COOPERATIVES, 1920-32 3*9 



known to the Grangers and other farm groups during the seventies, made 

 the greatest strides after the first World War. Their growth was stimu- 

 lated by the growing need for the type of farm supplies that technology 

 had made necessary, the farm depression of the twenties, the high cost 

 of supplies, and the relative ease with which purchasing cooperatives 

 could be started. Again, it was the states of the western Middle West 

 that took the lead in this. In 1939 Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa had per- 

 centages of 45.5, 28.9, and 28.3 respectively of farms that reported coopera- 

 tive purchases. Washington, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and 

 Idaho followed with 26.5, 25.8, 23.7, 23.5, and 23.5 per cent respectively. 



Purchasing associations formed before 1916 handled chiefly groceries, 

 clothing, and farm supplies. But after that the associations provided more 

 specialized services, stocking such supplies as feed, seed, fertilizer, farm 

 equipment, and petroleum products. 63 



The cooperative purchasing of petroleum products also gained headway 

 in the western Middle West during the twenties. By 1928 the greatest 

 strides appear to have been made in the rural areas of Minnesota, 

 Nebraska, and Illinois. This progress was due largely to the fact that 

 the oil business lent itself readily to the cooperative plan. Only a few 

 lines were handled and the cost of the sales was small in comparison 

 to the value of the business transacted. 64 



The first cooperative oil association is said to have been founded in 

 Cottonwood, Minnesota, by members of the state farm bureau in 1921. 

 In the same year farmers in Casco, Wisconsin, formed the second co- 

 operative oil association. 65 In 1926 the Midland Cooperative Oil Associa- 

 tion, the first wholesale agency to distribute gasoline, oil, kerosene, and 

 grease, was organized. By 1930 the Midland had eighty-eight affiliated 

 cooperative oil associations in Minnesota and fifty in Wisconsin. 



The handling of petroleum products cooperatively spread into Illinois 

 and Nebraska; state associations were formed in Minnesota and Nebraska 



63. Joseph G. Knapp, The Rise of Cooperative Purchasing, Farm Credit Admin- 

 istration, Cooperative Research and Service Division (Washington, 1942), pp. 3-10 

 [mimeographed]. 



64. "Cooperative Purchasing of Gasoline and Motor Oils," Monthly Labor Re- 

 view, XXVI (March, 1928), pp. 565-66. 



65. "Cooperative Oil Associations in Minnesota," ibid., XXV (December, 1927), 

 p. 1287. 



