548 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



It will be observed that the average expense per 100 pounds is 



33 cents. This includes not only the freight (usually to South St. 

 Paul), yardage, switching, commission, etc., but also the salary of the 

 manager of the association, who is ordinarily paid on the basis of a 

 certain amount per hundred weight (usually 6 cents), as well as a 

 small amount commonly set aside from each shipment for a sinking 

 fund. Under the old method of marketing live-stock through local 

 buyers, the margin between the farmer and the purchaser at the ter- 

 minal market is much greater, running from 40 to 75 cents per hundred 

 pounds, and sometimes higher. By assuming 50 cents as an extremely 

 conservative estimate, the shipping associations saved the farmers of 

 Minnesota over $1,000 per association hi 1913. In view of the fact 

 that there is no investment of capital necessary, and since this estimate 

 is very conservative, the economic value of shipping associations 

 becomes readily apparent. 



Co-operative creameries and cheese factories are also to be classed 

 as marketing agencies. Of the former there are 614 and of the latter 



34 in Minnesota. Seventy-two per cent of all creameries in Minne- 

 sota are co-operative, and there is no other important dairy state 

 where the butter industry is controlled to such an extent by the 

 farmers themselves. 



175. CO-OPERATIVE MARKETING OF VEGETABLES 1 

 BY L. C. CORBETT 



Co-operation among growers of vegetables solves the problems of 

 the package by making it uniform and standard, it guarantees the 

 pack by employing competent inspectors, and insures uniformity of 

 grade. Co-operative action enables the co-operators ,to act as an 

 independent individual, and since they employ a uniform package, a 

 standard pack, and uniform grades a given product of a community 

 can be shipped in carload lots at a lower rate than is possible by local 

 freight or express, thus effecting a decided saving. A uniform package 

 and a standard pack and grade give a product a standing in the market 

 which enables it to be sold for what it really is, because the guaranty of 

 the association is behind it. 



Another advantage which often follows is a local or direct sale, 

 f.o.b. shipping point. In the eastern portion of the country the f.o.b. 

 sales have been made on the basis of New York prices current. The 



1 Adapted from Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, 1912, pp. 355-61. 



