299] THE PRODUCTION OF BUTTER 75 



almost twice as large as that of cooperative associations; 

 yet the number of establishments of the latter type is in- 

 creasing even in the states of New York and Vermont, 

 where the demand for fresh milk is undermining the pro- 

 duction of butter and cheese. 



The success of cooperation in the dairy industry is 

 largely dependent upon whether or not the people are prop- 

 erly educated as to its benefit and limitations and are skilled 

 in the art of doing business. A seemingly unimportant 

 factor that will determine whether or not a cooperative as- 

 sociation will lose its cooperative character, is the failure 

 to adopt a constitution that prohibits voting by shares and 

 declaring high dividends on stock. Sometimes the man- 

 agement fails to build up a sinking fund, and when business 

 reverses come the concern has nothing to draw upon and 

 the association may be doomed. A clear understanding of 

 the value of cooperation in all the fields of enterprise will 

 contribute very materially to the success of the movement. 

 In succeeding chapters, dealing with the market organiza- 

 tion, it is shown that the work of distributing butter per- 

 formed by the middlemen is a service that requires a great 

 deal of attention and special training. In connection with 

 the cow-testing and breeding associations, it was shown that 

 it is in the field of production that cooperation among dairy- 

 men can very substantially increase the farmers' income. In 

 view of these facts, it is far better for the farmers first to 

 cooperate in production before attempting to market co- 

 operatively and thus dissipate their energies in the least 

 profitable field. The organization of all cooperative asso- 

 ciations within a state into a state cooperative society would 

 be an important achievement. Such an association could 

 well afford to take up the problem of marketing; and if 

 the butter and cheese were handled by a central selling 

 agency at cost, the cooperative associations would probably 



