12 a EXPERIMEXT STATION. [Jan. 



REPORT OF THE DEPARTAIEXT OF AGRI- 

 CULTURAL ECONOMICS. 



ALEXANDER E. CANCE. 



The research work of the department has been carried on 

 along three lines: — 



Consumers' Co-operation in Massachusetts. — For about two 

 months the department co-operated with the Federal Bureau 

 of Markets in a brief study of consumers' co-operation in 

 Massachusetts. Since the period given to this work was short, 

 it was impossible to do more than study types of co-operative 

 enterprises among consumers, no effort being made to arrive 

 at the total membership in such organizations or their total 

 volume of business. 



The forms of so-called co-operative consumers' organizations 

 found in the State were: — 



(a) Buying clubs, — unincorporated groups which buy sup- 

 plies together but keep no stock of goods on hand and dis- 

 tribute orders by the easiest method possible. 



(b) Stores, organized, owned and operated by the consumers, 

 each member owning so much stock in the business and having 

 a vote in all business matters. These are incorporated groups, 

 some few of which have been doing business for a number of 

 years. 



(c) So-called co-operative stores: in reality stores main- 

 tained for the employees of a manufacturing company by the 

 company itself. At these stores goods are offered at less than 

 the price asked at neighboring retail stores, the company 

 carrying all the overhead expenses of rent, heat, light and 

 clerk hire. One firm frankly acknowledged that they expected 

 to lose S1(),000 a year on the enterprise. On the other hand, 

 another store was found which was started by the firm for its 



