RELATION TO COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES 107 



ter quality, uniformity and a steady flow to market, all 

 of which are as important to the consumer as to the pro- 

 ducer. Public institutions, farm bureaus and county 

 agents should stand firmly on this ground regardless of 

 opposition. 



It is urged as an objection by some that since county 

 agents help to organize cooperative associations which may 

 be maintained for the purpose of giving a group of farm- 

 ers a better position from which to bargain with other 

 citizens of the state, they should not be aided by taxing 

 all of the citizens of the state. The answer is, that if co- 

 operative association is effective in enabling farmers to 

 secure a larger share of the retail prices paid by con- 

 sumers for their products, the entire state will in the end 

 be benefited by the resulting maintenance of or the pos- 

 sible increase in the food supply. Thus it is well known 

 that few farmers are able to compete with city industries 

 in the wages paid to laborers and as a result the tendency 

 is to reduce crop acreage. 



It* is also true that in nearly all effective cooperative or- 

 ganizations the central purpose is not to increase prices 

 by controlling the market. In fact, that is not possible, 

 except with special crops which are grown only in very 

 restricted areas. The real purpose of cooperative organi- 

 zation is rather saving through the promotion of more ef- 

 ficient systems of buying and selling and so to distribute 

 products as to avoid the gluts in the market which so fre- 

 quently result in a loss of revenue to the growers and in 

 the waste of food that should go to consumers. 



POSSIBLE DANGERS 



There have been and still are those who would have the 

 farm bureau itself enter directly into cooperative buying 



