THE MAIN PLANT 

 'Two others are used mostly during 

 rush seasons." 



Y^^^^HERE is no better measure of 

 ^""Y^ a community than its ability 



\J to develop and support a suc- 

 cessful cooperative. Such an enter- 

 prise requires the best in leadership 

 and good leadership is not the heritage 

 of all communities. 



A cooperative is financially success- 

 ful when it first returns a substantial 

 patronage dividend and its balance 

 sheet reveals an adequate surplus. 



Judged by this standard, the Ston- 

 ington Cooperative Grain Company of 

 Stonington, Christian county, achieved 

 success before it was 20 months old. 



On June 1, 1935, the company, 

 financed through the sale of stock and 

 locally borrowed capital, began to buy 

 grain. 



By the end of the first year of opera- 



• One of a series of stories on successful firmer- 

 owned co-operatives in Illinois. 



SuccessfulCooperation 



They Made One Good Elevator Out 

 of Three at Stonington and the 

 Farmers Ourn and Control It. * 



By LARRY POTTER 



tion, 200 shares of $30 par value pre- 

 ferred stock were sold, $8,000 clipped 

 off the debt, and the remainder of the 

 debt retired by a new loan of $10,000 

 granted by the Bank of Cooperatives 

 of St. Louis. 



At the close of the first fiscal year, 

 December 31, 1936, $5,363 was re- 

 turned to stockholders and patrons. 

 The rate on the stock dividends was 

 six per cent and the patronage divi- 

 dend was one cent perHaushel. 



The balance sheet showed that the 

 co-op had $22,600 invested in plant 

 and buildings, a debt of $10,000 and a 

 surplus of $10,000. 



True, the figures indicated success 

 but experts say that if a commercial 

 institution is to succeed it must fill in 

 economic need. 



Farmers around Stonington, at one 

 time, supported three elevators. There 

 were two private grain concerns and a 

 Farmers elevator in operation. 



In those days, from the early 1900's 

 until after the world war, it was com- 

 mon practice for farmers with grain to 

 sell, to ask the Farmers' elevator man- 

 ager what he would pay for grain. 

 Then they would sell to the elevator 

 that offered the best price. The result 

 was that the Farmers' elevator set the 

 price and the others got the grain. 



After several years of whip-sawing 



the Farmers company soWl its buildings 

 to one of the otherl^cdmpanies. Even 

 then producers were in a oosition to 

 profit through bargaining with two 

 buyers bidding for their grain. 



About 1926, Christian county farm- 

 ers found they could get more than 

 two dollars a bustiel for soybeans, 

 started raising them in a large scale. 

 Acres that had produced 40 to 60 

 bushels of corn were planted to soy- 

 beans which yielded from 15 to 20 

 bushels of beans. As the soybean acre- 

 age grew, the number of bushels of 

 grain coming to the Stonington eleva- 

 tors dropped from 800,000 bushels to 

 around 450,000 bushels. 



Deprived of profitable volume, the 

 two elevator companies buried the 

 hatchet, agreed to stop bidding against 

 each other for farmers' grain. 



During depression years the com- 

 panies merged, forming a monopoly 

 of the grain marketing facilities in 

 Stonington. 



That was the signal for thinking 

 farmers to organize. Led by Frank 

 Garwood, local grain producers or- 

 ganized the Stonington Cooperative 

 Grain Company. Garwood was elected 

 president, J. J. Dwyer, vice-president, 

 S. M. Holben, secretary, William Col- 

 brook, F ra n k McChristy, Charles 

 Stapleton, and Hans Hansen, directors. 



MANAGER fflVIN W. LARRICK 

 "Cooperatives ore the proper marketing system." 



PRESIDENT F. S. GARWOOD 

 "A leader but a hard mon to hold in office.' 



L A. A. RECORD 



