152 THE FARMER AND THE NEW DAY 



THE COMMUNITY IDEA IN DISTRIBUTION 



It is not necessary to take so much space to discuss 

 the community idea in distribution as it was in the case 

 of production, because most farmers have the feeling 

 that it is impossible to cooperate effectively in produc- 

 tion, whereas they are fast learning not only that col- 

 lective bargaining is essential to agricultural profit but 

 that the local farmerc' exchange or cooperative society 

 is the very core and center of successful business co- 

 operation. This local group of farmers constituting 

 the farmers' exchange is practically a community from 

 the standpoint of business. 



Selling the Product. Efficiency in selling farm prod- 

 ucts requires first of all a standardizing of goods. This 

 is gained through some common high standard of 

 quality, through the use of best varieties, proper grad- 

 ing, and scientific, honest packing. Successful fruit 

 growers often have individual trade marks, but the de- 

 vice has been adopted by very few individual farmers. 

 Each community that specializes in its products can have 

 a trade mark, and a trade mark that is a guarantee of 

 quality is worth more than any other single item in the 

 sale of any commodity; but the great need is for col- 

 lective bargaining in making sales. The old Kansas 

 farmer who, as the story goes, held back his wheat in 

 order to corner the market and bring a rise in price was 

 just as successful as any other farmer who allows him- 

 self to become, as an individual, a bargainer with a 

 great organized market. It is not necessary to put the 

 middlemen behind prison bars in order to get justice 

 at this point; it is purely a matter of better business. 

 A farmer with 500 bushels of potatoes to sell certainly 

 is at a disadvantage as compared with a community 



