138 THE THIRD POWER 



ing a market department, for it will also be the mar- 

 ket price. 



With this knowledge, concert of action will be 

 easy. For every member of the society will have 

 the same price and the same advice about the 

 same crop at the same time, and, feeling sure 

 that purchasers can not get those products from 

 any one else for less than they can get them from 

 him, he will be under no temptation to sell for less 

 himself. Without this knowledge it would be wholly 

 impossible to make the scheme work. But further 

 than this, it is felt that the members of the society 

 should have information that would convince them 

 that prices agreed on are fair and reasonable — and 

 attainable. So it is proposed, through the local 

 unions or members, to carry on a system of crop re- 

 porting that will surpass anything ever before ac- 

 complished, or even attempted. Every member will 

 be a crop reporter. The present system, or lack of 

 system, of reporting crops is the source of great loss 

 to the farmers. Take wheat, for instance : The har- 

 vest begins in Texas in May and ends in the Dako- 

 tas about September. Yet, as a matter of fact, crops 

 are maturing and harvests are in progress in some 

 part of the world every day in the year. From the 

 beginning to the end of the harvest in this country, 

 and more or less every day in the year, false crop 

 reports are circulated, the yields are exaggerated, 

 damage from weather, insects, etc., is emphasized, 

 and all manner of frauds and deceptions are prac- 



