Supplement to Hampshire County Farmers' Monthly, Vol. VII, No. 3 



^ Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation News ^ 



VOL. II. No. 3. 



WALTHAM, (BOSTON), MASS. 



MARCH 1922 



EASTERN STATES 



by losses in other lines, notably in 



HOLDS ANNUAL the sale of one Vermont county's 

 maple syrup. The year closed with 



NO SURPLUS HERE 



One-Third More Carloads Than In a small balance of profit. 

 1920. 



Holyoke Co-operative Milk Plant 

 Has Successful Year. 



Eastern States Exchange held its 

 annual business meeting Feb. 8th. 

 The Tuesday morning session was 

 given over to an expression of opin- 

 ion on the part of each man present 

 I'eg-arding the policy, past, present 

 and future, of this organization. To 

 meet the need of working capital, it 

 was decided to require each local co- 

 operative to invest a sum equal to 

 one per cent of its purchases from 

 the Eastern States Exchange in cer- 

 tificates of indebtedness, bearing in- 

 terest at six per cent. 



The Exchange has done a slightly 

 smaller business, measured in dol- 

 lars, than it did in 1920, but a busi- 

 ness more than one-third greater, 

 measured in carloads. On its jobbing 

 business, the Exchange showed a con- 

 siderable profit, but this was offset 



CAPPER BILL PASSES 



Farm Co-operators Can Now 

 Out of Jail. 



Stay 



The hot breath of the sheriff was 

 removed from the back of the farm- 

 ers' necks when the Capper-Volstead 

 cooperative marketing bill passed 

 and was signed by President Hard- 

 ing. Thus, after four long years, 

 Congress has definitely authorized 

 cooperative marketing, and has 

 stamped its approval even to the ex- 

 tent of permitting the existence of a 

 monopoly, provided it does not enter 

 into agreements in restraint of trade 

 or enhance prices unduly. It has 

 agreed that the mere existence of 

 large cooperative associations, cor- 

 (Continued on Page 3.) 



THEY'VE MET BEFORE 



The first annual meetine of the 

 Holyoke Producers' Dairy Company 

 formed by Hampshire County farm- 

 ers supplying the Holyoke market, 

 was a decided success, with over two- 

 thirds of the members present. 



The Directors' report gave in de- 

 tail the history of the forming of the 

 company. Meetings were held in 

 the towns from which milk was ship- 

 ped to Holyoke, and the farmers' in- 

 terest aroused in the marketing of 

 milk. In February, 1921, a general 

 meeting of milk produceit, in Hol- 

 yoke elected a committee to investi- 

 gate milk marketing, and to see if 

 retail business could be purchased. 

 Farmers put $460 at the disposal of 

 the committee and options on four 

 concerns having total business of 

 4800 quarts daily were secured. 



In March the farmers voted to 

 form the Holyoke Producers' Dairy 

 Company. Much difficulty was en- 

 countered in financing the company, 

 but finally loans of $30,000 were se- 

 cured on farmers' notes, and the bal- 

 ance was made up by the sale of pre- 

 ferred stock. A business of 4800 

 quarts, in December had increased 

 to 6000 quarts of milk per day. This 

 company alone has paid the New 

 England Milk Producers' price and 

 left no surplus milk with members. 



The treasurer's report shows as- 

 sets of $87,989.60; the company has 

 met all obligations, and has about 

 $2000 profit- for the seven months 

 it has been runi.ing. While the 

 profit is not large, the company has 

 done extremely well during the 

 business depression. Gross sales of 

 milk were $128,320.64. Expenses 

 expressed in percentage were as fol- 

 lows: — Milk 74 %; Plant labor 11%; 

 General plant expenses 4%; Auto 

 and Stable 4.4%; General office 5.1%; 

 profit 1.5%'. In other words from 

 every dollar the consumer paid for 

 milk the producer received 74 cents. 



At the afternoon session. Prof. 

 H. F. Judkins gave an interesting talk 

 on "Producing Quality Milk," stating 

 that so long as high grade milk was 

 sent to the plant the farmers were 

 assured of a market in Holyoke. 



Late in the afternoon the meeting 

 adjourned and the plant was visited 

 by the whole gi-oup. 



Every Senator and Congressman 

 has been asked to oppose free seed, 

 and the transfer of the Bureau of 

 Markets from the Agricultural De- 

 partment to the Department of Com- 

 merce. We are asking their sup- 

 port for the Fordney Filled Milk bill. 



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