38 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



of poor quality she is likely to try some other vegetable the 

 next time. In this way the poor quality of one man's products 

 may reduce the price which another man may get for first-class 

 goods. This illustrates what is called solidarity of interest. 



The demand is steadier for established grades, that is, goods 

 of standard qualities, than for unstandardized articles. Many 

 people will buy a given article if they are sure of securing goods 

 of high quality who, when in doubt, refrain from making the 

 purchase. This places a premium upon goods of known stand- 

 ard of quality over what goods of the same quality would 

 command if sold in an ungraded mixture along with goods of 

 varying quality. Standardization is one purpose of trade- 

 marks. The trade-mark is of high value only when it stands 

 for an established quality that can be counted upon. The 

 name of the farm might well be placed upon the label of the 

 milk and cream bottles, or stamped upon the eggs, the berry 

 boxes, the apple barrels, the grape baskets, etc. The regis- 

 tration of farm names for this purpose, giving the exclusive 

 use of a given name to a given farmer, might well be made 

 possible by legislation. This use of a trade-mark will enable 

 the purchasers to buy with a knowledge of the character of the 

 producer, and would result in a greater range in prices due to 

 variations in the quality of the goods. This would put a pre- 

 mium on the production of goods of high quality and be an 

 effective stimulus to good agriculture. 



The individual farmer is often not in a position to incur the 

 expense of advertising a given brand of products to such an 

 extent as to establish a reputation beyond the limits of the local 

 market. Community action is often essential to the establish- 

 ment of brands of farm products on distant markets. Com- 

 munities have succeeded in establishing brands of fruit and 

 other perishable products. The apple growers of the Pacific 

 northwest, the grape growers of New York, the butter and egg 

 producers of Denmark, are conspicuous examples. 



Costs and prices. It has been common to hear the statement, 

 " The price should be high enough to pay the cost of production 

 and a reasonable profit." This phrase when properly under- 



