82 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



and wastage. The earlier success scored in organizing cooperative cream- 

 eries and grain elevators, plus the fact that local shipping associations were 

 comparatively simple to organize and finance, helped promote their rapid 

 progress. 53 



The chief incentive for the establishment of cooperative livestock ship- 

 ping was the system of country buying then in use. The farmers com- 

 plained bitterly of the wide margins of profit exacted by buyers, stock- 

 yards, and commission firms, the discriminatory nature of their prices, 

 and their generally unfair trade practices. There was a strong conviction 

 that marketing costs somehow had to be lowered. Before the local shipping 

 associations assumed permanent form, it had been a common practice 

 among farmers to join together in making up a carload shipment. Out of 

 the success of these spasmodic and occasional efforts grew the decision to 

 establish permanent marketing associations. In this instance, the associa- 

 tion could be formed without either capital or plant. All that was needed 

 was to assemble the livestock and ship it to market; the association itself 

 assumed no risks by purchasing stock outright. Expenses were low, and 

 an elaborate system of accounting was unnecessary. 54 



The advantages which the shipping associations offered the farmers 

 best explain the rapidity of their growth. Livestock producers who shipped 

 cooperatively got the market price, minus a minimum cost for marketing, 

 and thus made larger profits. This was the case also in the handling of 

 miscellaneous stock like canners or veals, when uniform shipments of 

 stock could not be made. By shipping cooperatively, producers also became 

 better acquainted with the market and the grades; they found it less dif- 

 ficult to get cars for shipments even in periods of shortages; they could 

 ship their livestock whenever it was ready, without having to wait for a 

 buyer to see it; they saved themselves much time and labor by the em- 

 ployment of a single manager; they obtained close to the market price for 

 crippled livestock, which previously they had sold for half price; they 

 learned that excessive losses from death, shrinkages, and injuries en route 



53. Nourse and Knapp, The Co-Operative Marketing of Livestoc^, pp. 13-14; 

 Nourse and Hammans, in Iowa Bulletin 200, pp. 403, 407-8; E. Dana Durand, 

 "Cooperative Livestock Shipping Associations in Minnesota," University of Minne- 

 sota Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 75 (St. Paul, 1916), pp. 6-8. 



54. Nourse and Knapp, The Co-Operative Marketing of Livestoc\, pp. 45-48; 

 Durand, in Minnesota Bulletin 15, pp. 6-8. 



