BUSINESS ORGANIZATION AS RELATED TO AGRICULTURE. 



MARCUS L. URANN, BOSTON, MASS. 



We cannot hope in a single talk within the time allotted to 

 present more than a few points of this important subject. If, 

 however, there occurs to some of us during this hour an idea 

 which may later develop, ripen and bear fruit to the benefit of 

 the industry, or to any branch of society, which draws so much 

 of its life from the country, then we will know this hour has not 

 been wasted. 



Organization in commercial lines is quite generally understood 

 and accepted, but its application to agriculture is a compara- 

 tively new and untried field. Our physical and natural condi- 

 tions have contributed to keep it so; even our form of govern- 

 ment has resulted in disseminated rather than centralized 

 development. 



Our system of marketing and transportation of our various 

 crops, not only in the different parts of the country, but even in 

 the same section, makes the subject more difficult. Then, too, 

 our people come from every known part of the globe. Some 

 sections are peopled by like races, having similar appetites and 

 habits, while other sections are composed of a mixture of people, 

 whose methods of living are widely different. Therefore each 

 particular market must receive special consideration to deter- 

 mine what it wants, when it wants it, its appearance, quality 

 and condition. Add to this that many of our markets are 

 changing and developing, so that he who would organize to sup- 

 ply a given market must not only consider the change in quan- 

 tity of goods, but, far more difficult still, he must anticipate the 

 changing appetite and needs of a developing population. 



These varied conditions mean increased expense to supply all 

 of the various tastes encountered even within a small area, and 



