550 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



do this. They reach the market only during the period their crops 

 are moving. What is accomplished by the independent dealer might, 

 however, be accomplished by co-operation among various local asso- 

 ciations of producers. Through a federation of such associations a 

 marketing expert might be maintained who would move with the 

 season from one center to another. By so doing, the markets would 

 deal continually with the same individual, the grades and packs would 

 be uniform, because censored by the same authority at each loading 

 point. In this way the community might accomplish for itself what 

 is now taken advantage of by shrewd and wide-awake dealers. 



Under the system of independent action producers are creatures 

 of circumstances over which they have no control. At harvest time 

 they have little conception of the competition they will have to meet 

 in the market, unless the crop is so short that it has become a matter 

 of comment. As a rule the dealers see to it that the reports on crop 

 prospects are high enough to enable them to buy the harvest at a 

 reasonably low figure. It is never discovered that the crop is a little 

 short until after it has all left the hands of the grower and is safe in 

 the storerooms of the dealers. 



Dealers keep an accurate forecast of the crop and as a rule have 

 a good basis for their action. Growers have not done this except in 

 a few instances, and then with marked advantage. Co-operative 

 growing associations should establish through some central organiza- 

 tion a plan by which accurate forecasts of crop prospects can be fur- 

 nished. These forecasts should begin with the acreage in each crop 

 zone and end with a statement of the harvest. These reports should 

 be made at frequent intervals and should be based on accurate per- 

 sonal canvass by competent judges. A few seasons' records for any 

 given locality will suffice to furnish a basis for determining the safe 

 acreage for that section and to fix the planting and harvest dates, as 

 well as to indicate the normal product which may be expected from 

 a given acreage. Statistics of this character would provide a basis 

 for working out a rational system of crop rotation and crop production. 



Co-operative action with products which can be stored enables the 

 producer to distribute the product throughout the consuming period 

 in such a way as to meet the requirements of the market without over- 

 loading it and depressing prices. With vegetable products, such as 

 Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, and squashes, this is a very important 

 consideration; the trade quickly determines the center of supply, and 

 as soon as the markets create a demand the supply can be forthcoming 



