206 THE GREEN RISING 



had not been taken very seriously by many farmers. 

 The impression prevailed that this plan of dis- 

 tributing farm products was practical only for per- 

 ishable products. The idea was not widely held 

 that it was feasible to dispose of such products as 

 cotton, grain, and live stock in this way. It may be 

 said, therefore, that while cooperative marketing 

 had a beginning in this country previous to the 

 war, the great development of this plan has come 

 since 1919. The extent of the movement since that 

 time constitutes a unique chapter in the history of 

 agricultural progress. 



The Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture has recently made 

 a study of the movement in this country. According 

 to the report of the Bureau, there were 2,700,000 

 farmers in 1926 who were members of cooperative 

 marketing organizations. The distribution of com- 

 modity marketing organizations and the number 

 included in their membership have been influenced 

 greatly by the importance of the farm crops pro- 

 duced and the extent of the financial distress the 

 farmers have experienced in marketing their par- 

 ticular crops. For example, 46 per cent of the farm 

 membership in cooperative marketing organizations 

 reside in the twelve north-central states. The 

 southern states report 913,000; the west north- 

 central states, 717,000; the east north-central states, 

 440,000; the south Atlantic states, 329,000; the east 

 south-central states, 320,000; the west south -central, 



