106 



about $6,000, and this year about $12,000 worth of goods; and the work 

 has gone through in splendid shape. 



We have not confined our work to Bedford County nor to the original 

 six counties of my district. We have shipped, for instance, to Chester 

 County. As a matter of fact, we have shipped stuff under our plan, 

 or arranged for shipment of it, as far west as Kansas and as far south as 

 Alabama. 



The plan is simple, direct, absolutely clean and economical to the 

 last degree. We keep no books, because none are necessary. 



We have also a system of keeping track of all shipments made by 

 wholesalers, a postal card advice from wholesalers giving the details of 

 shipments, the car number, bill of lading number, date and all other 

 information necessary to start a tracer in case the shipment is delayed in 

 transit. This postal card is mailed to us by the shipper at the time ship- 

 ment is made. That same information is repeated by us on a postal 

 card to our member, with instructions that if the freight has not arrived 

 at a definite time stated on our postal, he is to notify us. Where such 

 notice is received we start a tracer at our end and advise the shipper to 

 start one at his end of the line. 



Two or three times we have had delayed shipments brought to book 

 by tracers, and once we had a lost shipment that was never found. 



In case of lost shipments the exchange handles the claim, and also in 

 case of damaged shipments. We have always had prompt adjustment of 

 these claims. 



That, briefly, is our draft-attached-to-bill-of-lading plan, which we 

 think is the best and most economical method of co-operative purchasing 

 devised up to the present time. 



No such seed has ever been received in our district as that bought 

 under our plan. I want to say that the cleanness of our plan has brought 

 out of the wholesaler absolutely the best that is in him. Last year houses 

 with which we had dealt for the last five or six years refused to quote the 

 exchange prices on alfalfa seed, because they said it was not up to what 

 they knew the exchange required. We have had that occur with three 

 houses, a refusal to quote us prices on material which fell belbw the high 

 standards we require. 



We never quote prices to our members on seed except it is the best 

 the market offers, because the best seed is the cheapest. The question 

 of price we regard as secondary. That is our purchasing plan. 



We are now at work on a development plan, using the Bedford 

 Division o| the Pennsylvania Railroad as a unit for the plan. We pro- 

 pose to develop each part of the territory tributarj^ to this division along 

 normal and profitable lines of production. Our proposition is to stand- 

 ardize all products from the very ground. We propose even to select the 

 seed with a view to uniformity of product ; and we propose to standardize 

 everything shipped. That plan is not in shape yet to talk very definitely 

 about it. 



