- 

 eral others prominent in state and 

 national dairy work. 



The contest for national dairy 

 Judging honors among colleges Is 

 an old, well established event and 

 will be hotly contested for by 

 teams from 30 colleges and uni- 

 versities from the United States 

 and Canada. 



Have Fanners' Contest 



The farmers' contest this year 

 is a new one in which only farm- 

 ers and dairymen actually en- 

 gaged in production of dairy- 

 products may enter. Teams will 

 be entered by counties from many 

 dairy sections. 



Arran(:ements are being made 

 for special cars from Chicago tor 

 those who wish to go by train 

 From all points in Illinois fare 

 and a third rates will prevail. 

 Those who prefer to drive will 

 find excellent roads all the way, 

 not only to Milwaukee but into 

 the heart of all Wisconsin's dairy 

 regions. 



"Spend a Week In Dalryland" 

 has been the slogan of the man- 

 agement of the Dairy Exposition 

 I and nothing has been left undone 

 I to make the week a profitable 

 one. Those who are planning on 

 the trip into Dalryland shoald 

 I see their farm adviser for tDtor- 

 i mation regarding reduced rates. 

 I routes to take and other details. 



