64 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



in the equation profiting by the exchange, a true symbiotic con- 

 dition. The same principle well applies in the case of the great 

 masses of producers and consumers. Each is essential to the other. 

 As Longfellow says: 



"As unto the bow the cord is, 



So unto man is woman. 

 Though she bends him, she obeys him, 



Though she draws him, she follows, 

 Useless each without the other." 



This getting-together of the producer and the consumer will see 

 much associated effort, or as is frequently termed co-operation. 

 Again this one point of co-operation among farmers, business men, 

 corporations, and states, is sufficiently fertile for an address by itself. 

 In a word, New England is just on the threshold of great develop- 

 ments along the lines of co-operation. The get-together spirit or 

 associated effort is in the very air. It is more highly developed 

 in the west than in the east, but New England is rapidly catching 

 on and had I the time I could give you the specific movements, 

 particularly along rural lines, which show what is being done in 

 each of the New England states. 



Our system of doing business is the most extravagant on the face 

 of the globe. Why should consumers pay 9 cents a quart for milk 

 when the producers receive only 4, or at the most \\ cents for the 

 same amount ? Why should meats for which the producer receives 

 4 to 10 cents cost the consumer 15 to 40 cents ? Why should eggs 

 for which the farmer receives 16 cents go into cold storage and be 

 peddled out as the fresh product to consumers at 40 cents ? I feel 

 that part of this is due to the unreasonably large dividends of 

 middlemen. However, the system of doing business accounts for 

 no small portion. For instance, in peddling milk you will see any- 

 where from two to a dozen peddlers driving over the same route 

 picking up a customer here and there. Then again with meats 

 and groceries, the consumer will order 25 cents worth and expect 

 the storekeeper to deliver the goods with an expensive outfit includ- 

 ing man, horse, wagon, etc. All these things cost money, and both 

 the producer and the consumer eventually foot the bill. If the 

 system is not wrong, it is certainly extravagant. These are ques- 



